Cargando…

The Role of Food Literacy in Managing Nutritional Precarity in the Migrant Experience: Dietary Lifestyles of Cambodia Migrants in Thailand

The paper explores the dietary lifestyles of young Cambodian migrants in Thailand to illuminate the role of food literacy in determining nutritional outcomes and well-being, including during crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, food literacy is defined as food skills and abilities...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Seng, Sary, Feuer, Hart Nadav, Charoenratana, Sayamol
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9782968/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36558539
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu14245380
Descripción
Sumario:The paper explores the dietary lifestyles of young Cambodian migrants in Thailand to illuminate the role of food literacy in determining nutritional outcomes and well-being, including during crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, food literacy is defined as food skills and abilities to plan, select, and prepare to achieve adequate consumption under new or adverse social and culinary contexts of the migrant experience. In this paper, we consider both how nutritional precarity arises in the migrant experience, and to what extent food literacy can mitigate it under various conditions. The research approach involves a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches that were adjusted to address the limited mobility for social science research during the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand. Data collection was conducted through hybrid (online and in-person) ethnography, focus group discussions, food literacy questionnaires, and key informant interviews, often facilitated through internet messaging clients. The findings indicate that, while generally high food literacy may facilitate the transition to the foreign food systems found in migration destinations, optimizing nutrition and well-being requires reinforcement by context-specific food literacy, such as openness to foreign flavors and recipes. Contextual food literacy most directly leads to positive social and health outcomes while simultaneously expanding universal food literacy in the long-term.