Essay On Food Literacy

1505 Words7 Pages

In our current food environment, processed convenience foods are readily available in most developed nations. These foods can be expensive and most likely unhealthy, yet most people do not know the consequences on health from consuming these foods. Food literacy is understanding the impact of your food choices on your health the environment and our economy. This paper will discuss how improving the understanding of these concepts can lead to improved interactive education, reduced malnutrition in adolescence, decreased risk for disease and obesity, decreased environmental impact, and an overall healthier sustainable population (Vidgen 66, 74). Through improving food literacy we can support healthier choices in nutrition and diet leading to …show more content…

Furthermore, learning food tactics in school can be brought to the home. This can help improve food education to the family and possibly cause change in household norms (Food Share Toronto 3). By focusing on food, a school can help create a holistic partnership within a community between children, the home, and stakeholders (Food Share Toronto 2). Hands on food education can bother be fun and intriguing for students. It can lead to improved student engagement, leadership skills, and improved consumer skills (Food Share Toronto 3).
The Food Share program in Toronto has realized that “it is not children’s tastes that are the barrier to healthy eating in a new food system” so they asked what is it (Food Share Toronto 4)? To find this answer they facilitated 720 student nutrition programs in 502 schools throughout Toronto where 174,000 children eat healthy on a daily basis (Food Share Toronto 6). They found that students enjoyed their meals and that 86% support the plan to support farmers who grow food to bring to the school cafeteria (Food Share Toronto