You Eat What You Are: Sociocultural Factors That Influence and Inform Food Literacies
Date
2023-01-10
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Abstract
Numerous and varied definitions and understandings of food literacy exist across health, nutrition, and education disciplines. Food literacy is a contested and subjective topic and has been used across health disciplines to combat dietary-related diseases to improve population health outcomes. Often, the common interpretation of food literacy results in a superficial and autonomous view of food literacy that is restricted to food-related knowledge and skills such as knowing how to cook or being able to read and understand a nutrition label, thereby neglecting the wider contextual influences on food literacy. Viewing food literacy from a literacy as a social practice lens allows us to view food literacies as something people do in social, cultural, and historical contexts. This study examined the sociocultural factors and social practices that influence food literacies using a qualitative case study methodology. Using a narrative writing activity, followed by semi-structured interviews, I explored the concept of food literacy from a literacy as a social practice perspective, focusing on the literacy aspect of food literacy. The findings of this study show how food literacy practices are influenced by a wide variety of sociocultural factors, including social relations, health, gender, economic status, and emotions. As a result, I propose the following definition of food literacy: Food literacy is what we do with food, and why we do it. Food literacy, just like conventional literacy, must be critical, allowing us to “read the world through food” (Sumner, 2015, p. 134). Food literacies are developed over time, are contextual, and are influenced by a variety of sociocultural factors. Further, this study found that participants’ sociocultural self-awareness is critical and well developed; it is a strength that needs to be drawn on when developing and delivering food literacy programming.
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Keywords
food literacy, literacy as a social practice, sociocultural factors, case study, narrative writing
Citation
Farrell, P. (2023). You eat what you are: sociocultural factors that influence and inform food literacies (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.