Has COVID changed our food literacy? Slightly, experts say

Few learn new recipes despite more time home

Cloud bread and lavishly decorated focaccia. A surge of gardening and its natural conclusion, canning. You could chart the past year by its food trends — peaks and valleys reflecting various phases of lockdown. Searches for how to make a sourdough starter, whipped coffee and bread were right up there with how to use Zoom and get tested for coronavirus, according to Google Canada’s Year in Search.

While 2020 saw a “huge spike” in cookbook sales, and it seems as though legions have been trying new recipes, a new report on food literacy from Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab finds only 35.5 per cent of Canadians have learned a new recipe during the pandemic.

“I was surprised by the number of people who actually learned new recipes since we’ve all been talking about cooking and cracking open cookbooks,” says lead author Sylvain Charlebois, senior director of the lab.

The researchers defined a recipe as being at least three ingredients and three steps, self-designed or directed, for their survey of 10,004 Canadians in January 2021.

Quebecers were the most likely to have learned a new recipe (37.2 per cent); Manitobans and Nova Scotians the least (30.8 per cent).

“The question we had at the beginning of this project was, ‘Are Canadians more food literate now than before COVID?’” says Charlebois.

“And the clear answer is slightly, at best.”

Being food literate means understanding how food choices affect your health, community, environment and economy — and having the knowledge, mindset and skills to make informed decisions. Few Canadians may be able to explain it (39.5 per cent), but the vast majority support teaching it in schools (91 per cent).

Increasing food literacy starts with children, says Charlebois. Garden-to-table programs teach students about local foods, what their benefits are and ways of enjoying them. “The more you do that,” he adds, “the more knowledgeable you are.”

Cooking is an act of empowerment, says Charlebois, and is an important aspect of food literacy. In preparing your own meals, you’re taking control of flavours, serving sizes, food waste and your own health. When people spend time cooking or growing their own food, it shows.

“It forces you to know more about food: Its origin, how it’s grown.” he says. “People become a little bit more passionate about food, and it makes them better tooled to take care of themselves and their family.”

More than half (55.9 per cent) of Canadians reported making most of their meals since March 2020; nearly one-quarter (24.3 per cent) say they’ve cooked all of them. Nearly half (48 per cent) have used a new ingredient — spices (67.5 per cent), vegetables (36.9 per cent) and oils (27.9 per cent).

As people balance work and home life within the same four walls, managing meals hasn’t gotten any easier. Just 37.5 per cent of respondents claimed their ability to plan meals has improved during the pandemic.

Fallout of the pressures of the pandemic, lack of energy and inspiration is likely an important factor, Charlebois says, which may be tied to mental health. The researchers asked respondents to rate their mental well-being since March 2020 and 40.5 per cent reported being less healthy.

“People may not have the right mindset to discover, to be audacious, to do different things,” says Charlebois. “Because as soon as you do different things, you’ve got to learn. That requires some effort.”

Given the vast amount of time many people have been spending at home, the change in number of total known recipes was lower than the researchers anticipated. While the average person knew 6.2 recipes prior to the pandemic, they now know 6.7.

In their generational breakdown, the researchers found Boomers hold the most recipe knowledge overall, but showed the lowest increase of all generations (7.4 recipes before the pandemic; 7.6 now).

Millennials put the most effort into learning recipes during COVID-19, with the number of known dishes jumping from 4.9 to 6.

“Millennials were challenged by COVID because they were forced home and they loved to do everything. Our data showed that that’s the one generation who wanted it all. They want to go out, they want to stay in, they want to order in, they want to try new cuisines,” says Charlebois. “Overnight, their world completely collapsed. (Suddenly) they’re home and they probably went into COVID with a positive attitude: Let’s try things and discover things.”

AS SOON AS YOU DO DIFFERENT

THINGS, YOU'VE GOT TO LEARN. THAT

REQUIRES SOME EFFORT.