Food literacy is an evolving term fundamental to both health and education.  The concept of food literacy typically has been informed by nutrition-focused thinking, with particular emphasis on food skills.  Moving beyond this traditional focus is necessary to address the demands of consumers navigating today’s complex food environments. Although the term is increasingly recognized, there is no consensus regarding the definition of food literacy or its conceptual dimensions. This paper describes a Food Literacy Conceptual Model that integrates multiple food literacy perspectives and theoretical frameworks.  This Food Literacy Conceptual Model provides an enhanced framework with potential application as a pedagogical tool. As an interdisciplinary approach to food literacy, the conceptual model has the potential to increase teaching and learning effectiveness in the school context through a tailored approach to understanding the core components of this construct. In addition, a learner’s food literacy may increase with the application of this practical and more comprehensive framing in the conceptual model.  

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

• Hernandez, K. J., Gillis, D., Kevany, K., Kirk, S., (2025), "Towards a common understanding of food literacy: a pedagogical framework", HSSCommons: (DOI: 10.15353/cfs-rcea.v8i4.467)

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1. Food literacy

Original publication: Hernandez, Kimberley J; Gillis, Doris; Kevany, Kathleen; Kirk, Sara. "Towards a common understanding of food literacy: a pedagogical framework." Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l'alimentation, vol. 8, no. 4, 2021. DOI: 10.15353/cfs-rcea.v8i4.467. This material has been re-published in an unmodified form on the Canadian HSS Commons with the permission of Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l'alimentation. Copyright © the author(s). Work published in CFS/RCÉA prior to and including Vol. 8, No. 3 (2021) is licensed under the Creative Commons CC BY license. Work published in Vol. 8, No. 4 (2021) and after is licensed under the Creative Commons CC BY-SA license. For details, see creativecommons.org/licenses/.