Bridging sustainability and health: the role of food literacy in shaping eating practices

This study received no funding.

Authors and Affiliations

1. Gastronomy and Culinary Arts Department, Bahçeşehir University, Istanbul, Turkey

   Selda Karahan

2. Gastronomy and Culinary Arts Department, Kocaeli University, İzmit, Turkey

   Kadir Yavuz, Dilek Dülger Altıner & Selda Uca Karacabey

3. Tourism Management Department, Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkey

   Demet Genceli

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to
Demet Genceli or Selda Uca Karacabey.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethics approval

The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Kocaeli University (Approval ID: 2025/03, E-94094268-020-7528602021-12-001; Decision No. 24; Date: March 21, 2025). The online survey was conducted from March 22, 2025, to May 10, 2025. All procedures were performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, the Council of Higher Education (Yükseköğretim Kurulu – YÖK, Turkey), and relevant institutional and international ethical guidelines (institutional: Kocaeli University’s Social Sciences Ethics Committee). Prof. Dr. Mine HALİS chaired the Ethics Committee, overseeing and signing the approval. The online survey was administered to 204 volunteers. Ethics approval was granted by the Social Sciences Ethics Committee of Kocaeli University in accordance with the institutional procedures defined by YÖK. The questionnaire and methodology were reviewed and approved prior to data collection. In this study, an online survey was administered to 204 volunteers. The Approval Committee is the Social and Human Sciences Ethics Committee of Kocaeli University, Turkey. The date is 21.03.2025, and the number is 2025/03. The informed consent form was provided to the volunteer participants at the beginning of the survey. This form was also submitted to Kocaeli University. This study is a non-interventional social science research project involving human participants. The authors declare that no organs or tissues were obtained from any individual.

Informed consent

All participants provided informed consent online. Informed consent was obtained from all participants before they answered any questions. The survey was conducted from March 22, 2025, to May 10, 2025. Only participants who selected “I agree to participate” were included in the survey. Participants provided consent for their involvement in the study and the use of their data for publication. They were fully informed that their anonymity would be ensured, that their data would be used solely for research purposes, and that there were no risks associated with their participation. Before accessing the survey, each participant viewed the Informed Voluntary Consent Form, which was adapted from the standardized forms available on Kocaeli University’s Social Sciences Ethics Committee website. By clicking to approve the online consent form, participants provided voluntary, informed consent before proceeding. Following the approval of the Ethics Committee, the survey was conducted between March 22, 2025, and May 10, 2025. A total of 204 participants were included in the study via convenience sampling. These individuals voluntarily agreed to participate and accessed the survey form via Google Forms. At the beginning of the online survey, each participant was presented with a structured Informed Consent Form titled “Informed Voluntary Consent Form.”. This form included the study title (“Bridging Sustainability and Health: The Role of Food Literacy in Shaping Eating Practices”), the estimated duration of participation, the purpose of the research, confidentiality assurances, and the right to withdraw at any time. The form was displayed digitally prior to the survey questions; participants were required to read and acknowledge the information to proceed. The consent process was designed to ensure that participants were fully informed and provided voluntary consent, free from external pressure or influence. Consent was obtained electronically on the date each participant accessed and completed the survey; these dates fell within the approved data collection period from March 22, 2025, to May 10, 2025. Ethical approval for the study was granted prior to the study period. The principal researcher obtained consent. Informed consent was obtained from each of the 204 adult participants who voluntarily took part in the study. No physical samples (e.g., organs or tissues) were collected, and all data were anonymized and used solely for research purposes. The study did not include minors or vulnerable individuals.

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