Unpacking School Lunch: Understanding the Hidden Politics of School Food

This book delves into the heated political battles over what kids eat at school, shedding light onto how policymakers craft food policy for schools. The book takes readers inside schools, through the history of school food programs in the United States and England, and into the policy terrain that makes school lunch difficult to change. Through diverse case studies―hungry linebackers, pink slime, English reality television and policy making, pizza as a vegetable, lunch shaming, and more―chapters provide detailed analysis of rhetorical tactics, arguments over, and policy for school feeding. The book concludes with a progressive vision of school food that is healthy, pleasurable, educative, shame-free, and, most importantly, free for all students, just like the rest of school.

Marcus B. Weaver-Hightower is Professor of Foundations of Education at Virginia Tech.  He was previously professor of Educational Foundations and Research at the University of North Dakota and Fulbright grantee to Australia.  He is author of How to Write Qualitative Research, The Politics of Policy in Boys’ Education, and several collections.