Free for All

by Poppendieck, Janet

• ISBN13: 9780520269880
• ISBN10: 0520269888
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-01-10
• Publisher: Ingram Pub Services

Summary

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.

Author Biography

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	p. ix
Introduction: In Search of School Food	p. 1
School Food IOI	p. 26
Food Fights: A Brief History	p. 46
Penny Wise, Pound Foolish: What's Driving the Menu?	p. 84
How Nutritious Are School Meals?	p. 111
The Missing Millions: Problems of Participation	p. 133
Hunger in the Classroom: Problems of Access	p. 161
Free, Reduced Price, Paid: Unintended Consequences	p. 190
Local Heroes: Fixing School Food at the Community Level	p. 222
Conclusion: School Food at the Crossroads	p. 257
Notes	p. 297
Bibliography	p. 333
Index	p. 343
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