Environmental impact of diet: Arguments of pre-service teachers and high school students

Abstract

• Human diet is almost solely considered in nutritional terms, without paying attention to its impact on the environment. This study examines how pre-service teachers and high school students perceive five dimensions of diet (nutritional, environmental, economic, ethical and cultural-personal), particularly focusing on environment. The research questions are: 1) how does their assessment of the environmental impact of diet change in the context of an argumentative teaching sequence? 2) Which data do they use and how do they use them in their arguments about the appropriateness of different diets according to environmental criteria? Their perceptions change from an initial invisibility of the environmental impact of diets to a full consideration of its relevance and an increased presence of the environment in their arguments. We suggest a need for problematizing diet and its sustainability, making its environmental impact more visible.