Free for all Poppendieck, Janet
2010, 2010., 20091205, 2010-01-04, Volume:
28
eBook, Book
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.
Over the last decade, multiple studies of food insecurity among college students have found rates from 20% to more than 50%, considerably higher than the 12% rate for the entire US population.Reasons ...for higher rates of food insecurity among college students include a growing population of low-income college students, high college costs and insufficient financial aid, more financial hardship among many low- and moderate-income families, a weak labor market for part-time workers, declining per capita college resources, and Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) policies that specifically exclude many college students from participation.This essay reviews the causes and consequences of food insecurity on campus, explores reasons for the low SNAP participation rate, and describes how campuses have responded to food insecurity. It summarizes federal, state, and local changes in SNAP policies that can facilitate college student participation and retention and suggests strategies for more robust and effective university responses to food insecurity, including SNAP enrollment campaigns, a stronger role for campus food services, and a redefinition of the goals and purposes of campus food pantries.
At no time during the Great Depression was the contradiction between agriculture surplus and widespread hunger more wrenchingly graphic than in the government's attempt to raise pork prices through ...the mass slaughter of miliions of "unripe" little pigs. This contradiction was widely perceived as a "paradox." In fact, as Janet Poppendieck makes clear in this newly expanded and updated volume, it was a normal, predictable working of an economic system rendered extreme by the Depression. The notion of paradox, however, captured the imagination of the public and policy makers, and it was to this definition of the problem that surplus commodities distribution programs in the Hoover and Roosevelt administrations were addressed. This book explains in readable narrative how the New Deal food assistance effort, originally conceived as a relief measure for poor people, became a program designed to raise the incomes of commercial farmers. In a broader sense, the book explains how the New Deal years were formative for food assistance in subsequent administrations; it also examines the performance--or lack of performance--of subsequent in-kind relief programs. Beginning with a brief survey of the history of the American farmer before the depression and the impact of the Depression on farmers, the author describes the development of Hoover assistance programs and the events at the end of that administration that shaped the "historical moment" seized by the early New Deal. Poppendieck goes on to analyze the food assistance policies and programs of the Roosevelt years, the particular series of events that culminated in the decision to purchase surplus agriculture products and distribute them to the poor, the institutionalization of this approach, the resutls achieved, and the interest groups formed. The book also looks at the takeover of food assistance by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its gradual adaptation for use as a tool in the maintenance of farm income. Utliizing a wide variety of official and unofficial sources, the author reveals with unusual clarity the evolution from a policy directly responsive to the poor to a policy serving mainly democratic needs.
At no time during the Great Depression was the contradiction between agriculture surplus and widespread hunger more wrenchingly graphic than in the government's attempt to raise pork prices through ...the mass slaughter of miliions of "unripe" little pigs. This contradiction was widely perceived as a "paradox." In fact, as Janet Poppendieck makes clear in this newly expanded and updated volume, it was a normal, predictable working of an economic system rendered extreme by the Depression. The notion of paradox, however, captured the imagination of the public and policy makers, and it was to this definition of the problem that surplus commodities distribution programs in the Hoover and Roosevelt administrations were addressed.This book explains in readable narrative how the New Deal food assistance effort, originally conceived as a relief measure for poor people, became a program designed to raise the incomes of commercial farmers. In a broader sense, the book explains how the New Deal years were formative for food assistance in subsequent administrations; it also examines the performance--or lack of performance--of subsequent in-kind relief programs.Beginning with a brief survey of the history of the American farmer before the depression and the impact of the Depression on farmers, the author describes the development of Hoover assistance programs and the events at the end of that administration that shaped the "historical moment" seized by the early New Deal. Poppendieck goes on to analyze the food assistance policies and programs of the Roosevelt years, the particular series of events that culminated in the decision to purchase surplus agriculture products and distribute them to the poor, the institutionalization of this approach, the resutls achieved, and the interest groups formed. The book also looks at the takeover of food assistance by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its gradual adaptation for use as a tool in the maintenance of farm income. Utliizing a wide variety of official and unofficial sources, the author reveals with unusual clarity the evolution from a policy directly responsive to the poor to a policy serving mainly democratic needs.
Scholars of food regimes and food movements have argued that the capacity of the contemporary food movement to achieve significant change is dependent upon the nature of the alliances formed by the ...progressive, food justice component of the broader array of food change organizations. They have urged alliances primarily with the more radical food sovereignty branch of the food movement. I argue that in the United States, which provides far more assistance to poor people as food assistance than as cash welfare, alliances with reformist food security organizations, and specifically the anti-hunger organizations focused on protecting and expanding federal food assistance, must be an essential part of any significant food justice agenda. These programs are essential to the survival of millions of Americans in the present while we are trying to build a better world for the future. Mobilized and informed public policy advocacy has an impressive track record of successful defense and incremental improvement of food programs. Several of these programs are entitlements that actually create justiciable rights. The collective procurement associated with school food and other public meal programs creates levers for fundamental food system change. And the network of federal, state and local anti-hunger organizations is potentially a portal through which people can enter the movement for a just food future. Food justice activists should include anti-hunger advocates among their allies and partners.
As Canada works towards developing a national school food program, it is timely to examine the lessons learned from the programs of other countries. Analyzing these insights can help Canada avoid key ...pitfalls and replicate promising practices in program design and implementation. The Government of Canada has the advantage of learning from one of the longest standing national school food programs and our southern neighbour: the United States (U.S.). This paper distills vital lessons from the U.S. school food programs, with a focus on addressing four critical aspects: access, emphasis on health and education, funding, and program implementation. First, the U.S. experience demonstrates the significance of universal free school meals. The historical inadequacies of means-tested programs result in inefficiencies, stigma, and exclusion of students in need. Second, the paper argues for an emphasis on health and education benefits. Third, it underscores the necessity of adequate funding. Inadequate reimbursements in the U.S. have compromised meal quality and led to the food industry’s capitalization on school meals, with negative implications for children’s health. Lastly, harnessing the power of procurement and employment can stimulate local economies, create good jobs, and foster a healthier food environment. As Canada tailors its national school food program to its diverse regions and communities, it has an extraordinary opportunity to avoid the policy and program implementation errors revealed by the U.S. experience.
Alors que le Canada travaille à l’élaboration d’un programme national d’alimentation scolaire, le moment est opportun pour examiner les leçons tirées des programmes d’autres pays. L’analyse de ces enseignements peut aider le Canada à éviter les principaux écueils et à reproduire les pratiques prometteuses dans la conception et la mise en œuvre du programme. Le gouvernement du Canada a l’avantage de pouvoir apprendre de l’un des plus anciens programmes nationaux d’alimentation scolaire, celui de notre voisin du sud : les États-Unis. Cet article fait ressortir des leçons essentielles des programmes alimentaires scolaires états-uniens, en se concentrant sur quatre aspects déterminants : l’accès, l’accent mis sur la santé et l’éducation, le financement et la mise en œuvre du programme. Tout d’abord, l’expérience états-unienne démontre l’importance de la gratuité universelle des repas scolaires. Les faiblesses historiques des programmes conditionnels aux ressources entraînent de l’inefficacité, une stigmatisation et l’exclusion d’élèves dans le besoin. Deuxièmement, cet article préconise de mettre l’accent sur les avantages en matière de santé et d’éducation. Troisièmement, il souligne la nécessité d’un financement adéquat. Aux États-Unis, l’insuffisance des remboursements a compromis la qualité des repas et mené l’industrie alimentaire à tirer profit des repas scolaires, avec des conséquences négatives pour la santé des enfants. Enfin, miser sur le pouvoir de l’approvisionnement et de l’emploi peut stimuler les économies locales, créer de bons emplois et favoriser un environnement alimentaire plus sain. Tandis que le Canada adapte son programme national d’alimentation scolaire à ses diverses régions et communautés, il a une occasion extraordinaire d’éviter les erreurs de mise en œuvre des politiques et des programmes qui se sont manifestées dans l’expérience états-unienne.
As Canada works towards developing a national school food program, it is timely to examine the lessons learned from the programs of other countries. Analyzing these insights can help Canada avoid key ...pitfalls and replicate promising practices in program design and implementation. The Government of Canada has the advantage of learning from one of the longest standing national school food programs and our southern neighbour: the United States (U.S.). This paper distills vital lessons from the U.S. school food programs, with a focus on addressing four critical aspects: access, emphasis on health and education, funding, and program implementation. First, the U.S. experience demonstrates the significance of universal free school meals. The historical inadequacies of means-tested programs result in inefficiencies, stigma, and exclusion of students in need. Second, the paper argues for an emphasis on health and education benefits. Third, it underscores the necessity of adequate funding. Inadequate reimbursements in the U.S. have compromised meal quality and led to the food industry’s capitalization on school meals, with negative implications for children’s health. Lastly, harnessing the power of procurement and employment can stimulate local economies, create good jobs, and foster a healthier food environment. As Canada tailors its national school food program to its diverse regions and communities, it has an extraordinary opportunity to avoid the policy and program implementation errors revealed by the U.S. experience.
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.
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