Pupils’ Conception of Organic Foods and Healthy Eating in School. Qualitative insights from focus group interviews with 5th and 7th grade pupils in a Copenhagen elementary school

Adult habits, including unhealthy eating patterns, are largely established during a person´s childhood and early youth. In this connection, public schools are important health promoting platforms due to their potential for encouraging interest, knowledge and learning about health related issues. The main aim of the study was to shed light on primary and lower secondary school pupils´ everyday experience with food, nutrition, ecology and health in connection to public organic school food, using the municipality of Copenhagen as a case. We have examined how a procurement and provision strategy that primarily originates from “backstage agents” such as engaged politicians and civil servants and governed by administrative priorities, is perceived among agents at the front stage arena - the school. Furthermore we have investigated to which degree the pupils experience a connection between the “organicness” of the food program and the underlying organic supply chain principles, and to which degree the pupils experience a connection between the “organicness” of the food program and classroom initiatives in subjects related to ecology and health. In February 2008, we approached a public school which proved willing to participate in our study. Subsequently, over a period of four weeks, we designed an interview guide used to conduct focus group interviews with pupils from grades 5 and 7, which were then transcribed. In general, pupils were very interested in ecology as a subject. However it seems that they do not see a very strong connection between the healthy, organic meals offered at school and class room activities related to health and ecology. The pupils did not feel that they had been involved in the decision to establish organic and healthy food procurement. As a result they held that they did not feel very committed or engaged in the school provision initiative, and the organic and healthy food procurement was not highly sought after on the part of the pupils. This appears to justify a distinction between the perspective that front stage actors have, including pupils, and the perspective of politicians and planners that operate back stage. The distance between these two stages, which tends to increase in large scale municipal school food systems, is an important challenge to address when planning school food interventions. There seems to be a potential for linking organic school food service more closely with curricular activities, and for linking issues of healthier eating and organic food supply. There is also a need for greater involvement of the pupils and other front stage actors when the food service system and food related curricular activities are planned

Økologi og sundhed - videnskab eller ønsketænkning?

Økologi og sundhed - videnskab eller ønsketænkning

Education about organic food and sustainability in Denmark, Finland, Italy and Norway: Findings from the iPOPY project

This report presents results from “Work Package 4: Consumer perceptions, practices and learning” of the “innovative Public Organic food Procurement for Youth – iPOPY” project. The report gives an overview of organic food and sustainable development within national core curriculum and examples of education about organic food and sustainability in the participating European countries: Denmark, Finland, Italy and Norway

Hønen eller ægget?

Køber forbrugerne økologiske æg for at forbedre dyrevelfærden eller for at opnå en bedre sundhed for sig selv og familien

Skovsvin – på den gode måde

Økologiske søer og deres smågrise kan sættes ud på arealer med træer. Det kan forbedre dyrenes sundhed og velfærd og er også en bedre løsning for miljøet end at sætte grisene ud på græsmarker

Forskere forbedrer velfærden og sundheden hos økologiske høns

Dødeligheden blandt økologiske høns er dobbelt så høj som hos burhøns. Forskere fra Aarhus Universitet undersøger hvorfor med henblik på at sænke dødeligheden i et internationalt forskningssamarbejde, der sigter mod at forbedre hønernes sundhed og velfærd

Øko-kød skal være specielt for at kunne sælges dyrt

Forskningsprojektet SUMMER har undersøgt, om det er muligt at profilere økologisk kød mere i forhold til konventionelt ved bl.a. at bruge mere lokalt produceret protein og lægge ekstra vægt på sundhed og velfærd

Subjektiv ulighed: Oplevelsen af ulighed i sundhed

Ulighed i sundhed rammer oftest mennesker med kort uddannelsesbaggrund og lav socio- økonomisk position i samfundet, men diskursen om ulighed i sundhed har skabt et langt mere negativt stereotypt billede, hvor ulighed i sundhed rammer mennesker, der ikke kan eller vil leve op til moralske imperativer for sundhedsadfærd. I artiklen viser jeg, hvordan denne diskurs kan lede til frygt for at blive negativt kategoriseret på baggrund af et stigma om kort uddannelse og dårlig økonomi; det jeg kalder subjektiv ulighed. Subjektiv ulighed fører i mine tre empiriske eksempler til forskellige former for ageren, der imidlertid har en iboende risiko for at spænde ben for den optimale behandling. Ved at forstå individers oplevelser og forestillinger om stigma i relation til skabelsen af sundhedssubjektivitet, ar- gumenterer jeg for, at ulighed i sundhed også skal forstås subjektivt i mødet med sund- hedsvæsenet, og at dette ikke kun er udtryk for institutionelle og organisatoriske logikker, men også et subjekts tolkning og ageren på et objektivt fænomen. Artiklen er et indspark til forståelsen af, hvorfor og hvordan ulighed i sundhed opstår og kommer til udtryk, men ud fra erkendelsen af, at ulighed i sundhed er komplekst og kræver flere komplekse analytiske tilgange. De empiriske eksempler er ikke generaliserende, men netop eksempler på subjek- tive oplevelser og møder med ulighed i sundhed. Begrebet subjektiv ulighed er derved et af mange begreber, som kan gøre os en smule klogere på ulighed i sundhed som fænomen

ICROFS nyt 2/2012. Nyhedsbrev fra ICROFS

- Økologisk regnbueørred - hvordan påvirker fodersammensætningen fiskenes sundhed? - Dyrkning af fluelarver som kosttilskud til økologiske høns - Grønt kalvekød er ikke mørkerødt - Hømælk - et muligt alternativ i Danmark - Holistisk afgræsningsmanagement - et udbytterigt styringsværktøj til afgræsning - Kort ny

Faglig sparring ved temadage om robuste grise i robuste systemer

D. 12.-13. juni arrangerede ICROFS i samarbejde med Organic RDD-projekterne VIPiglets, pECOSYSTEM og MAFFRA en praktikerdag og et forskningsseminar om, hvordan landmænd kan forbedre sundhed og velfærd for pattegrise og slagtesvin, samtidig med at miljøbelastningen reduceres. Artiklen beskriver udkommet af dagen