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...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Nutrients |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/24/5380 |
| _version_ | 1797455851042111488 |
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| author | Sary Seng Hart Nadav Feuer Sayamol Charoenratana |
| author_facet | Sary Seng Hart Nadav Feuer Sayamol Charoenratana |
| author_sort | Sary Seng |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:00:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3c34cd35764146afbbabd32265a9122a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-6643 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:00:08Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nutrients |
| spelling | doaj.art-3c34cd35764146afbbabd32265a9122a2023-11-24T17:10:19ZengMDPI AGNutrients2072-66432022-12-011424538010.3390/nu14245380The Role of Food Literacy in Managing Nutritional Precarity in the Migrant Experience: Dietary Lifestyles of Cambodia Migrants in ThailandSary Seng0Hart Nadav Feuer1Sayamol Charoenratana2Human Security and Equity Research Unit (HuSE), Social Science Research Institute (CUSRI), Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, ThailandGraduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, JapanHuman Security and Equity Research Unit (HuSE), Social Science Research Institute (CUSRI), Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, ThailandThe 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.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/24/5380food literacyprecarityCOVID-19migrationThailandCambodia |
| spellingShingle | Sary Seng Hart Nadav Feuer Sayamol Charoenratana The Role of Food Literacy in Managing Nutritional Precarity in the Migrant Experience: Dietary Lifestyles of Cambodia Migrants in Thailand Nutrients food literacy precarity COVID-19 migration Thailand Cambodia |
| title | The Role of Food Literacy in Managing Nutritional Precarity in the Migrant Experience: Dietary Lifestyles of Cambodia Migrants in Thailand |
| title_full | The Role of Food Literacy in Managing Nutritional Precarity in the Migrant Experience: Dietary Lifestyles of Cambodia Migrants in Thailand |
| title_fullStr | The Role of Food Literacy in Managing Nutritional Precarity in the Migrant Experience: Dietary Lifestyles of Cambodia Migrants in Thailand |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Role of Food Literacy in Managing Nutritional Precarity in the Migrant Experience: Dietary Lifestyles of Cambodia Migrants in Thailand |
| title_short | The Role of Food Literacy in Managing Nutritional Precarity in the Migrant Experience: Dietary Lifestyles of Cambodia Migrants in Thailand |
| title_sort | role of food literacy in managing nutritional precarity in the migrant experience dietary lifestyles of cambodia migrants in thailand |
| topic | food literacy precarity COVID-19 migration Thailand Cambodia |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/24/5380 |
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