Eating to Learn, Learning to Eat: The Origins of School Lunch in the United States

by Andrew R. Ruis

Overview

In Eating to Learn, Learning to Eat, historian A. R. Ruis explores the origins of American school meal initiatives to explain why it was (and, to some extent, has continued to be) so difficult to establish meal programs that satisfy the often competing interests of children, parents, schools, health authorities, politicians, and the food industry. Through careful studies of several key contexts and detailed analysis of the policies and politics that governed the creation of school meal programs, Ruis demonstrates how the early history of school meal program development helps us understand contemporary debates over changes to school lunch policies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813584072
Publisher:	Rutgers University Press
Publication date:	07/03/2017
Series:	Critical Issues in Health and Medicine
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	220
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.40(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

A. R. RUIS is a fellow in the department of surgery and department of medical history and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a researcher in the Wisconsin Center for Education Research.

Table of Contents

List of Abbreviations
 

Introduction

1 “The Old-Fashioned Lunch Box . . . Seems Likely to Be Extinct”: The Promise of School Meals in the United States

2 (Il)Legal Lunches: School Meals in Chicago

3 Menus for the Melting Pot: School Meals in New York City

4 Food for the Farm Belt: School Meals in Rural America

5 “A Nation Ill-Housed, Ill-Clad, Ill-Nourished”: School Meals under Federal Relief Programs

6 From Aid to Entitlement: Creation of the National School Lunch Program
 

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

Notes

Index

Editorial Reviews

​"Exceedingly well-written, Eating to Learn, Learning to Eat is an excellent piece of scholarship that fills an important gap in the literature on school lunches."--Ian Mosby "author of Food Will Win the War"

"Eating to Learn, Learning to Eat is a worthwhile and engaging read that is a meaningful addition to the literature."-- "Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth"

"Eating to Learn, Learning to Eat succeeds in bringing a larger historical perspective to the problems of today's school lunches. By reaching back to the Progressive Era, Ruis reveals a history that rhymes with our own state of affairs."-- "Nursing Clio"

"A worthwhile and engaging read that is a meaningful addition to the literature."-- "The Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth"

"Chronicling in rich detail the origins, composition and challenges these early school food programmes faced, Ruis offers a history that deepens our understanding of mid-century federal legislation and informs present day policy decisions."-- "Social History of Medicine"

"In Eating to Learn, Learning to Eat, A. R. Ruis, a historian of medicine and public health and an education researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, provides a thorough overview of the history of school lunch policy." -- "Health Affairs"

"Over the course of about 70 years, school lunches grew from local experiments to a federal entitlement. Eating to Learn, Learning to Eat charts this process masterfully, in fascinating detail. Ruis dissects broad historical movements and events, including first-person accounts that anchor matters of policy in tangible reality."-- "The Lancet"

"This book fills a gap in the literature on school lunch by exploring three models for lunch programs that predate the 1946 establishment of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP)."-- "The Bulletin of the History of Medicine"

"This is a deeply researched, well-written book, which provides a compelling and nuanced historical perspective on current debates about school lunch. By doing so, it illuminates broader historical (and contemporary) social and political questions, such as the responsibilities of government, the separation of the public and the private realm, and the moral imperatives constituted by want."-- "The Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences"

"A valuable, engaging volume for anyone interested in the interconnected histories of scientific research and US policy. Eating to Learn, Learning to Eat is an important historical work that is relevant to many contemporary policy debates around health, education, poverty, and nutrition."--Deborah Levine "Providence College"

From the Publisher

"Eating to Learn, Learning to Eat is a worthwhile and engaging read that is a meaningful addition to the literature."

Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth

"This is a deeply researched, well-written book, which provides a compelling and nuanced historical perspective on current debates about school lunch. By doing so, it illuminates broader historical (and contemporary) social and political questions, such as the responsibilities of government, the separation of the public and the private realm, and the moral imperatives constituted by want."

The Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences

"In Eating to Learn, Learning to Eat, A. R. Ruis, a historian of medicine and public health and an education researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, provides a thorough overview of the history of school lunch policy."  

Health Affairs

"Over the course of about 70 years, school lunches grew from local experiments to a federal entitlement. Eating to Learn, Learning to Eat charts this process masterfully, in fascinating detail. Ruis dissects broad historical movements and events, including first-person accounts that anchor matters of policy in tangible reality."

The Lancet

​"Exceedingly well-written, Eating to Learn, Learning to Eat is an excellent piece of scholarship that fills an important gap in the literature on school lunches."

author of Food Will Win the War - Ian Mosby

"New Book - Eating to Learn, Learning to Eat: The Origins of School Lunch in the United States" H-Net Book Channel Discussion 

H-Net

"Eating to learn, learning to eat: the origins of school lunch in the United States" by Ashley Chaifetz

Culture & Society Food

"Eating to Learn, Learning to Eat succeeds in bringing a larger historical perspective to the problems of today’s school lunches. By reaching back to the Progressive Era, Ruis reveals a history that rhymes with our own state of affairs."

Nursing Clio

"A valuable, engaging volume for anyone interested in the interconnected histories of scientific research and US policy. Eating to Learn, Learning to Eat is an important historical work that is relevant to many contemporary policy debates around health, education, poverty, and nutrition."

Providence College - Deborah Levine

"This book fills a gap in the literature on school lunch by exploring three models for lunch programs that predate the 1946 establishment of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP)."

The Bulletin of the History of Medicine

"A worthwhile and engaging read that is a meaningful addition to the literature."

The Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth

"Chronicling in rich detail the origins, composition and challenges these early school food programmes faced, Ruis offers a history that deepens our understanding of mid-century federal legislation and informs present day policy decisions."

Social History of Medicine