A study of ways to increase awareness of food ethics within South Korean middle school education

The purpose of the present study lies in examining what kind of topics regarding food ethics are being covered in South Korean middle school technology/home economics textbooks in an effort to help improve adolescents’ awareness of food ethics. To achieve the goals of the present study, the characteristics of food ethics in the nation’s middle school technology/home economics textbooks were analyzed based on the system of the contents of food ethics presented by Byun (2015). Based on our analysis on what kind of topics were covered in the textbooks for each course, the existing curriculum for middle school technology/home economics course one covered nutrition and health, and course two covered dietary life environment, production and consumption of environment-friendly food. Our analysis regarding the contents for each topic revealed that the production- centered contents mainly addressed food-safety and circulation; distribution-centered contents focused mainly on food mileage and a small portion on environmental pollution; and consumption-centered contents addressed ethical consumption and sustainable meals. With the results of this study, the curriculum related to food ethics can be further developed leading to help the nation’s youth realize that food is not limited solely to health and enjoyment, but also entails both rights and responsibilities within the contents that were covered.