Grant: Planning and Dissemination Grant - Institute Community Support

Unhealthy eating continues to be a major risk factor for chronic disease in Ontario. It is well understood that healthy eating, including avoiding foods higher in sodium, sugars, and saturated fat and eating plenty of vegetables and fruits, helps mitigate the risk of chronic disease. Promoting food literacy is an essential strategy to support healthy eating behaviours and food preferences, especially in children and youth. To bring attention to the need to support children and youth in becoming food literate, the Nutrition Connections team at the Ontario Public Health Association (OPHA) has been examining the state of food literacy in Ontario. The OPHA has undertaken several projects in recent years to identify the key players, policies, and programs that make up the food literacy landscape in Ontario. Although there are many groups and individuals involved in activities that support children and youth to become food literate across the province, a facilitated connection among these players is lacking and this has created gaps in food literacy research, policy, and programming. We are proposing to host a two-day workshop in June 2020 in Toronto, Ontario to bring together key players to discuss, identify, and reach consensus on priorities for food literacy research, policy, and programming. The workshop will include presentations by invited food literacy and child health experts across sectors (e.g., researchers, policy makers, and practitioners). Break-out sessions with guided discussions and activities to encourage networking, knowledge sharing, problem solving, and priority setting will make up the majority of the workshop. To date, there have been limited opportunities for experts, researchers, practitioners, government, and funders to convene and discuss priorities related to food literacy research, policy, and programming. The proposed workshop will create such an opportunity and is expected to ignite ongoing relationships and collaborations.