Learning by doing about health and sustainability through food labeling

Resumen

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) urge the development of national food-based dietary recommendations in the specific context of Sustainable Healthy Diets taking into account social, cultural, economic, ecological and environmental circumstances of each country. Nowadays a growing number of consumers are aware of the environmental implications of their purchasing decisions related with food. At the same time, consumers have difficulty understanding the labelling, that show a mix of mandatory and voluntary information that makes it difficult to understand sustainability aspects in labelling. This experience aims to provide a solution to the social need to achieve a "Healthy and Sustainable" food system. This initiative is within the objectives of the Program (Food Wave 2020-2023) in which the Madrid City Council participates, for young Europeans on climate and food. In addition, it is correlated with the Healthy and Sustainable Food Strategy of the Milan Pact signed by the Madrid City Council.The general objective of this experience is to design, program, and develop health promotion activities aimed at the population of Madrid in different areas, to help interpret the elements of health and sustainability present in food labeling by undergraduate students from different degrees at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM). Methodology is based on the service-learning (SL) experience. The University is an institution at the service of the market demands and of the society in which it is included. In this new relational scenario between University and society the meaning and value of educational practices such as SL stands out. This value is even greater in the case of Health Sciences because any action that leads to an improvement in the health of the population implies a benefit for society from many points of view.As a first step, students will try to clarify the elements of health and sustainability present in food labeling:- Health elements: nutritional labeling, nutrition and health claims.- Sustainability elements: preferred consumption/expiration date, type of packaging and possibility of being recycled, carbon footprint, type of agricultural production (organic products), among others.Once the elements will be identified, different actions as webinars and workshops will be conducted to transfer this knowledge to the public. The accomplishment of these objectives will have the following impact in society:- Facilitate an adequate selection of food products based on its nutritional value and considering elements of sustainability.- Promotion of healthy dietary habits to improve the health status of the population.- Realization of services to the community to improve the quality of life.The choice of food and diet becomes a scenario of responsibility, given the important implications that food consumption has for both health and the environment. The development of this initiative will allow the institutionalization of Learning by doing and Experiential Learning as valuable teaching strategies in Health Sciences.Acknowledgement:This work is part of the following ApS-UCM project: Aprendiendo sobre salud y sostenibilidad a través del etiquetado de los alimentos (#ref. Proyecto UCM 21).