Free for All: Fixing School Food in America / Edition 1

by Janet Poppendieck

Overview

How did our children end up eating nachos, pizza, and Tater Tots for lunch? Taking us on an eye-opening journey into the nation's school kitchens, this superbly researched book is the first to provide a comprehensive assessment of school food in the United States. Janet Poppendieck explores the deep politics of food provision from multiple perspectives—history, policy, nutrition, environmental sustainability, taste, and more. How did we get into the absurd situation in which nutritionally regulated meals compete with fast food items and snack foods loaded with sugar, salt, and fat? What is the nutritional profile of the federal meals? How well are they reaching students who need them? Opening a window onto our culture as a whole, Poppendieck reveals the forces—the financial troubles of schools, the commercialization of childhood, the reliance on market models—that are determining how lunch is served. She concludes with a sweeping vision for change: fresh, healthy food for all children as a regular part of their school day.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520269880
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	01/04/2010
Series:	California Studies in Food and Culture , #28
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	903,060
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Janet Poppendieck is Professor of Sociology at Hunter College, City University of New York. She is the author of Sweet Charity? Emergency Food and the End of Entitlement and Breadlines Knee Deep in Wheat: Food Assistance in the Great Depression.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction: In Search of School Food

1. School Food 101
2. Food Fights: A Brief History
3. Penny Wise, Pound Foolish: What's Driving the Menu?
4. How Nutritious Are School Meals?
5. The Missing Millions: Problems of Participation
6. Hunger in the Classroom: Problems of Access
7. Free, Reduced Price, Paid: Unintended Consequences
8. Local Heroes: Fixing School Food at the Community Level

Conclusion: School Food at the Crossroads
Notes
Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Meticulously researched, patiently explicated, potentially groundbreaking. . . . Should be required reading for everyone who eats food, buys food, has kids, or cares about nutrition."—Bookforum

"Sophisticated and nuanced."—The Washington Monthly

"[An] excellent, informative book. . . . Poppendieck's research is extensive and meaningful."—Gastronomica

"A masterful work of public sociology that is likely to play an important role."—Teaching Sociology

Editorial Reviews

[An] excellent, informative book. . . . Poppendieck’s research is extensive and meaningful.

Gastronomica - Lisa Sasson

…[Poppendieck] argues convincingly that lunches should be free for all students, a measure that would remove shame from the equation for those who need the program while cutting costs associated with determining who qualifies for free or reduced-price meals. By illuminating how Congress, big agriculture, local school boards and even parents affect what shows up in the cafeteria, this well researched book makes a strong case for retooling school lunch menus nationwide.
—The Washington Post

Sarah Halzack

A masterful work of public sociology that is likely to play an important role.

Teaching Sociology - Heather Sullivan-Caitlin

Sophisticated and nuanced.

The Washington Monthly - Michael O’Donnell

Meticulously researched, patiently explicated, potentially groundbreaking. . . . Should be required reading for everyone who eats food, buys food, has kids, or cares about nutrition.

Bookforum

Sophisticated and nuanced.

The Washington Monthly - Michael O’Donnell

Sophisticated and nuanced.

The Washington Monthly - Michael O'Donnell