Improving Our Nation's Food Literacy

The next big movement in food will consist of improving our food literacy.  My prediction is that this movement will consist of three distinct initiatives that will make us wiser, more ethically sound, and less wasteful consumers.  These initiatives will ideally consist of:

• Improved understanding of how to cook a range of healthy foods at home.  Ideally, this will be integrated into a middle and high school curriculum so that individuals leave secondary school with a basic understanding of how to cook for themselves.
• Improved understanding of how to read food labels.  This will ensure that consumers are able to choose foods that fit within a healthy, balanced diet.
• Understanding of how to minimize food waste.  This will consist of such skills as how to preserve foods to prevent premature spoilage, how to integrate available ingredients into a range of dishes before they go bad, and how to shop and acquire food that has minimal packaging that will eventually be bound for a landfill. 

 In some cases, these initiatives are already in place.  The popular children's television show Sesame Street has a segment titled "Monster Foodies" that features Cookie Monster and his food-truck colleague Gonger prepare a range of foods.  In the below link, viewers can watch the fur-covered duo visit a cranberry bog to learn how cranberries are harvested for the cranberry muffins Cookie Monster and Gonger bake for a customer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjO6WxENdKQ 

Teaching children about where our food comes from at an early age will guide us towards a great era of culinary enlightenment.  Building these skills into adulthood will lead mankind towards greater health and happiness in the years to come.