Johanna Mäkelä, University of Helsinki - Food consciousness and the changing food culture of the children in the Nordic countries

www.helsinki.fi/yliopisto

Food sense and the changing foodculture of the children in the Nordic

countries/Matinsikt och barnensföränderliga matkultur i NordenJohanna Mäkelä, Department of Teacher Education

Food culture and food education strengthen the Nordic BrandNordisk matkultur och matfostran stärker nordisk branding

18 August 2016 Helsinki


• food work as a core of family life• having children effects food habits and division oflabour at home• family as a context for mediating and caring for foodculture• food habits interpreted as signs of family life andwell-being• a family eating together stays together… ideal is self-cooked healthy ”home food” of domestic origin eatentogether

Food in everyday family life (1)


• socialization and education of children at thetable• from helplessness to supercommitment• convenience food and take-aways as asolution• decision making and division of labour

Food in everyday family life (2)


Growing into a food culture

• the importance of local food culture(s)• home meals

• longing for and appreciating of family meals

• the strains of busy everyday life

• in Finland, there is respect for free of charge hotschool lunches despite criticism

• NB! different Nordic school lunch systems

• the crucial role of peers• own family as a model (mothers!?)• the changing expertise


The Finnish Food Pyramid 2014 (©Valtion ravitsemusneuvottelukunta)


• healthy food• unhealthy food• favourite food• differences in Nordic school lunch systems• Johansson et al. 2009

Nordic Children’s Foodscapes


Omnomnom, food challengesand social media


Tasting baby food

25.8.2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AqcYSHpPCU


Smoothie challenge

25.8.2016Käyttäytymis-tieteellinen tiedekunta / Henkilön nimi/ Esityksen nimi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26x6QmDT73k


Ruby teaching kids to cook #1

25.8.2016https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCxhX2miwgs

10


Bean Boozled Challenge: a Russianroulette with candies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOrREIs2NhQ


Candies are sometimes really bad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IehqVAFNQ2s


• knowledge, skills, adaptations, variations,resistance• what do adults want and what do children want?• many roles and meanings of food and eating• contextuality• different food cultures

Contradictions?


The importance ofunderstanding childrens’agency and participation

Janhonen, K. (2016) Adolescents’ Participation and Agency inFood Education. Summary available online:

https://helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10138/159380


Food senseruokataju/matinsikt

Janhonen, Kristiina, Mäkelä, Johanna & Palojoki, Päivi (2016)


• an understanding of cultural and social meanings thatrelate to food and eating as local and global systems

• the opportunity of potentially acting against one’sknowledge of a healthy and sustainable diet

• the notion of food sense aims to promote people’sagency and empowerment, as well as joy and pleasureattached to food

• knowledge in relation to food sense refers not only tothe ability to make nutritionally balanced choices, butalso to the ability to understand the complexities of thesurrounding world

• examining food related processes and choices ascollective rather than merely individual activities

Food sense (1)


• the term food sense aims at taking distance from theindividual and knowledge-based focus that has beencritiqued in reference to the concept food literacy

• the definition of food sense acknowledges the cultural,social and societal dimensions of eating, the context- andpractice-bound aspects of food choices, as well as thenotion of sustainability according to its broad definition

• the core idea of food sense is to be able to make sense ofcomplex and wide-reaching subject areas that take root ineveryday practices, as well as to understand the relationsof one’s own choices to community and structuralsurroundings

• we suggest the concept of food sense as a potentialplatform for food education

Food sense (2)


Food sense: references

• Janhonen, Kristiina, Mäkelä, Johanna & Palojoki, Päivi(2015). Perusopetuksen ruokakasvatus ravintotiedostaruokatajuun Teoksessa Luova ja vastuullinenkotitalousopetus = Creative and responsible homeeconomics education. Janhonen-Abruquah, H. & Palojoki, P.(toim.). Helsinki: Helsingin yliopisto, Käyttäytymistieteellinentiedekunta, Kotitalous- ja käsityötieteiden julkaisuja; no. 38,Opettajankoulutuslaitos, 107-120.

• Janhonen, Kristiina, Kauppinen, Eila, Mäkelä, Johanna &Palojoki, Päivi (2016). Ruokataju on omakohtaistaymmärrystä ruokavalinnoista. Kotitalous 79 (2), 30-31.

• Janhonen, K., Mäkelä, J. & Palojoki, P. (2016). Foodeducation: from normative models to promoting agency. InSumner, J. (ed.), Learning, food, and sustainability: sites forresistance and change. Palgrave Macmillan, in press.

Thank you for your attention

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