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1 Introduction
Food literacy for contemporary food and eating
Helen Vidgen
Globally, the food system, and the relationship of the individual to that system, continues to change and grow in complexity. Food is a basic human need in that it is essential for healthy growth and development. It has an important role to play in enhancing wellbeing and quality of life. In their definition of food ahead of the second International Congress on Nutrition, the Public Interest Civil Society Organizations acknowledge the broad contribution of food and nutrition in our lives by stating:
It is our common understanding that food is the expression of values, cultures, social relations and peopleâs self-determination, and that the act of feeding oneself and others embodies our sovereignty, ownership and empowerment. When nourishing oneself and eating with oneâs family, friends, and community, we reaffirm our cultural identities, our ownership over our life course and our human dignity. Nutrition is foundational for personal development and essential for overall wellbeing.
(Public Interest Civil Society Organizations 2014: 2)
This definition recognizes the multiple dimensions of food and eating and the roles that it plays in the lives of individuals, households, communities, nations and globally.
Eating is an everyday event that is part of everyoneâs lives. While this seems a fairly unremarkable statement to make, it is important to ponder because it means that what we eat constantly changes in response to the changes in the world around us. These changes can be at the individual (e.g. changes in work status), household (e.g. changes in relationships and who is in the household), community (e.g. changes in the proximity of food retail outlets), national (e.g. changes in competition laws regarding supermarkets) and global levels (e.g. free trade agreements that open up markets to global multinational food companies). There is also a reciprocity in our response to these changes, in that they too change the world around us. As eating is a daily activity, our actions change the nature of food gradually, but constantly. For example, the increase in womenâs participation in the workforce has influenced the nature of domestic food work, urbanization has influenced the increase in food consumed outside the home and exposure to other foods and cultures through travel and the internet has influenced a greater diversity of food tastes and ingredients beyond traditional local cuisines.
There are many commentaries on the nature of these changes and their socio-cultural, environmental, educational, economic and health consequences. Authors describe a âgastronomic revolutionâ (Bifulco & Caruso 2007: 2058), a âculinary skills transitionâ (Lang & Caraher 2001: 2), the âindustrial eaterâ (Berry 1990), and the âpassive consumer, unwilling or unable to make informed decisions about the food they eatâ (Begley & Gallegos 2010b: 26).
Irrespective of their paradigm, these commentaries all describe a period of rapid change in the past century. They assert that these changes have impacted on food intake, food preparation and rituals of eating. The commentaries differ in viewing these changes as a loss, a trend, a transition or an evolution; something that must be halted or something that must be adapted to. While it is true that there have been significant changes in how, what, when and with whom we eat, it is important to acknowledge that individuals, households, communities, nations and global factors have all had a part in shaping that.
Among this discussion, the term âfood literacyâ has emerged. Its use in the literature, policy and practice implies that the term is an attempt to encapsulate the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed for everyday eating. This is echoed in contemporary public food and nutrition policies and plans throughout the world that have begun to recognize that these documents need to connect with the everyday practicalities of eating. The term is most often applied to the outcome of nutrition but is also applied to other food related outcomes, particularly environmental sustainability, informed consumerism, active citizenship and food security. This chapter will first review the use of the term in policy and practice, and then go on to review what is known about contemporary food and eating and its influence on the emergence of this term.
The use of the term in policy and practice
Food literacy in policy
Recent local, national and international nutrition policies and plans echo the sentiments of the practitioners they guide in calling for a renewed emphasis on the practical food aspects of nutrition and connecting nutrition messages with food solutions. The International Union of Nutrition Scienceâs Giessen Declaration calls for a ânew nutrition scienceâ that extends beyond a âbiological scienceâ to include a comprehensive understanding of âhow food is grown, processed, distributed, sold, prepared, cooked and consumedâ (International Union of Nutrition Sciences 2005). The Rome Declaration affirms the need for nutrition action to engage with all elements of the food system and for individuals, communities, governments and nations to have the knowledge and skills for informed action (Food and Agriculture Organization and World Health Organization 2014). The Public Interest Civil Society Organizationsâ definition of food described previously further supports this by recognizing the cultural and social position of nutrition within everyday food and eating.
This points to a broad set of knowledge, skills and behaviours that come into play when feeding individuals, communities and nations. The United Kingdomâs Foresight Report on Obesity, the European Unionâs Discussion Paper on Sustainable Food Consumption, the Conference Board of Canadaâs Whatâs to Eat? report and the United States Institute of Medicineâs Committee on Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention report all use the term âfood literacyâ; however, its meaning varies from its application to sustainable food to instruction on dietary guidelines in schools (Conference Board of Canada 2013; Glickman et al. 2012; Reisch, Lorek & Bietz 2011; Vandenbroeck, Goossens & Clemens 2007).
The Australian example demonstrates how food literacy is implicitly and explicitly expressed in food and nutrition policy. The Australian Dietary Guidelines identify âlow levels of food literacyâ (National Health and Medical Research Council 2013: 8) as a possible barrier to compliance with these recommendations and as one of the significant social and environmental changes that have led to the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity (National Health and Medical Research Council 2013). The Australian National Food Plan identified âa food literate community accessing safe, affordable and nutritious foodâ as a key goal (Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestries 2012). Consultation papers for the Australian Health and Physical Education Curriculum and National Food Policy attracted several submissions calling for a recognition of the practical skills aspects of healthy eating (Australian Curriculum and Assessment Reporting Authority 2012; Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestries 2012). The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nutrition Strategy and Action Plan identifies skills in cooking, budgeting and food selection, food preparation areas, storage facilities for food, cooking equipment and other health hardware as key issues to progress in order to improve nutritional status (Strategic Intergovernmental Nutrition Alliance 2001).
The practitioner context
Governments and practitioners are currently investing in strategies to address components of food literacy which they intuitively believe to be useful. Evaluation, if conducted, is often limited to process, such as use of recipes, and impact level, such as confidence in cooking and changes in awareness of nutrition recommendations (Herbert et al. 2014; Rees et al. 2012; Reicks et al. 2014). Food literacy is inconsistently defined and measured. The practical dimensions of everyday eating do not form part of any national monitoring or surveillance systems against which progress can be benchmarked.
In the health sector, food literacy work is undertaken by a range of practitioners, particularly nutritionists. However, what their role is in this space, what behaviours they can hope to modify and what outcome they are aiming to influence by addressing food literacy are unclear. As a result, nutritionists and their managers may not consider this very practical nutrition work legitimate (Begley & Gallegos 2010a). This is despite the recognized need to support clients in the practicalities of following nutrition recommendations.
Addressing food literacy is likely to have benefits well beyond physical health both at an individual and community level. Outside the nutrition paradigm, food is used by a range of health, education and welfare service practitioners to build rapport, self-confidence, self-efficacy, empowerment and social inclusion. In the welfare sector food literacy is being addressed in the context of life skills for those experiencing multiple levels of disadvantage. Food literacy is likely to be both a risk factor and an asset for food security, but this relationship is unknown and unexplored. In the agriculture and food production sectors, food literacy is linked to the origins of food, including the environmental, ethical and ecological implications of food choice (Bellotti 2010; Farnworth, Thomas & Jiggins 2008). Gastronomes and governments in nations with more famous food cultures talk about maintaining or enhancing a food culture where food literacy includes an appreciation and understanding of flavour and quality, the pleasure and artistry of food production and convivial eating (Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries n.d.; UNESCO 2010, 2013).
The public context
High profile advocates have weighed into the debate regarding optimal government investment in nutrition, most notably celebrity chef Jamie Oliver (Oliver 2010) and several other local examples (Alexander 2010). These programmes tend to extend the knowledge and skills of an already engaged client rather than shift the non-engaged (Flego et al. 2014). The effectiveness and sustainability of these substantial investments are yet to be established. It is particularly unclear if these programmes serve to contribute to the celebrityâs brand rather than the health issue. What remains salient, however, is that interventions should not further marginalize and stigmatize disadvantaged groups but rather support the generation of a common healthy food culture of empowerment, sustainability and informed food citizenship. Food literacy needs to be framed as an essential life skill, irrespective of social class, which empowers an individual to take control over what they eat (Caraher & Lang 1999). This should reflect the different lives people live.
Beyond the nutrition paradigm
Acknowledging that nutrition is only one of the many outcomes of eating, it is interesting to consider the positioning of food literacy in public health nutrition strategies. Caraher warns against the linking of food literacy to only one agenda, such as obesity, as this diminishes its importance in the broader context and threatens to cut short investment in the area (Caraher & Seeley 2010). It may be that a nutrition outcome is not the most appropriate measurable endpoint of food literacy. Nutrition may be better positioned as a consequential by-product on the way to meeting other more highly prioritized needs such as social connectedness, financial management, ecological sustainability or food security. The concept of sustainable diets may be a more useful outcome for food literacy (Burlingame & Dernini 2010).
Contemporary food and eating
Public policies, plans and practice aim to improve the lives of the people they serve. If food literacy is considered a resource for everyday life, then it is useful to reflect on what is known about contemporary food and eating. This following section reviews the evidence to support key themes that are reflected in the published use of the term food literacy.
Food and physical health
There is irrefutable evidence that the prevalence of overweight and obesity is high and has increased over time (Cook, Rutishauser & Seeling 2001; World Health Organization 2010). Increased food intake and decreased physical activity are established risk factors for overweight and obesity (World Health Organization 2010). Additionally, poor food choice impacts on non-communicable disease and overall wellbeing, independent of its contribution to body weight (National Health and Medical Research Council 2003). Non-communicable disease has now overtaken communicable disease with respect to global deaths (World Health Organization 2014). This is related to the poor nutritional quality of food rather than insufficient calories as had occurred previously. In low and middle income countries, this has been described as a ânutrition transitionâ in which starvation is occurring alongside rapidly increasing rates of obesity. Globally, diets are consistently shifting away from these recommendations as core foods are replaced by high sugar, high fat, high salt, ready to eat processed foods (World Health Organization 2014).
Despite calls to consider social, cultural, economic and environmental systems, nutrition recommendations predominantly continue to remain within a biological frame (National Health and Medical Research Council 2011, 2013). In doing so, recommendations fail to acknowledge the âday-to-daynessâ of healthy eating. Diet-related disease typically develops over a lifetime of poor eating habits, and prevention, therefore, involves maintaining healthy habits over the long term (World Health Organization 2004). Consistency in diet quality over a lifetime is a critical element to the relationship between diet and health. It is implied in recommendations and practice, but not specifically and typically addressed. Food literacy may be a useful construct to describe the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to consistently meet food needs through change and over time.
Domestic food preparation
Nutritionistsâ interest in meal preparation, food skills and cooking is underpinned by the assumption that they will be associated with a higher intake of core foods, increased dietary variety and a greater control over the nutritional quality of foods eaten. Evidence to support the link between preparing food and diet quality comes predominantly from cross-sectional studies which aim to demonstrate an association between the two, and evaluation of cooking programmes. Both have their methodological problems which weaken the strength of this evidence. Most significant is the ability to consistently define what is meant by food preparation, and identify and measure the aspects which may influence diet quality.
Despite this, there is some evidence of the link between food preparation and healthy eating. Studies suggest a positive association between diet quality and food preparation, but this does not appear to extend to an association with healthy body weight. This is most often an increase in the self-reported number of fruit and vegetables and a decrease in the consumption of ...
