Taste in food education: a critical review essay

TY - JOUR

T1 - Taste in food education

T2 - a critical review essay

AU - Wistoft, Karen

AU - Leer, Jonatan

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - In this article, we focus on how taste is used in contemporary food education. By critically discussing a series of academic studies that design and evaluate taste education programs for children, we argue that most of the literature on taste education demonstrates a reductive understanding of taste and is essentially mistrustful of children’s taste rather than developing children’s ability to make critical food choices. Taste is seen as a barrier to the adoption of “correct” eating habits and is not recognized as an important sense, a source of pleasure, or a central way of sensually understanding and approaching the world. In other words, taste education becomes a tool to push children toward “hegemonic nutrition.

AB - In this article, we focus on how taste is used in contemporary food education. By critically discussing a series of academic studies that design and evaluate taste education programs for children, we argue that most of the literature on taste education demonstrates a reductive understanding of taste and is essentially mistrustful of children’s taste rather than developing children’s ability to make critical food choices. Taste is seen as a barrier to the adoption of “correct” eating habits and is not recognized as an important sense, a source of pleasure, or a central way of sensually understanding and approaching the world. In other words, taste education becomes a tool to push children toward “hegemonic nutrition.

KW - Taste

KW - Food

KW - Education

KW - Children

KW - Pedagogy

KW - Controlling

KW - Critical Alternative

KW - Fagdidaktik

KW - Madkundskab

KW - Taste education

KW - Food education

KW - Hegemonic nutrition

KW - Taste barrieres

KW - Learning goals

KW - food education

KW - hegemonic nutrition

KW - learning goals

KW - taste education

KW - taste barriers

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85059311115&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/07409710.2018.1534047

DO - 10.1080/07409710.2018.1534047

M3 - Review

SN - 0740-9710

VL - 26

SP - 329

EP - 349

JO - Food and Foodways

JF - Food and Foodways

IS - 4

ER -