Learning, Food, and Sustainability (eBook)

Jennifer Sumner is Lecturer in the Adult Education and Community Development Program at the  Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) University of Toronto, Canada.  Her research interests include food and food systems, co-operatives, globalization, sustainability, rural communities, and critical pedagogy.  

Dedication 6
Contents 8
List of Figures 12
List of Tables 14
Author Biographies 16
Introduction 20
Learning 20
Food 22
Sustainability 25
Putting It All Together: Learning, Food, and Sustainability 25
References 31
Part I: Learning, Food, and Sustainability in the Home and Community 33
Chapter 1: Learning and Food at the Mother’s Breast 34
Introduction 34
Breastfeeding Practices During the Last Century 36
Infant Feeding and Breast Milk Production 38
Breastfeeding: A Public Issue 42
Policy Initiatives That Support Breastfeeding 42
Public Backlash Against Breastfeeding 44
Conclusion 46
References 47
Chapter 2: The Tale of the Crying Rice: The Role of Unpaid Foodwork and Learning in Food Waste Prevention and Reduction in Indonesian Households 50
Introduction 50
The Global Issue of Food Waste 52
Unpaid Foodwork 54
Learning, Food Knowledge, and Food Literacy 55
Learning and Gender-Based Unpaid Foodwork 56
Learning and Faith/Spiritual-Based Unpaid Foodwork 58
Learning and Cultural-Based Unpaid Foodwork 60
Conclusion 61
Works Cited 62
Chapter 3: Learning, Food, and Sustainability in Health Care Settings 66
Introduction 66
Nutrition Education in Health Care 67
Diabetes Nutrition Education 70
Opening the Door to an Alternative Nutrition Education 74
“Locating” Local Sustainable Food 74
Cultivating a Sense of Community 76
Recommendations for Developing an Alternative Approach to Nutrition Education 78
Conclusion 80
References 81
Part II: Learning, Food, and Sustainability in the School 84
Chapter 4: Learning, Food, and Sustainability in the School Curriculum 85
Introduction 85
Content and Experiences Appropriate for Food Education 87
Lower Elementary Students 89
Upper Elementary and Middle School Students 89
High School Students 90
The Behavior Change Process for School-Based Nutrition Education 90
Interventions: Create a Healthy School Food Environment 91
Short-Term Behavior Change: Change Students’ Values, Knowledge, and Skills about Food 92
Medium-Term Behavior Change: Move Students toward a Good Food Diet 94
Long-Term Behavior Change: Health, Ecological Sustainability, and Social Justice 97
Integrating Food-Based Education into the Curriculum 98
Policies and Practices to Increase Food-Based Education 99
Conclusion 100
References 101
Chapter 5: Developing a Learning Garden on a Mid-­Western Land Grant University 104
Introduction 104
The Political Ecology of Developing a Learning Garden 107
Critical Ethnographic Methods 109
Key Collaborators 109
Land Grant University Context 110
Findings 111
Themal Vignette #1: “Finding a Place to Touch Campus” 111
Themal Vignette #2: “The Fence” 115
Reflections 118
Concluding Thoughts 120
References 120
Chapter 6: Food Education: From Normative Models to Promoting Agency 122
Introduction 122
The Shifting Focus of Food Education 123
Promoting Agency Through Food Sense 125
Creating Collaborative Food Education in Finland 129
Conclusion 132
References 134
Part III: Learning, Food, and Sustainability in Social Movements 140
Chapter 7: Learning through Story as Political Praxis: The Role of Narratives in Community Food Work 141
Introduction 141
Praxis and Community Food Work 144
Epistemological and Ontological Considerations of Community Food Work 148
Learning for Community Food Work through Story 149
Conclusion: Considerations and Possibilities 154
References 155
Chapter 8: Learning, Food, and Sustainability in Community-Campus Engagement: Teaching and Research Partnerships That Strengthen the Food Sovereignty Movement 160
Introduction 160
Academic Engagement with Food Sovereignty 165
Orientations to Community-Campus Engagement 168
Cognitive Justice 169
Outcomes of Horizontal Engagement 171
Sharing Skills and Knowledge 172
Maintaining the Transformative Orientation 172
Building on Place-Based Knowledge 172
Networking for Change 173
Working on Mutual Interdependence 174
Blurring the Boundaries 174
A Place for Conventional CCE? 175
Conclusion 176
References 178
Chapter 9: Re: Claiming Food Sovereignty, Reclaiming Ways of Knowing: Food Justice Course Digs Deeper 181
Introduction 181
Starting with the Seed 182
Theoretical Framing 183
Field 1: Course Content—From Food Enterprise to Food Sovereignty 183
Field 2: Course Methodology—From Colonial Banking Education to Popular Holistic Education 185
Institutional Context of the Food Justice Course 187
Food Justice Course Design 187
Critical Reflections on Key Issues 189
Education for Critical Consciousness Around Food 189
Critical Consciousness and an Intersectional Analysis of Power: Class, Gender, and Race 193
Praxis Learning 196
Conclusion 200
References 202
Part IV: Learning, Food, and Sustainability: Tools for the Future 204
Chapter 10: Youth and Food Literacy: A Case Study of Food Education at The Stop Community Food Centre 205
Introduction: What Has Food Education and Food Literacy Got to Do with It? 205
Research Methods 206
Unpacking the Idea of Food Literacy 207
The Neoliberal Consciousness Paradigm: Food Literacy as Individual Responsibility and Choice 208
The Critical Consciousness Paradigm: Food Literacy as Active Engagement and Transformative Learning 209
Measuring Food Literacy 210
Community-Based Youth Food Education at The Stop’s “FLY” Program 212
Facilitating Food Literacy in Food Education 214
The Discord Among Beliefs, Intention, and Reality 218
Building a Stronger Food Education Program for Food Literacy 219
Does Food Literacy Mean Food Systems Change? 220
Transformative Learning in Food Literacy for Change 220
Re-evaluating the FLY Program 221
Conclusion 222
References 222
Chapter 11: School Food and Nutrition Policies as Tools for Learning 225
Introduction 225
SFNPs in Canada 226
Setting the Context: CSH, Student Engagement, and Citizenship Education 226
CSH 227
Citizenship Education 229
Student Engagement 229
Nutrition Education Initiatives: Teaching and Learning about SFNPs 230
Engaging Students in Teaching and Learning about SFNPs 232
Considerations 237
Conclusion 240
References 241
Chapter 12: Learning to Transgress: Creating Transformative Spaces in and Beyond the Classroom 245
Introduction 245
Our Academic Experience 247
Our Stories 252
Claudia 253
Jess 254
Angie 256
Conclusion: Learning To Unlearn 258
References 260
Afterword: Food 360: Seeing Our Way Around Learning About Food 262
Making Food Visible 263
Making Food Visibility Teachable 267
Glossary of Terms 278
References 285
Index 287