This interview refers to the You Are What You Eat project which can be found in our Good Practices section.
GOOD PRACTICE OVERVIEW, CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
What did you like the most about this practice?
The advantages of this practice include, first and foremost, raising people’s awareness of the impact of nutrition on the proper functioning of the human body. It shows how important both physical activity and a healthy, well-balanced diet are in the everyday life of every person. Importantly, it highlights how neglecting the basic principles of healthy eating can contribute to bodily dysfunctions that may manifest themselves in the emergence of the increasingly common civilisation diseases of today, such as obesity.
What did you like the least about this practice?
A weakness of this practice is that the basic principles of healthy eating (particularly attention to meal variety) are not described in detail. It is important that our diet should be varied, adequately balanced and provide all the nutrients for the proper functioning of the organism. In my opinion, too much attention has also been paid to the calorific value of products. What is more important here is their nutritional value (availability of complete proteins, fats, carbohydrates or vitamins and minerals).
How can this practice be improved in the future?
Certainly, the ever-increasing proportion of people struggling with obesity these days will mean that there will also be a growing interest in solutions for how to help these people with these conditions, This practice has great potential for raising awareness among this audience in particular. Highlighting this fact can induce them to change their eating habits. The potential of this practice could be strengthened through the implementation of different events, verbinars or workshops where meals could be composed together.
Do you think your understanding of Food Literacy and sustainable food systems has been improved after implementing this practice?
Yes, to a certain extent, this practice increased my knowledge in this area. However, most of the issues were already known to me.
Have you made any changes to your diet yet after implementing this practice?
No, because I am familiar with all the principles that are included in this practice, and I have been applying them to my diet for a long time. I pay attention to what I eat, the composition of the products, their nutritional value and, above all, the variety of foods and their appropriate energy balance.
Do you have any ideas, how can sustainable food systems be promoted among young people/children?
The right way to eat can certainly be promoted through various social media (fb, Instagram, tic-tac-toe, etc.). However, various events where people could see, for example, how to compose meals properly (e.g. workshops), conferences on healthy eating could be equally helpful in promotion.
