https://www.mdu.se/

Our overall objective is to improve food literacy in ECEC, and develop a research based, easy to use, free of charge digital tool to support the adoption of more sustainable and healthy diets in ECECIs. What we eat has an impact on our health (Ward et al., 2021), and it is responsible for 25% of our carbon footprint (Tilman & Clark, 2014). Moreover, it has a huge impact on biological diversity on land, in fresh and in salt water (Vijay et al., 2016). The younger generation will bear the consequences of inaction on the climate crisis and should therefore be empowered to effectively engage in climate action (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 2022). We will use a both a positivist and pragmatic paradigm approach to collect, compare and analyse several types of data (using quantitative and qualitative methods), such as questionnaires, interviews, LCA. All participants will sign an informed consent form. Children’s participation will be voluntary with the possibility to withdraw at any time. All data will be anonymized after the link between data from different sources is established. ECECIs can help promoting sustainability in many ways. In this project, we focus on three aspects: children eating habits, the environmental footprints (and its potential mitigation) of dietary regimes in ECECIs, and children understanding of energy flow in ecosystems. This research will have a direct impact on the ECEC sector and on children health and will contribute to a better understanding of ECECI and sustainability.