FRAC’s most recent School Breakfast Scorecard reports that 56 low-income children received school breakfast for every 100 who ate school lunch. Looking forward, there is still ample work to be done. Check out parts one and two to learn more. This is part three of a three-part series on the history of the School Breakfast Program.

She is the author of several books, including Free For All: Fixing School Food in America, which received the 2010 Book of the Year award from the Association for the Study of Food and Society. She concludes with a sweeping vision for change: fresh, healthy food for all children as a regular part of their school day.This is a guest post by Janet Poppendieck, Professor Emerita of Sociology at Hunter College, City University of New York, co-founder of the New York City Food Policy Center at Hunter College and senior fellow at the CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute at the CUNY School of Public Health and Health Policy. 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. Janet Poppendieck explores the deep politics of food provision from multiple perspectives-history, policy, nutrition, environmental sustainability, taste, and more.

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.

Free for All by Janet Poppendieck