Defining food literacy and its components

Food literacy has emerged as a term to describe the everyday practicalities associated with healthy eating. The term is increasingly used in policy, practice, research and by the public; however, there is no shared understanding of its meaning. The purpose of this research was to develop a definition of food literacy which was informed by the identification of its components. This was considered from two perspectives: that of food experts which aimed to reflect the intention of existing policy and investment, and that of individuals, who could be considered experts in the everyday practicalities of food provisioning and consumption. Given that food literacy is likely to be highly contextual, this second study focused on disadvantaged young people living in an urban area who were responsible for feeding themselves. The Expert Study used a Delphi methodology (round one n = 43). The Young People’s Study used semi-structured, life-course interviews (n = 37). Constructivist Grounded Theory was used to analyse results. This included constant comparison of data within and between studies. From this, eleven components of food literacy were identified which fell into the domains of: planning and management; selection; preparation; and eating. These were used to develop a definition for the term “food literacy”

Practices and innovations in Australian Science Teacher Education Programs

This paper reports part of a larger study which was designed to investigate current practices in initial teacher education programs in Australia. The main data collection was by telephone interviews, which were carried out with science education specialists and program coordinators at all institutions which offer primary teacher education or secondary science teacher education. The interviews focused on practices in relation to program structures, science content studies, science methods studies and links to science-related school projects or to science business/industry. A large number of innovative practices were described. In addition, several case studies were carried out, which focused on particular innovations. The study identified several aspects of science teacher education which were of concern

The rise of food inequality in Australia

This chapter describes the factors unique to Australia that both describe and report on the impact on food inequality. The context for food inequality and the measures used to give an insight are briefly described. Australia is often referred to as the ‘lucky country’. In 1964, Donald Horne wrote The Lucky Country, using the term ironically to highlight that Australia was simply lucky rather than clever as it had reaped the benefits of technological, economic, social and political innovations developed in other countries that were clever. The chapter concludes with a discussion about the future challenges of food inequity in Australia. The chapter will address the following issues: (1) The uniqueness of the Australian situation and how this impacts on food inequality. (2) How the issue/problem of food inequality is represented by government in a ‘lucky country’ like Australia. (3) The challenges for food inequality in developed countries like Australia. (4) What would a comprehensive Food and nutrition monitoring systems that report on food inequality look like