Kelly Alexander
Breaking news from the world of U.S. food policy: President Trump’s new ag secretary Sonny Perdue moves to loosen federal school lunch legislation, thereby slowing healthy food standards implemented under the Obama administration. The Atlanta Journal‘s politics blog does a great job covering the implications — Perdue is former governor of the state of Georgia. The Sacramento Bee‘s editorial section has a snarkier take. Prominent school lunch regulation advocate Bettina Elias Siegel argues that it may not be as bad as some fear on her blog The Lunch Tray. In fact, she argues in an article in the New York Times that what folks should be more concerned about are issues of lunch shaming. All food for thought, especially in terms of the intersection of biopolitics and the school cafeteria.
Thanks for rounding up the latest news on an important topic. Very useful!
I find this hard to ignore, and rationalise. Why would policy seek to reduce the quality of childrens school meals? School meals are one of the last remaining points of contact where unbiased information about good eating is given and received in a non- commercial setting. To knock this back is to knock back the health of the next generation, it sends the message that obesity in children and adults is not considered an issue, and that good health is disposable in the face of corporate profit.