Food Literacy

What and how we eat and grow, process, prepare, and consume food is a social process, yet the social
can be invisible. That is, the globalized food system distance eaters from the people who produce it, as
as from the places the food is produced (and, in this case manufactured). Our food comes with a history
beyond ourselves, our food choices affect the lives and welfare of other humans and other beings.
Food literacy, as I see it, involves an understanding of the linkages between food, culture, and the
environment, and most importantly, it forces us to rethink our relationshipss with one another
(Wittman et. al. 2010. p.4) Or, our food social ecology. Exploring the interconnection between the
foods we eat, the ways the culture shapes our food choices and behaviours, between food and health,
between food systems and the environment, as well as between people(s).

Big Ideas for food, culture, and environment

(adapted from Centre for Ecoliteracy).
K-2:
Food:
Food is essential for our survival. Where does food come from before it reaches our plates? Learning
about food sources/origins , global food chains, an important aspect in exploring how food choices
impact society and the environment.
Big Ideas
The food we eat generally comes from plants or/and animals, most of which is raised on farms.
Health:
Building on children's natural curiosity about there bodies, students explore the relationships between
food, movement, and health
Big Ideas
What we eat and the way we use our bodies can affect our health.
Culture:
food beyond nourishment, it has to do with tastes, culture, life situations. Through identification with
diverse food choices/eating habits/customs, students can begin to appreciate diversity in (food)
cultures.
Big Ideas
Different People(s) have different tastes in food.
Environment:
Why do people eat? As all living things, we need food, to continue to live. All animal take in plants
and/or other animals as food. However, plants generate their own food using sunlight. Through an
exploration of the basic need for food, students can begin to understand how food connects then to
other living beings and to their environment.
Big Ideas
All living things need some kind of food to live.

References
Centre for Ecoliteracy (2014). Big Ideas: Linking Food, Culture, Health, and the Environment A
New Alignment with Academic Standards. http://www.ecoliteracy.org
Wittman, Hannh. Desmarais, Annette Aurlie. Wiebe, Nettie. (eds.) (2010). Food Sovereignty:
Reconnecting Food, Nature and Community. Fernwood Publishing.
(eds.) (2011). Food Sovereignty in Canada: Creating Just and Sustainable Food Systems.
Fernwood Publishing.