From nutrients to food literacy

This paper is based on a webinar broadcast by the Home Economics Institute of Australia in 2015. I should make clear at the outset that I will be discussing the academic literature, particularly that relating to nutrition education and food
literacy that reports studies with measured outcomes. This may seem ‘last century’ to many Australian home economics teachers who long ago moved from teaching about nutrients to education about dietary practices. However, in nutrition science there has long been a fascination with the possible effects of education about nutrition on disease risks and outcomes. There has been an expectation among health researchers and governments that education should reduce disease risks and promote wellbeing among young people. I think this view is too narrow and unrealistic in contrast to more holistic approaches such as those of home economics and the emerging area of food literacy. In this brief overview I will discuss four areas to do
with the emerging area of food literacy education. First, I will discuss the emergence of a broader view of food and dietary patterns in the nutrition sciences and the reasons for this. Secondly, I will explore the competing assumptions behind ‘education’ versus those of ‘health promotion’ and public health, followed by different disciplinary views of the emerging area of food literacy with its emphasis on competencies. Finally, I will explore some interesting new developments in food literacy education.