Table A3.

The definition cited by articles considered to be ‘about’ food literacy (n = 82).

Authors	Year	Times Cited	Definitions	Skills/ Behaviours	Food/ Health Choices	Culture	Knowledge	Emotions	Food Systems
Vidgen and Gallegos [15,33,44,51,52]	2011, 2012, 2014, 2016	66	“The scaffolding that empowers individuals, house-holds, communities or nations to protect diet quality through change and strengthen dietary resilience over time. It is composed of a collection of inter-related knowledge, skills and behaviours required to plan, manage, select, prepare and eat food to meet needs and determine intake.”	X	X		X	X	X
Cullen et al. [18]	2015	12	“Food literacy is the ability of an individual to understand food in a way that they develop a positive relationship with it, including food skills and practices across the lifespan in order to navigate, engage, and participate within a complex food system. It’s the ability to make decisions to support the achievement of personal health and a sustainable food system considering environmental, social, economic, cultural, and political components.”	X	X	X		X	X
Kolasa et al. [2]	2001	7	“The capacity of an individual to obtain, interpret and understand basic food and nutrition information and services as well as the competence to use that information and services in ways that are health enhancing.”		X		X
Velardo [32]	2015	5	“The importance of linking nutrition information with people’s practical use of food to meet day-to-day needs.”		X		X
Azevedo Perry et al. [17]	2017	4	“Food literacy highlights interconnectivity among food, health and the environment, while fostering a greater understanding of food beyond traditional nutrition recommendations and cookery lessons.”
Fordyce-Voorham [53]	2011	4	“Food literacy was seen mainly as an individual’s ability to read, understand, and act upon labels on fresh, frozen, canned, frozen (sic), processed, and takeout food.”
Krause et al. [54]	2016	4	“This term encompasses nutritional knowledge, food skills, the ability to communicate about nutritional issues and to critically reflect on one’s eating behavior and the effects of consumption decisions.”
Desjardins et al. [55]	2013	3	“A set of skills and attributes that help people sustain the daily preparation of healthy, tasty, affordable meals for themselves and their families. Food literacy builds resilience, because it includes food skills (techniques, knowledge and planning ability), the confidence to improvise and problem-solve, and the ability to access and share information.”
Krause et al. [9]	2018	3	“To apply information on food choices and critically reflect on the effect of food choice on personal health and on society.”
Schnoegl et al. [56]	2006	3	“The ability to organize one’s everyday nutrition in a self-determined, responsible and enjoyable way.”
Sumner [57]	2013	3	“Food literacy is the ability to “read the world” in terms of food, thereby recreating it and remaking ourselves. It involves a full-cycle understanding of food—where it is grown, how it is produced, who benefits and who loses when it is purchased, who can access it (and who can’t), and where it goes when we are finished with it. It includes an appreciation of the cultural significance of food, the capacity to prepare healthy meals and make healthy decisions, and the recognition of the environmental, social, economic, cultural, and political implications of those decisions.”
Truman, Lane and Elliot [4]	2017	3	“The idea of proficiency in food related skills and knowledge.”
Bellotti [58]	2010	2	“A concept involving three main domains; food, nutrition and health; agriculture, environment and ecology; and social development and equity.”
Block et al. [59]	2011	2	“Food literacy entails both understanding nutrition information and acting on that knowledge in ways consistent with promoting nutrition goals and FWB [food well-being].”
Home Economics Victoria [60]	2015	2	“Having the knowledge, skills and the capacity to source, prepare, cook, and share food in a sustainable manner to promote a healthy and balanced lifestyle. Food literacy is also about individuals understanding the role that food plays in communities and cultures.”
Howard and Brichta [61]	2013	2	“Food literacy can be defined as individual’s food related knowledge, attitudes, and skills. This broad definition of food literacy incorporates household perception, assessment, and management of the risks associated with their food choices. Food literacy also includes an individual’s understanding of how food is produced, processed, distributed, purchased, and wasted, as well as how to interpret claims made in food marketing and advertising.”
Palumbo et al. [6]	2017	2	“The enhancement of the individual psycho-physical well-being through appropriate food choices.”
Smith [62]	2009	2	“Functional food literacy- some basic factual information on nutrition and healthy eating and food preparation skills.” “Lifeworld food literacy- the lives experience of students and others in food production and preparation locally and globally” “Interactive/interpretive food literacy the development of personal/interpersonal skills in a supportive environment to explore meanings and significance of food” “Critical food literacy reflects the cognitive skills for evaluating and taking effective individual, social and political action.”
American Association for Health Education [63]	1995	1	“The capacity of an individual to obtain, interpret and understand basic health information and services and the competence to use such information and services in ways which are health enhancing.”
Canadian Agriculture and Food Museum [64]	2016	1	“(teaching) Children and families about keeping food nutritious and safe from farm to fork.”
Colatruglio and Slater [14]	2016	1	“Food literacy… extends beyond nutritional recommendations and cookery lessons to foster important and vital connections between food, people, health and the environment on a theoretical as well as practical level.”
Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestries [65]	2013	1	“A food literate community accessing safe, affordable and nutritious food.”
Department of Health [66]	2010	1	“The skills and confidence they need to budget for, plan and prepare meals and snacks.”
Department of Health [67]	2011	1	“Having awareness and knowledge of the dietary guidelines for good health, as well as skills in menu planning, budgeting, label reading, food selection and shopping, food storage, food preparation and cooking, food safety, and determining appropriate portion size.”
Engler-Stringer [68]	2010	1	“Examinations of grocery shopping practices, which would permit the gathering of important information on the topic of cooking practices; this would involve observing distances travelled, the time spent on food acquisition, and the thought and planning required for families to purchase the foods that become household meals.”
European Union Committee [69]	2011	1	“He drew the distinction between high-income countries, where food waste mainly occurred in the home and the food service sector, and low-income countries, where nearly all food waste happens in the farm and the food system. Incentives to modify behaviour, allied with education, or food literacy, were possible responses to the issue in high-income countries; targeting new knowledge, spreading best practice and supporting investment in the agri-food system were appropriate to low-income countries.”
Food Literacy Center [70]	2013	1	“Impact of your food choices on your health, the environment, and our community.”
Fordyce-Voorham [71]	2015	1	“Nutritional knowledge and hands-on food preparation and cooking.”
Glickman et al. [72]	2012	1	“Recommendation 5.3: Ensure food literacy, including skill development, in schools.”
Government of South Australia [73]	2010	1	‘‘Capacity of an individual to obtain, interpret and understand basic food and nutrition information and services as well as the competence to use that information and available services that are health enhancing.’’
Kim and Lee [74]	2014	1	“The basic ability to manage one’s own diet entirely, from food selection to nutrition management, healthcare, and preparation of a sustainable diet in consideration of the environment and others.”
Mikkelsen et al. [75]	2005	1	“To give students the skills to become discerning consumers in relation to food, its production and the impact on the environment.”
NHMRC [76]	2013	1	“Low levels of food literacy (as a possible barrier to compliance with recommendations).”
Ontario Federation of Agriculture [77]	2016	1	“Young people learn to plan and prepare six nutritious, locally sources meals by the time they are sixteen years old.”
Ontario Food and Nutrition Strategy Group [78]	2017	1	“Information, knowledge, skills, relationships, capacity and environments to support healthy eating and make healthy choices where [Ontarians] live, gather, work, learn and play.”
Palumbo [79]	2016	1	“The ability to collect and process relevant information to properly use food in a perspective of enhanced physical and psychic well-being.”
Pendergast and Dewhurst [80]	2012	1	“Bringing together interconnecting elements such as food skills, food culture and global food systems, health related behaviours and environmental sustainability.”
Petrini, Furlan and Hunt [81]	2007	1	“Good, clean and fair.”
Prime Minister’s Science Engineering and Innovation Council [82]	2010	1	“The same report refers to food literacy contributing to food security through improving the acceptability of foods.”
Public Health Association of Australia [83]	2009	1	“A need to ensure basic food literacy.”
Queensland Public Health Forum [84]	2009	1	“Investigate options to develop and implement a state-wide initiative to increase food literacy and cooking skills within the community.”
Rawl et al. [85]	2007	1	“Focuses on food and nutrition information to help individuals make appropriate eating decisions.”
Reisch, Lorek and Bietz [86]	2011	1	“There are some ongoing efforts to develop the “food literacy” of young consumers with regards to choosing and preparing healthy (e.g., more fruit and vegetables) and sustainable (i.e., organic, regional, fair trade) food. As one element of a national food strategy, France has recently started to systematically train the sensory and taste competences of school children.”
Renwick and Powell [87]	2019	1	“Critical engagement to understand food in our social and cultural life, and how the production and marketing of food represents a particular food system that generates inequity and is ecologically unsustainable.”
Renwick [88]	2017	1	“Using food and nutrition as a focus, it is possible to see how these both inform and construct learning experiences as well as enable and enact health literacy.”
Stanton [89]	2009	1	“Knowing where our food comes from; knowing what happens to it, how to cook it, and how to prepare it.”
The Food Literacy Project [90]	2010	1	“The ability to make healthy food choices by having the skills and knowledge necessary to buy, grow, and cook food.”
Vandenbroeck, Goossens and Clemens [91]	2007	1	“degree to which people are able to assess nutritional quality and provenance”
Winslow [92]	2012	1	“…ability to locate and critically analyse information and arguments about America’s varying relationships to food and food production, the political implications and environmental impact of industrialized farming, and the current re-emergence of the small farm and local food movements as pieces of the effort to restructure and/or transform industrialized food systems into more sustainable systems.”
Wiser Earth [93]	2007	1	“Food literacy refers to the degree to which people are able to obtain, process, and understand basic information about food in order to make appropriate health decisions. Food literacy encompasses understanding labeling on food and knowledge of nutrition.”
Worsley [94]	2015	1	“Broader forms of food and nutrition education that enable people to put their knowledge into practice through the acquisition of food competencies, which is becoming known as food literacy.”

Definitions which were not the most-cited were not assessed against Truman et al. [4] six categories, and are therefore highlighted in grey.