Food Literacy ─ Key Concepts for Health and Education

The relationship between food and health is a key challenge facing contemporary society, as demonstrated through the co-existence of poor diets, obesity and malnutrition. Yet public knowledge of food – its origins, health benefits and harm, social, economic and cultural dimensions – is remarkably poor. This book is the first to provide an accessible but comprehensive overview of the food literacy, a concept which has emerged over the last decade to capture the dimensions of these complex issues and provide a blueprint for tackling the problems.

The book describes and analyses food literacy and shows how it can be applied in policy and practice, from cooking skills to being informed consumers. It reveals its links to nutrition and health, its development, measurement and application in health, education, welfare, agriculture and food studies more broadly. Contributors from Australia, China, Europe and North America provide a review of international research on the topic and how this can be applied in schools, health care settings and public education and communication at the individual, group and population level. As a result, readers can gain a greater understanding of and control over what they eat, how food is produced and marketed, and its role in society and public health.