The Emerging Landscape for Sustainable Food System Education: Mapping Current Higher Education Opportunities for Australia’s Future Food and Nutrition Workforce

The food system is broken. There is uncertainty about the extent to which Australia’s future food and nutrition workforce is being equipped with knowledge and practical skills to contribute to solving large-scale, food system problems. This study identified modules about sustainable food systems taught within Australian nutrition and/or dietetic Tertiary degrees, and they were analyzed using two educational theories. Of 130 identified degrees, 8% (n = 9) included modules (n = 16) about the sustainable food systems. The majority of learning outcomes (88%, n = 56) were in the cognitive domain of Bloom’s revised taxonomy. The majority of assessment methods (56%, n = 9) were at the ‘shows’ level with no assessments at the ‘does’ level of Miller’s prism. Australia’s nutrition and dietetics tertiary offerings require food system education opportunities which prioritize higher order learning and assessment. This will contribute to a food and nutrition workforce that can contribute to the multi-disciplinary approach required to preserve the natural environment and ensure a sustainable food system for future generations.