A recent article posted by the CBC discussed how many Canadians have a poor understanding of calories. The gist was that many people don’t know how to read nutrition labels, don’t know how to estimate the number of calories in restaurant meals, and don’t know how much physical activity is necessary to burn off calories. To counter this, doctors are calling for better nutrition labels as well as labeling on menus. This is all well and fine but I think we need all of these things and more.

We need to improve food literacy. We need to get food education into schools. If kids are educated on label reading and other food skills, such as cooking, gardening, and nutrition, hopefully they’ll be better equipped to make healthy choices. They might even bring this new knowledge home and share it with their parents. Simply changing the information available is not going to be enough to change behaviours. Education and awareness are key and where better to start than with the captive audience of the next generation in schools.