VCE Units 1 & 2 - Food Studies
VCE Units 1 & 2 - Food Studies
Overview
VCE Food Studies takes an interdisciplinary approach to the exploration of food, with an emphasis on extending food knowledge and skills, and building individual pathways to health and wellbeing through the application of practical food skills. VCE Food Studies provides a framework for informed and confident food selection and food preparation within today’s complex architecture of influences and choices.
Unit 1 – Food Origins
In this unit students focus on food from historical and cultural perspectives and investigate the origins and roles of food through time and across the world. Students explore how humans have historically sourced their food, examining the general progression from hunter-gatherer to rural-based agriculture, to today’s urban living and global trade in food.
Areas of Study:
- Food around the world– Students explore the origins and cultural roles of food, from early civilisations through to today’s industrialised and global world.
- Food in Australia – Students focus on the history and culture of food in Australia. They look at indigenous food prior to European settlement and the attempts of the first non-indigenous settlers to establish a secure and sustainable food supply. Students explore trends in food practices and food subcultures in Australia and their impact on health.
Unit 2– Food Makers
In this unit students investigate food systems in contemporary Australia. Students focus on commercial food production industries and look at food production in domestic and small-scale settings, as both a comparison and complement to commercial production. Students gain insight into the significance of food industries to the Australian economy and investigate the capacity of industry to provide safe, high-quality food that meets the needs of consumers.
Areas of Study:
- Australia’s food systems – Students focus on commercial food production in Australia, encompassing components of the food systems that include primary food production, processing and packaging, distribution and access through the retail and food service sectors, media and marketing, consumption and waste management.
- Food in the home– Students further explore food production, focusing on domestic and small-scale food production. They compare similar food products prepared in different settings and evaluate them using a range of measures. They consider the influences on the effective provision and preparation of food in the home.
Forms of Assessment
Production SACs, Oral presentations, Design brief, End of year exam
Prerequisites and Corequisites
None