Janet Poppendieck
Auteur van Sweet Charity?: Emergency Food and the End of Entitlement
Over de Auteur
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.
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Gerelateerde werken
Hungry for Profit: The Agribusiness Threat to Farmers, Food, and the Environment (2000) — Medewerker — 47 exemplaren
Tagged
Algemene kennis
- Geboortedatum
- 1945
- Geslacht
- female
- Nationaliteit
- USA
- Woonplaatsen
- Brooklyn, New York, USA
- Opleiding
- Duke University (BA|History|1967)
Brandeis University (MA|1972)
Brandeis University (PhD|1979) - Beroepen
- sociologist
- Organisaties
- Hunter College
Leden
Besprekingen
Lijsten
Misschien vindt je deze ook leuk
Gerelateerde auteurs
Statistieken
- Werken
- 3
- Ook door
- 1
- Leden
- 154
- Populariteit
- #135,795
- Waardering
- 3.8
- Besprekingen
- 3
- ISBNs
- 10
Poppendieck explains how today's school lunches are the culmination of over a century of policy and legislation that were put into place for a variety of different reasons. There are competing goals in place: supporting the US agricultural system, providing a market for surplus food, ensuring adequate nutrition in school children, fighting hunger, etc.
It was especially eye-opening to learn just why children are served monochromatic fast-food, and why that would be difficult to change. The answer isn't simply "just give them better food." It's tied into a large suite of requirements schools are required to meet regarding nutritionally content, servings, what counts as reimbursable, who qualifies for free or reduced lunch - all with the eye of the bottom line. Tie that in with stigma (children can be relentlessly cruel) and administrative red tape, and the end result is a program that is deeply flawed.
Fascinating and disheartening at the same time. The title "Free for All" points to what Poppendieck concludes is the solution to ensuring that hungry children can eat without jumping through hurdles - both socially and logistically. I'm less convinced that is a workable solution for a number of reasons - first being the appropriations necessary to fund this and the reluctance (failure?) of Congress in this financial climate to spend any money not towards defense.
It also doesn't solve the problem of the quality of the food being served in schools. Poppendieck acknowledges this and points to several programs around the country that are working on sourcing locally, cooking from scratch, etc. But there is heavy reluctance in the vast majority of schools to adopt such measures, and in many schools an impossibility due to infrastructure.
Still, a very compelling and much needed book. It certainly got me thinking.… (meer)