Open J Hayes-Conroy Dissertation

The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of Earth and Mineral Sciences VISCERAL REACTIONS: ALTERNATIVE FOOD AND SOCIAL DIFFERENCE IN TWO NORTH AMERICAN SCHOOLS A Dissertation in Geography and Women’s Studies by Jessica S. Hayes-Conroy © 2009 Jessica S. Hayes-Conroy Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2009 The dissertation of Jessica Hayes-Conroy was reviewed and approved* by the following: James McCarthy Associate Professor of Geography Dissertation Advisor Chair of Committee Lorraine Dowler Associate Professor of Geography and Women’s Studies Kai Schafft Assistant Professor of Education Sandra Morgen Professor of Geography and Women’s Studies Julie Guthman Associate Professor of Community Studies Karl Zimmerer Professor of Geography Head of the Department of Geography *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School ii ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION: School Garden and Cooking Programs (SGCPs) are alternative food initiatives that seek to encourage healthy eating habits among children by offering hands-on, sensory based experiences in garden and kitchen ‘classrooms.’ SGCPs have recently gained notoriety and momentum within North America under the converging contexts of ecological sustainability and human health concerns. My dissertation explores this growing trend of healthy, alternative food in schools by way of two North American SGCP case studies: a public middle school in Berkeley, California, and a public K-6 school in a rural community in Nova Scotia. My dissertation involved three months of in-depth, qualitative research at each case study location, including interviews with teachers, parents, and leaders of the SGCPs, as well as focus groups and in-class activities with students, and many hours of participant observation in the kitchen and garden classrooms. Drawing on academic scholarship within the fields of human-nature geography and feminist theory, my dissertation explores and discusses SGCPs by way of three central axes of analysis: the production of knowledge, the structure of power/hierarchy, and the un-structured ontology of lived experience/social practice. This analysis suggests that SGCPs, and the alternative food movement at large, would benefit from developing practices that are more attentive to social difference and visceral experience. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS: List of Figures vi Acknowledgements vii Introduction 1 Chapter 1: Visceral (Re)actions – Nature and Social Difference 10 Chapter 2: Political Ecologies of the Body – A Framework for Research 36 Chapter 3: Visceral Methods 68 Chapter 4: Food Knowledge 97 Chapter 5: Food Identity 125 Chapter 6: Food Pedagogy 163 Chapter 7: Conclusions 189 Afterword: Grounded Nutrition and Food Education 197 Bibliography 237 iv LIST OF FIGURES: Figure 1: Cover of The Nation magazine, Sept 2006 4 Figure 2: Typical language used to describe taproot and rhizome 45 ontologies Figure 3: Imagining taproots and rhizomes in terms of forces of 47 motivation Figure 4: Diagram depicting structural and rhizomatic forces of a SGCP 49 eating event Figure 5: Schema of a PEB framework 54 Figure 6: The Plainville School garden in July 74 Figure 7: Daily functioning of Nova Scotia and California SGCPs 76 Figure 8: The cooking classroom at Central School 77 Figure 9: Number of interviews by type 83 Figure 10: Example of a question prompt and student answer from interview 86 script Figure 11: Example of note taking guidelines and student response 87 Figure 12: Excerpt from a letter written to a student at Plainville School 88 Figure 13: Excerpt from a letter written to a student at Central School 88 Figure 14: Example discussion guide for comfort food mini-study 182 Figure 15: Table highlighting the 5 stories of Mac and Cheese, inspired from 186 interviews v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: I would like to thank the teachers and staff of the two schools that welcomed me in conducting this research, as well as the leaders and coordinators of the school garden and cooking programs upon which this dissertation is based. I also would especially like to thank the students of these programs, for sharing with me both their food and their ideas. This project would not have been possible without them. I would like to thank my advisor, James McCarthy, for providing me with extremely useful advice and constructive feedback throughout the entire research process. I also would like to acknowledge Julie Guthman for her invaluable guidance and support along the way, as well as my other committee members for their helpful insights and feedback. Lastly, I would like to also recognize my sister, Allison Hayes-Conroy, for everything that she has done for me throughout the course of this dissertation. The research experience and final dissertation would not be the same without her sustained partnership in this endeavor. vi This dissertation is dedicated to: Allison Hayes-Conroy vii Introduction “I am not building this as a model for the city, or for the nation; I am building it as a model for the world” (Activist, CA)1 Studying Healthy Alternatives On November 10, 2008, the New York Times ran an article entitled “Bake Sales Fall Victim to Push for Healthier Foods: Nutrition Rules Are Affecting School Traditions.” The article discussed nationwide trends in school food, but focused particularly on the changes that are being implemented in California schools, including the Berkeley school district. The write up contained a photograph of a kindergarten teacher reviewing a list of “good foods” and “bad foods” with her 5-year-old students. The list of bad foods included candy, chocolate, Burger King, McDonalds, cake, ice cream, and soda. Salad and strawberries topped the good food list. In March of 2009, First Lady Michelle Obama announced her plans to dig up part of the White House lawn in order to make space for an organic vegetable garden. The impetus for this garden was both ecological sustainability – reducing green house gas emissions that arise from industrial production and distribution – and human health – encouraging fresh fruit and vegetable consumption “at a time when obesity and diabetes have become a national concern” (Burros, March 19, 2009). The garden is meant to become an inspiration particularly for children. “My hope,” said Mrs. Obama, “is that through children, they will begin to educate their families and that will, in turn, begin to educate our communities.” Both of these examples are representative of a growing emphasis in the United States and Canada on what is broadly called ‘alternative food’ – a term that has come to signify a variety of food practices that are intended to counter the perceived ill effects of the modern/industrial food industry on both ecological and human health. From its origins in the environmental movement of the 1960s (among other origins), the alternative food movement has emerged as a critique of industrial methods of agricultural production and distribution (from Rachel Carson’s famous exposé of the DDT industry in 1962 to Vandana Shiva’s attack on genetically modified foods in 2000). The push for alternative food has also involved an increased emphasis on local growing, and local purchasing, such that the social relations of production and consumption can (ideally) be conducted at a fully knowable, ‘human’ scale. This, in turn, (it is argued) supports the economic and social well-being of rural communities, and keeps the food system out of the hands of large-scale agribusiness corporations, which tend to be inattentive to the needs of local communities and landscapes. More recently, however, with growing concerns over the so-called obesity epidemic, this push for alternative foods has also occurred alongside increased widespread attention to dieting, body size, and healthy eating. More and more alternative food initiatives now tend to fall at the intersection of environmentalism and nutrition, thereby linking ecological health and community health with the health of 1 Activist and gardener paraphrasing Alice Waters on the purpose of the Edible Schoolyard© at its inception 1 human bodies. School Garden and Cooking Programs, including Alice Waters’ now famous ‘Edible Schoolyard’ in Berkeley, CA, are prime examples of this growing trend. School Garden and Cooking Programs (hereafter SGCPs) are alternative food initiatives that seek to encourage healthy eating habits in children by offering hands-on, sensory based experiences in garden and kitchen ‘classrooms.’ Students plant seeds, pull weeds, gather produce, and then chop, sauté, and bake their harvest into a (hopefully tasty) meal or snack. The idea is that through these intimate, sustainable food experiences, children will come to choose healthier foods, including locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables. While neither school gardens nor cooking education are necessarily new phenomena in schools (think of Waldorf-inspired schools, or home economics classes), SGCPs have recently gained notoriety and momentum within North America under the converging contexts of ecological/economic sustainability and human health concerns, particularly because they are seen as projects that creatively address all of these issues simultaneously. What’s more, many SGCP leaders have been able to find considerable financial support for their alternative school food initiatives by framing them as also or especially healthy eating projects, instead of projects that simply attack the industrial food system (the US Department of Agriculture, for example, which also

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