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.

'The School Food Revolution is an important book that deserves success.' Journal of Organic Systems 'A great new book that describes how 'the humble school meal' can be considered as 'a litmus test of... government's political commitment to sustainable development.' Peter Riggs, Director, Forum on Democracy & Trade 'The School Food Revolution should be an inspiration for policy makers and for school heads and school canteen operators.' Tom Vaclavik, President, Organic Retailers Association School food suddenly finds itself at the forefront of contemporary debates about healthy eating, social inclusion, ecological sustainability and local economic development. All around the world it is becoming clear - to experts, parents, educators, practitioners and policy-makers - that the school food service has the potential to deliver multiple dividends that would significantly advance the sustainable development agenda at global, national and local levels. Drawing on new empirical data collected in urban and rural areas of Europe, North America and Africa, this book offers a timely and original contribution to the school food debate by highlighting the potential of creative public procurement - the power of purchase. The book takes a critical look at the alleged benefits of school food reform, such as lower food miles, the creation of markets for local producers and new food education initiatives that empower consumers by nurturing their capacity to eat healthily. To assess the potential of these claims, the book compares a variety of sites involved in the school food revolution - from rural communities committed to the values of 'the local' to global cities such as London, New York and Rome that feed millions of ethnically diverse young people daily. The book also examines the UN's new school feeding programme - the Home Grown Programme - which sees nutritious food as an end in itself as well as a means to meeting the Millennium Development Goals. Overall, the book examines the theory, policy and practice of public food provisioning, offering a comparative perspective on the design and delivery of sustainable school food systems. The cover illustration is by a Roman child. The authors would like to thank the City of Rome (Department for School and Educational Policies) for permission to reproduce it.

Whether kids love or hate the food served there, the American school lunchroom is the stage for one of the most popular yet flawed social welfare programs in our nation's history. School Lunch Politics covers this complex and fascinating part of American culture, from its origins in early twentieth-century nutrition science, through the establishment of the National School Lunch Program in 1946, to the transformation of school meals into a poverty program during the 1970s and 1980s. Susan Levine investigates the politics and culture of food; most specifically, who decides what American children should be eating, what policies develop from those decisions, and how these policies might be better implemented. Even now, the school lunch program remains problematic, a juggling act between modern beliefs about food, nutrition science, and public welfare. Levine points to the program menus' dependence on agricultural surplus commodities more than on children's nutritional needs, and she discusses the political policy barriers that have limited the number of children receiving meals and which children were served. But she also shows why the school lunch program has outlasted almost every other twentieth-century federal welfare initiative. In the midst of privatization, federal budget cuts, and suspect nutritional guidelines where even ketchup might be categorized as a vegetable, the program remains popular and feeds children who would otherwise go hungry. As politicians and the media talk about a national obesity epidemic, School Lunch Politics is a timely arrival to the food policy debates shaping American health, welfare, and equality. Some images inside the book are unavailable due to digital copyright restrictions.

Bought or brought? Revisit the nostalgia of the school cafeteria with this collection of interviews, vivid portraits, and elaborately reimagined food photos. Food often unites us in unexpected ways -- especially on Taco Salad Day. Drawing on material from more than seventy voices , these stories capture all walks of life -- from celebrities and chefs to a circus family, new immigrants, a creative dad whose illustrated lunch bags went viral, plenty of unlikely cultural mashups, and one genuine cafeteria lady. Their experiences are compelling, familiar, and foreign at the same time, forming a cultural time capsule. School Lunch celebrates our diversity and our shared experience. In their words: "School lunch is one of the core reasons I became a chef." -- Marcus Sammuelson "My mom, God rest her soul, was not exactly Mom-of-the-Year on this kind of stuff. She worked full-time, that woman was not about to peel and slice fruit for me." -- Natalie Webster "I ate the same damn thing every day for six years." -- Micaela Walker "On the days when I didn't have enough food there was always a reason to start or finish a fight." -- George Foreman "We were definitely a crusts-on family." -- Daphne Oz "I used to hate that feeling of walking into the lunchroom for the first time and not knowing where to sit." -- Chinae Alexander "Every kid had some good item to trade and I had f****** applesauce." -- Sam Kass