The Food Literacy Model  informed the development of a series of questions for use in a questionnaire for evaluating a school-based food skills program.  Equally, the questionnaire has relevance for food skills programs in community settings. Teachers or food educators could use the following questionnaire to survey their students and/or participants and evaluate their skill-based programs. The outcomes of the survey would be twofold:

  • Firstly, they would provide teachers or food educators with useful feedback from their students and/or participants for program evaluation.
  • Secondly, they would provide evidence about good teaching practice and making this visible to colleagues and management for those required to undergo teacher/facilitator evaluation or appraisal.

Merits of the survey instrument

The generic design of the survey instrument makes it applicable to a diverse range of schools and has a broad appeal for use both by teachers in schools and food educators in community settings, where food education programs may operate. The proposed food literacy model is evidence based and underpins the survey, an important consideration in the design of any healthy eating intervention (Hoelscher DM et al., 2002).   Adding to or modifying questions in the current set of 21 questions make this survey adaptable for use by teachers in a diverse range of school settings and to suit the student respondents in individual schools.   With a dearth of research on food literacy practices and interventions (Brooks N & Begley A, 2013; Woodruff SJ & Kirby AR, 2013), the model and the testing instrument make an important contribution to the literature.

Testing the survey instrument

A  small-scale survey of students in one school was used to test the instrument. More detail and information can be found in Fordyce-Voorham, S (2015)  Preliminary findings of a food literacy program evaluation using a food literacy model Journal of the Home Economics Institute of Australia Vol 22 No 3 pp. 2-12

Conclusions

The preliminary findings of this small-scale study suggested that the food literacy questionnaire is a viable testing instrument for evaluating a food skills program. Underpinned by a three-level (basic, intermediate and advanced) food literacy model, the questionnaire has application for primary and secondary schools offering food skills programs. Further, the question sets are generic enough to be suitably modified for a broad range of teaching applications. While more testing needs to be performed on the model and the survey instrument, the current questionnaire can be adapted for use by any food educator to assist with the design, implementation and evaluation of their programs.

 

 

Questionnaire 

Table 2.           Questions based on the food literacy for schools model 

Question Basic Intermediate Advanced
1. Now that I have completed this food skills program… I have a better understanding of what fruits and vegetables are in season and how to prepare and cook them. I have a better understanding of judging how much food to make to avoid food waste.

 

 

 I can justify my decisions for eating the foods I do.

 
2. I am more likely to try a new food. I have a better understanding of why I choose to eat particular foods.

 

 I feel more confident in integrating tasks in order to finish work efficiently within the time limit.

 
3. I have a better understanding of the food I need to eat to keep me healthy. I have a better understanding of why my family chooses to eat particular foods. I have more confidence in managing safety, heat control and food hygiene during food preparation.

 
4. I have more confidence to prepare and cook new and familiar recipes.

 

 I have a better understanding of how the media (television, print and Internet) influences people’s food choices. I have more confidence in judging the information about food presented in the media (television, print and Internet).
5. I have a better understanding of where fresh food comes from and how I can buy it. I feel more confident that I can contribute to the way my family decides what to eat. I have more confidence in making ethical decisions about the foods I eat.
6. I have a better understanding of how I can make food look and taste better. I feel more confident that I can buy sufficient food to satisfy my family’s appetite without food wastage. I feel that I could present a case for a moral or ethical decision about food (for example, banning caged eggs or eating one meatless meal a week).
7. I feel more confident that I can prepare and cook a healthy meal for myself.

(not reported)

 I feel more confident that I can buy, prepare and cook a healthy meal for my family. I can identify factors that might influence why people in different countries eat different foods to me.
8.     I have the skills to evaluate my own and other’s eating, shopping and sustainability practices (for example, acting on food conservation measures to prevent food wastage).

 

References

Brooks N, & Begley A. (2013). Adolescent Food Literacy programmes: A review of the literature. Nutrition and Dietetics.

Hoelscher DM, Evans A, Parcel GS, & Kelder SH. (2002). Designing effective nutrition interventions for adolescents. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 102(3), S52.

Woodruff SJ, & Kirby AR. (2013). The association among family meal frequency, food preparation frequency, self-efficacy for cooking, and food preparation techniques in children and adolescents. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behaviour, 12, 711-717.