Research Guides: Food and Nutrition: Websites

Featured Websites

General Interest, Topic Ideas, etc.

The Lexicon
Organization that strives to "illuminate the meaning behind powerful ideas that help people pay closer attention to how they eat, what they buy, and where their responsibility begins for creating a healthier, safer food system."
PBS Food
Compilation of articles, videos, and recipes from across public television.
Civil Eats
A daily news source for critical thought about the American food system. (Users are allowed access to five articles per month for free; a subscription cost of $25 per year is required for unlimited access.)

Health

The Nutrition Source
Based at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health’s Department of Nutrition, this website offers comprehensive nutrition information.
MedlinePlus Nutrition
Online library of nutrition information from the National Institutes of Health.
ChooseMyPlate.gov
Tools and tips for healthy eating.

Research

Nutrition.gov
Government information on food and human nutrition for consumers.
Food and Nutrition Information Center
Resources for nutrition and health professionals, educators, government personnel, and consumers.
American Society for Nutrition
Fosters and enhances research in animal and human nutrition, brings scientific knowledge to bear on nutrition issues through communication and influence in the public domain, etc.

History, Culture, Timelines, etc.

The Food Timeline
Chronology of food history, with links to primary documents and original research.
Not by Bread Alone: America's Culinary Heritage
Cornell University Library's Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections online exhibition, designed to explore "the influences and inventions that have shaped American food habits over the past two hundred years."
The Food Museum
Information on the world's foods, their histories, and relevance today.
Southern Foodways Alliance
The Southern Foodways Alliance documents, studies, and explores the diverse food cultures of the changing American South.

The ABC Test

Use the ABC test to help you determine the credibility of a website.

Authority:

The source of the information

Who is the author, publisher, source, or sponsor?
What are the author's credentials or organizational affiliations?
Is the author qualified to write on the topic?
MOST IMPORTANT: Lateral Reading

Lateral Reading

Leave the website, open new tabs, and seek additional information about a website's credibility, reputation, funding, and potential biases.
Don't just rely on the information found on the website itself. Don't take their word for it. See what others have to say.
Lateral reading allows you to get a more complete perspective on the credibility of a source.

From Univ of Louisville Libraries Citizen Literacy Toolkit

Bias:

The purpose and point of view of the information

What is the purpose of the information? Is it to inform, to teach, to sell, to entertain?
Do the authors or sponsors make their intentions or purpose clear?
Is the information fact, opinion, or propaganda?
Does the point of view appear objective and impartial?
Are multiple perspectives included?
What bias do you bring to the topic? Are you only looking for sources that confirm your current beliefs?

Be Aware of Confirmation Bias

"The first step in countering confirmation bias is to recognize it in ourselves. Then we can guard against it by getting our news from a wide range of credible sources, reading opinion columns from a variety of viewpoints, and including these varied perspectives in our social media posts."

From the News Literacy Project - "Don't Let Confirmation Bias Narrow Your Perspective."

Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, and recall information in a way that supports what we already believe. News Literacy Project

Currency:

The timeliness of the information

When was the information published or posted?
Has the information been revised or updated?
Does your topic require current or historical information?
Are the links functional? Do they take you to updated information sources?

Research Tutorials

Research Companion
Collection of videos and research tutorials. Look for the section titled "Evaluate Information" and click "How do I evaluate sources?" There are sections on journals, books, websites, social media, etc.