Useful but overused? The “plate model” as a food educational tool in home economics

The plate model is widely used to promote healthy eating. Despite extensive adoption in dietary guidelines, the model's role in food educational practices is scarcely studied. The present study aimed to explore the plate model as a food educational tool in the school subject Home Economics (HE). Use of the plate model was investigated with Rogoff's three planes of analysis as a framework. The research question was: "How is the plate model used in a food educational practice, considering institutional, interpersonal, and personal planes?" Data from video-recorded classroom observations, focus groups, interviews, and text documents were analyzed. The data were generated through a case study, with twelve students and two HE-teachers followed over the course of a school year. Results show how the plate model was framed as the right way of eating. Nutritionally "proper" food was described, with the model functioning as a bridge linking (abstract) nutritional content with (concrete) dishes. This way of using the model might hamper understandings of fundamental principles for nutritional classification. Moreover, those who do not eat plate model-type dishes may be wrongly judged. Supported by empirical events, this study shows how the plate model can be useful – but also overused – in food education.