Abstract
The aim of the study is to examine association between food literacy components and demographic variables among school children in urban and rural schools of Nepal. The study participants were randomly selected from six different schools in total from Kathmandu and Chitwan. Web-based survey was conducted through social media and personal emails. Equal number of boys (72) and girls (72) were approached for participation. 99% of the total approached participants responded. In addition, semi-structured interviews were also conducted to investigate perceived behavior of the participants about components of food literacy. The study uncover that there is a contextual (location of residence) and gender differences in cooking skills, prioritization of nutrition while buying foods, interest in gardening and attention to food labels on food packages. Specifically, girls and students from Chitwan are better off with food literacy components than their counterparts’ boys and Kathmandu respectively. Since, the study showed participants showing interest in gardening are involved in frequent field visits, have better cooking skills and tend to prioritize nutrition over other components while buying foods. This could imply that school garden could act as an ideal solution in enhancing food literacy knowledge.
Key words: food literacy, School garden, rational choice, food chain, demography, sustainability