Competing with the tuck shop: How can / influence teenage food choices in this South African high school?

This paper focuses on my personal journey towards finding out how / could influence teenage food choices in the South African high school where I teach. My quest is driven from my values of honesty, integrity and concern about the well-being of my learners. Literature shows that South African teenagers follow global food trends that could lead to the onset of dietaryrelated diseases such as diabetes later in life. As a consumer studies teacher, I feel that I have a social responsibility to care for the well-being of the learners that I teach. However, I still witness many of my learners regularly eating food that could result in obesity and dietaryrelated diseases. There are many factors that influence teenage food choices in South Africa today. In this paper, I draw the reader's attention to a trilogy of theories that may underpin contemporary teenage food choices in South Africa. Based on this framework, I conducted research in the school in which I teach to find out how /, as a consumer studies teacher, can influence teenage food choice. I used a methodology of action research to involve twelve learners in a focus group which met on a weekly basis. The research was conducted at two levels: level one was conducted by the learners in the focus group and aimed at finding out what influences the food choice of other learners in the school. Level two focused on my main research question, i.e. how can / influence teenage food choice in this high school? It is the results of this level that are discussed in this article. Data was collected using film which was later transcribed and analysed. In so doing, I turn the camera on myself, and realise that I am a living contradiction to the values that I teach. The findings focus on how I reflected on my practice to develop a living theory as an explanation of my educational influence on the food choices of the teenagers in my school. I invite the reader to join me as I reflect on the path this journey has taken me.