Free for All: Fixing School Food in AmericaHow 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. |
Contents
| 1 | |
1 School Food 101 | 26 |
2 Food Fights | 46 |
3 Penny Wise Pound Foolish | 84 |
4 How Nutritious Are School Meals? | 111 |
5 The Missing Millions | 133 |
6 Hunger in the Clasroom | 161 |
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Common terms and phrases
activists administration American American Dietetic Association budget cafeteria calories carte line Center Center for Ecoliteracy chicken nuggets child nutrition programs childhood obesity classroom Committee commodities competitive foods Congress cooking cost Education efforts elementary schools eligible for free families feed food security food service directors food service personnel free and reduced free meals free or reduced french fries fries fruits and vegetables funds high school households hunger hungry income issue kids kitchen lunch period menu planning milk million National School Lunch NSLP nutrient offered parents participation percent pizza poverty poverty line Recommended Dietary Allowances reduced price meals reimbursable meal reported Research salad saturated fat School Breakfast Program school cafeterias school districts school food programs school food service School Lunch Program school meals served snack SNDA-III staff standards stigma tion U.S. Department universal free USDA York