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What is Food Literacy?

Overview

What is food literacy?

Food Literacy [fu: d lit-er-uh-see]

noun: Food Literacy is understanding the impact of your food choices on our health, environment, and economy–and understanding that these impacts are not experienced equitably..

Our food system is linked to a host of problems: obesity, climate change, unhealthy diets, lack of food access, food safety concerns, workers’ rights, and so much more. The problems with the system can feel overwhelming, while the burden to find reliable information often falls to the consumer.

Who can you trust? What information is right? What should you eat?

As a collective society, few of us understand the holistic story of our food: the miles of fossil fuels burned to bring a tomato to your supermarket; the number of calories in that “low-fat” granola bar; the wage of the laborer who harvested your peach.

Every bite of food we chew has a story.

Food Literacy Center’s role is to help the public understand the story of our food.

We define “food literacy” as understanding the impact of your food choices on your health, the environment, and our economy.

We believe that being food literate empowers us to make informed choices. Our job is to provide food education in a way that’s fun, approachable, and practical.

Learn more about our programs and support this cause.

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