FOODLIT-PRO: conceptual and empirical development of the food literacy wheel

Abstract

Pursuing food systems’ sustainability is crucial. Given the risk constituted by unhealthy diets, scarce research on food-related adjacent fields, and inconsistency across food literacy conceptualizations, this study aims to explore the constructs’ definition and develop a conceptual and empirical framework of food literacy. A quantitative approach was taken on previously obtained qualitative outcomes from 30 interviews with experts from food-related fields. Food literacy was defined by a four-dimension model: Cooking Skills, Preserve and Analyse, Choice and Acquisition, Search and Plan. The framework Food Literacy Wheel integrates the construct definition, food literacy determinants (Internal, External) and influential factors (Nutritional, Psychological, Health, Learning Contexts, Policy, Industry, Sustainability, Social and Cultural). Allowing a broader perspective of food literacy within major food systems, this study contributes with new insights for future instruments and interventions, paving the way to develop/implement food literacy-related multi-sectorial and multilevel actions.

Keywords:

• Food literacy
• definition
• mixed-methods
• framework
• conceptual
• empirical

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the technical support provided by colleagues for the interviews’ transcriptions, and the help provided with the graphic illustration by the colleagues from Audiovisual and Multimedia Unit from ISPA–Instituto Universitário.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The WJCR-William James Center for Research is funded by FCT–Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (UID/PSI/04810/2019). This research was funded by FCT–Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (grant number SFRH/BD/128528/2017).