Date of Award

2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Dean, Erin

Area of Concentration

Food Studies

Abstract

This thesis examines how the National School Lunch Program in the United States has shaped school food programs, and how they can be restructured in an industry-dominated system. The history of school lunch programs in the US is explored, detailing their significance to US schoolchildren through times of economic depression and war, and the history of the role of the teachers and curriculum as well as food preparers. The conflict between food reformers and agroeconomists in the United States Department of Agriculture features prominently, through an exploration of the prioritization of nutrition versus the economic stability of commercial farming. A theoretical overhaul of the National School Lunch Program is described, spelling out what needs to change structurally and ideologically in school food programs to create a more sustainable and holistic food future that will connect school food systems to greater food systems and networks of justice and celebration of learning and health. A case study of one school district in Bellingham, Washington, illustrates how a district-wide school lunch program developed and flourished, illuminating the challenges and successes of these efforts and the possibilities of successful models. Lastly, this thesis analyzes recent changes to school food policy over the past few years under the Trump administration, illuminating the glaring connections between the government and the food industry mentioned in the first chapter, reiterating the difficulty of organizing all stakeholders to work towards the same goal of prioritizing children nutrition and knowledge of healthy food. Alternative possibilities of propelling large-scale school food system policy reform are proposed, including the organization of civil society organizations and creating national networks of schools districts and activists.

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