Education and Food Quality: A Reflection on the General Law on Adequate and Sustainable Food

Abstract

This article highlights the importance of training people in topics related to nutrition as an essential component of the educational field. It also analyzes how education is not only necessary, but, following the enactment of the General Law of Adequate and Sustainable Food (Lgaas), it is established as an unavoidable obligation for educational institutions, as it constitutes one of the most effective means to provide, from an early age, the information and knowledge that allow making appropriate decisions about nutritional habits that contribute to a dignified life. In the same way, the constitutional recognition of the right to food in Mexico is addressed, which was incorporated until October 2011 in Article 4 of the Constitution as the right of every person to nutritious, sufficient, and quality food, establishing the obligation of the State to guarantee it. Likewise, the article emphasizes how, from this point, various legal provisions and public policies have been developed to strengthen this right and transform food education, leaving behind the merely biological approach to promote practices that raise awareness among students and encourage new lifestyles. From the analysis carried out, it is noted that these initiatives have proven insufficient in the face of eating practices deeply rooted in the national culture. Therefore, transferring these programs to the classrooms requires overcoming the exclusively theoretical approach and promoting critical and reasoned reflections that allow genuine and sustainable changes. In this context, the Lgaas, published on April 17, 2024, acknowledges the need to ensure food requirements for a dignified life. Consequently, the present analysis highlights the importance of integrating nutritional content into the curricula and training teachers as the main agents of change.