Are We Training Nutritionists for Food Sustainability? Analysis of the Educational Planning of Federal Universities
摘要
Climate crises and resource scarcity reveal planetary boundaries, requiring a multidimensional approach to Sustainable Development. After all, Food highlights the crucial role of the university and the training of nutritionists in this scenario. The objective of this study was to investigate the integration of food and sustainability training within the Nutrition Bachelor’s degrees offered by Brazilian federal universities. A total of forty-two Educational Planning documents (PPCs, as per the Portuguese abbreviation) were systematically analyzed and summarized through the application of both keyword identification and qualitative as well as quantitative analytical methods. The findings revealed that only one-third of the Nutrition programs at Federal Higher Education Institutions (IFES, as per the Portuguese abbreviation) incorporated keywords associated with sustainability in their PPCs. Furthermore, while subjects pertaining to sustainability were present in 61.9% of the curricula, only half of these featured the term explicitly in their titles. In terms of guiding principles, 64.3% of the PPCs included one of the examined terms. However, there was a notable scarcity of information regarding faculty profiles within these documents. These results suggest a marginalization of the sustainability theme, albeit indicative of an increasing concern reflected in more recent PPCs. Consequently, there is an imperative to reevaluate the epistemological foundations of Nutrition Science and to refine the PPCs to ensure comprehensive inclusion of sustainability across all facets of the program.