DOCSLIB.ORG

THE BREAKFAST CLUB a Cost/Benefit Analysis on the Breakfast Program at Douglas Road Elementary School

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
THE BREAKFAST CLUB a Cost/Benefit Analysis on the Breakfast Program at Douglas Road Elementary School THE BREAKFAST CLUB A Cost/Benefit Analysis on the breakfast program at Douglas Road Elementary School Dr. Andrew Gemino, Ben Tan 3/01/2016 In partnership with: This report provides a cost/benefit analysis of a free, open access breakfast program called the Breakfast Club offered at Douglas Road Elementary School. Executive Summary This report provides a cost/benefit analysis of a breakfast program called the “Breakfast Club” offered at Douglas Road Elementary School. Douglas Road Elementary is a 250-student school serving kindergarten through grade 7 in Burnaby, British Columbia. The Breakfast Club offers daily breakfast free of charge to all students from kindergarten to grade 7. As of December 2015, 83 students, or 33% of the students, are registered in the program and approximately 25% of the registrants attended the Breakfast Club on any given day. The Breakfast Club was founded in October, 2014, with support from the Principal, Mrs. Mary-Ann Brown, the Burnaby School District and a private donation organized by employees of Beedie Development Group through the Vancouver Sun’s Adopt-A-School program. Canada is the only G8 country without a national school meal program and therefore partnerships such as this are key to successful meal programs. The purpose of this research study is to understand what benefits and impacts a program such as the Breakfast Club can have on students, teachers, and the school. This research also aims to provide insight into how other schools can leverage their resources into starting similar breakfast programs in the future. This study reviewed the direct cash costs and the indirect non-cash costs of the Breakfast Club. The direct cash costs, which was funded by the private donation, was $0.44 per meal; when the value of food donated by local grocers is included, the calculated cost was $0.86 per meal. To obtain an understanding of the true economic cost of delivering the Breakfast Club, the indirect non-cash support costs including volunteer staffing, space utilization, setup costs, and supplies was estimated to be $4,661 per year; these indirect non-cash costs are supported by the general operating budget of Douglas Road Elementary and the Burnaby School District. The cost data suggests that, based on current attendance, as little as $1,628 per year in external financial support can fund a breakfast program for a school such as Douglas Road Elementary. Benefits of the program were considered from student and teacher/staff perspectives. The student impacts were highly positive, including a 22% reduction in overall late attendance for Breakfast Club members. Breakfast Club members also noted that they were more likely to participate in school activities as a result of the Breakfast Club. Many of the staff/teacher respondents indicated the Breakfast Club had a significant positive impact on students, with 100% of the volunteers reporting they were likely to return to the club the following year. In regard to school community, 86% of the staff and teachers indicated that the club had increased the school’s sense of connectedness. The benefits outlined in this study indicate that the Breakfast Club at Douglas Road Elementary provides a positive experience at a reasonable cost that can contributes to student success. The Breakfast Club not only helps prepare children for learning through adequate nutrition, but it is also a social experience with the potential to build the school’s sense of community. The club was shown to increase social ties, rapport between teachers and students, and serve as a gateway for students to participate in other school activities. This study shows that, breakfast programs are powerful tools for generating positive change for students. 2 | Benefits of Breakfast Program at Douglas Road Elementary Table of Contents A Brief History of Breakfast Programs ............................................................................... 4 100 Years of School Breakfasts ....................................................................................4 Effects of Breakfast Programs on Students ................................................................5 Effects of Breakfast Programs on Schools, Teachers and Staff ..................................5 Purpose and Approaches/Methods ..............................................................................6 Douglas Road Elementary School Breakfast Program ........................................................ 7 Overview ........................................................................................................................7 Student Participation in the Breakfast Club ................................................................8 Summary of Student Participation in the Club ............................................................9 Costs Analysis of the Breakfast Program ...........................................................................10 Overview ......................................................................................................................10 Comprehensive Cost Breakdown ...............................................................................10 Summary of Cost Analysis ..........................................................................................12 Benefits and Impact of the Breakfast Club .........................................................................13 Improvements in On-time Attendance .......................................................................13 Survey Collection Methods .........................................................................................13 Student Perspective on Benefits ................................................................................14 Staff/Teacher Volunteers’ Perspective on Benefits ...................................................16 Benefits to the School Community .............................................................................16 Volunteer Participation and Support for the Breakfast Club ................................17 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................19 References .........................................................................................................................20 Benefits of Breakfast Program at Douglas Road Elementary | 3 A Brief History of Breakfast Programs 100 Years of School Breakfasts Over the last 100 years, governments in many countries have experimented with providing breakfast at schools. These breakfasts were initially administered to feed the disadvantaged children of parents who may not have been able to provide a nutritious morning meal at home. While socioeconomic arguments for breakfast programs persist, it is widely recognized that the most effective breakfast programs support youth from all socioeconomic categories. This allows for total social inclusion within schools by eliminating the stigmatization that would occur if breakfast programs targeted only the lowest socioeconomic class. One of the first well-known breakfast programs was the Oslo Breakfast, designed by Carl Schiøtz, which took place in Norway in the late 1920s. It was eventually offered as a free, universal meal to all Norwegian school children starting in 1932 to ensure good nutrition and remove the stigmatization of breakfast at school for disadvantaged youth. The meal consisted of specific proportions of bread, cheese, yogurt, milk, apples and oranges. It was designed in response to earlier, less standardized lunch and breakfast programs that were criticized for lack of nutrition. The Oslo Breakfast was adopted in multiple European countries, and even spread to Australia and Canada. The breakfast program was served until the late 1950s when Norwegian authorities decided there was no reason to continue providing school meals when economic prosperity had risen dramatically. In the United States, the federally subsidized School Breakfast Program (SBP) is the longest running and most highly researched breakfast program in the world. The SBP began in 1966 and currently provides breakfasts to 16 million children across 89,000 schools and institutions at a cost of $3.3 billion. Federal funding is provided on a per-meal reimbursement. Families with incomes at or below 130% of the poverty level pay nothing in the SBP, while families with higher household incomes pay $2.30 per meal. Other developed countries have long established school breakfast and lunch programs, most notably France, Japan, Finland, Italy and Sweden. Most of the breakfast programs are federally subsidized and have regional influences. Providing breakfast remains an important consideration for school administrators around the world. For example, the UK has recently expanded its national breakfast program as it is estimated that 14% of UK schoolchildren do not have breakfast (Hoyland et al, 2012). The US has done the same with its breakfast and lunch programs. Canada currently stands as the only G8 member and only member of the 34-nation Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) without a national school meal program. In Canada, school meals are organized through provincial authority and vary across regions. In British Columbia (BC), there are local school breakfast offerings but no standardized provincial programs. Many elementary schools in BC and across Canada were designed without kitchens or cafeteria space to run school meal programs. Therefore, it is vital that local
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Master List - Lectures Available from Culinary Historians
    Master List - Lectures available from Culinary Historians The Culinary Historians of Southern California offer lectures on food and cultures from ancient to contemporary. Lectures that are well suited for young audiences are prefaced by a “Y” in parentheses, illustrated lectures with an “I”. Most lectures can be combined with a tasting of foods relevant to the topic. * * * Feride Buyuran is a chef and historian, as well as the author of the award-winning ​ "Pomegranates & Saffron: A Culinary Journey to Azerbaijan." A Culinary Journey to Azerbaijan - The cooking of the largest country in the ​ Caucasus region is influenced by Middle Eastern and Eastern European cuisines. This lecture explores the food of Azerbaijan within its historical, social, and cultural context. Feride Buyuran will highlight the importance of the Silk Road in the formation of the traditional cuisine and the dramatic impact of the Soviet era on the food scene in the country. (I) * * * Jim Chevallier began his food history career with a paper on the shift in breakfast ​ in eighteenth century France. As a bread historian, he has contributed to the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, and his work on the baguette and the croissant has been cited in both books and periodicals. His most recent book is "A History of the Food of Paris: From Roast Mammoth to Steak Frites." Aside from continuing research into Parisian food history, he is also studying French bread history and early medieval food. Dining Out Before Restaurants Existed - Starting as early as the thirteenth century, ​ inns, taverns and cabarets sold food that was varied and sometimes even sophisticated.
    [Show full text]
  • Childhood Nutrition and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from a School Breakfast Program
    INSTITUTT FOR SAMFUNNSØKONOMI DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS SAM 15 2016 ISSN: 0804-6824 October 2016 Discussion paper Childhood Nutrition and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from a School Breakfast Program BY Aline Bütikofer, Eirin Mølland AND Kjell G. Salvanes This series consists of papers with limited circulation, intended to stimulate discussion Childhood Nutrition and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from a School Breakfast Program∗ Aline B¨utikofer Eirin Mølland Kjell G. Salvanes August 18, 2016 Abstract While a growing literature documents the short-term effects of public programs provid- ing children with nutritious food, there is scarce evidence of the long-term effects of such programs. This paper studies the long-term consequences of access to nutritious food using the rollout of a free school breakfast program in Norwegian cities. This program provided children with nutritious food and replaced a hot school meal at the end of the day with similar caloric value but less micronutrients. Our results indicate that access to a nutritious school breakfast increases education by 0.1 years and earnings by 2{4 percent. 1 Introduction A large body of evidence shows that early-life exposure to disease and malnutrition has long- term consequences for adult health, education, and labor market outcomes (for an overview, see Barker, 1992; Almond and Currie, 2011). A nutritious diet may therefore enhance cognitive development and, ultimately, academic success and post school productivity. While there is support from experimental interventions that highly nutritious food supplements affect edu- cational outcomes (see Maluccio et al., 2009), there is scarce evidence of long-term effects of ∗The authors thank the Norwegian Research Council for financial support (grant number 240321).
    [Show full text]
  • Sweets from the Middle East (Part 1)
    VOLUMEVOLUME XVI, XXIV, NUMBER NUMBER 4 4 FALL FALL 2000 2008 Quarterly Publication of the Culinary Historians of Ann Arbor Sweets from the Middle East (Part 1) This decoratively carved wooden mold is used in making ma'moul, kleicha, and other famous Arab pastries, including the dill cookies shown here. Photo courtesy of Nawal Nasrallah from her book Delights from the Garden of Eden: A Cookbook and a History of the Iraqi Cuisine. Turn to page 4 inside for Prof. Nasrallah’s article about kleicha. REPAST VOLUME XXIV, NUMBER 4 FALL 2008 Editor’s Note on Baklava Second Helpings Allowed! Charles Perry, who wrote the article “Damascus Cuisine” in our last issue, was the editor of a book Medieval Arab Cookery (Prospect Books, 2001) that sheds further light on the origins of baklava, the Turkish sweet discussed by Sheilah Kaufman in this issue. A dish described in a 13th-Century Baghdad cookery Sweets from the manuscript appears to be an early version of baklava, consisting of thin sheets of bread rolled around a marzipan-like filling of almond, sugar, and rosewater (pp. 84-5). The name given to this Middle East, Part 2 sweet was lauzinaj, from an Aramaic root for “almond”. Perry argues (p. 210) that this word gave birth to our term lozenge, the diamond shape in which later versions of baklava were often Scheduled for our Winter 2009 issue— sliced, even up to today. Interestingly, in modern Turkish the word baklava itself is used to refer to this geometrical shape. • Joan Peterson, “Halvah in Ottoman Turkey” Further information about the Baklava Procession mentioned • Tim Mackintosh-Smith, “A Note on the by Sheilah can be found in an article by Syed Tanvir Wasti, Evolution of Hindustani Sweetmeats” “The Ottoman Ceremony of the Royal Purse”, Middle Eastern Studies 41:2 (March 2005), pp.
    [Show full text]
  • Changes in the Breakfast Traditions of an Old World Country
    Dublin Gastronomy Symposium 2020 – Food and Disruption Changes in the Breakfast Traditions of an Old-World Country: How the Breakfast Traditions in Turkey have Changed, Causing the Loss of an Important Food Culture Banu Özden The world is changing at a very fast pace, and when it The line ‘Breakfast is the most important meal of the comes to eating habits ‘What will we eat in the future?’ day’ was invented in the 19th century by Seventh proposes a serious dilemma as well as ‘How will our eating Day Adventists James Caleb Jackson and John habits change?’ This progression into a fast-moving world, Harvey Kellogg to sell their newly invented with everchanging diets, not only threatens the way we breakfast cereal. After that, the bacon food industry grow our food but how we consume it as well. Gradually we jumped on the bandwagon and convinced people are losing our time-honored values, eating habits, traditional about the importance of eating protein in the food, and even meals such as breakfast, which has been morning (Egan, 2017). declared as the most important meal of the day for centuries. By now eating breakfast as the first meal of the day became a habit practiced all over America and Europe. History of breakfast In the same years, this new culture, based on the consumption of snacks, and the dishes that were leftover The English word, breakfast composed of two words, ‘break’ from the previous evening started to turn into a breakfast and ‘fast’ is quite self-explanatory. Not eating anything meal for the Ottomans as well.
    [Show full text]
  • Effects of a Free School Meal on Lunch Habits in Norwegian Elementary School Children
    Effects of a free school meal on lunch habits in Norwegian elementary school children The School Meal Project in Aust-Agder. Kristine Engebretsen Illøkken Supervisor Frøydis Nordgård Vik Co-supervisor Elling Bere This master’s thesis is carried out as a part of the education at the University of Agder and is therefore approved as a part of this education. However, this does not imply that the University answers for the methods that are used or the conclusions that are drawn. University of Agder, 2015 Faculty of Health and Sport Science Department of Public health, Sports and Nutrition 2 Preface This study is a result of the independent work that completes my master's program in Public Health Science. I have always been interested in food and nutrition, and wanted to continue this specialization after I completed my bachelor degree in food, nutrition and culture at the University of Agder. This is why I wanted to write my master thesis within The School Meal Project in Aust-Agder. The experience of working in an intervention study, with responsibility of data collection (together with two other master students) has taught me much about the research process that I highly value. In total, my interest in research and scientific work increased during the process with writing this thesis and collecting data on The School Meal Project. Several people have contributed in making it possible for me to complete this study. First, I want to give a special thanks to my supervisor Frøydis Vik, for lots of advice, constructive feedback, and for helping me to stay focused on the aim of the study.
    [Show full text]
  • New York Science Journal 2017;10(6) 30 Production and Evaluation of Breakfast Cereal Flake
    New York Science Journal 2017;10(6) http://www.sciencepub.net/newyork Production and Evaluation of Breakfast Cereal Flakes Using Pre-Treated Millet Sorghum Flavoured With Coconut Milk *Okafor D. C.1; Ofoedu C. E.1; Njoku N.E.1; Ibeabuchi J. C.1; Alagbaoso S. O. 1; Eluchie, C.N.1; Onyeka E. U.1; Obi, P.N.2 and Chukudobe K. C1 1Dept. of Food Science and Technology, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, P. M. B. 1526 Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria 2Department of curriculum and instruction, Alvan Ikoku Fedral Colledge of Education Corresponding author: [email protected] Abstract: Breakfast cereals were produced from pre-treated grains of millets (Pennisetum americanum) and Sorghum (Sorghum bicolour L Moench), flavoured with coconut milk. The chemical composition and selected functional properties as affected by the treatment given were examined. The pre -treatment of the cereals was intended to improve the nutritional constituents of the grains as well as reduce anti-nutritional factors present in the grains. The ash contents, total dietary fiber, and moisture content showed a slight increase in the sprouted product as compared to the fermented ones. On the other hand, fermented products had h igher contents of protein and fat compared to sprouted ones. Mixing of sorghum and millet gave products with higher water absorption capacity for both sprouted and fermented products. The coconut milk helped to mask the bland flavor of cereal grains as evidenced by the high sensory scores of the products in terms of aroma. In terms of overall acceptability, product from a mixture of sprouted sorghum and millet (SMS) had the highest (p=0.05) score of 7.4.
    [Show full text]
  • PRODUCTION and EVALUATION of BREAKFAST CEREALS from BLENDS of AFRICAN YAM BEAN (Sphenostylis Stenocarpa), MAIZE (Zea Mays) and DEFATTED COCONUT (Cocos Nucifera)
    i PRODUCTION AND EVALUATION OF BREAKFAST CEREALS FROM BLENDS OF AFRICAN YAM BEAN (Sphenostylis stenocarpa), MAIZE (Zea mays) AND DEFATTED COCONUT (Cocos nucifera). BY USMAN, GRACE OJALI PG/M.Sc./09/50997 DEPARTMENT OF FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA. NOVEMBER, 2012 i TITLE PAGE PRODUCTION AND EVALUATION OF BREAKFAST CEREALS FROM BLENDS OF AFRICAN YAM BEAN (Sphenostylis stenocarpa), MAIZE (Zea mays) AND DEFATTED COCONUT (Cocos nucifera). A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, FACULTY OF AGRICULTURE, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA, IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF M.Sc. IN FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. BY USMAN, GRACE OJALI PG/M.Sc./09/50997 DEPARTMENT OF FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA. NOVEMBER, 2012 ii CERTIFICATION USMAN, GRACE OJALI, a Post-graduate student in the Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, with Registration Number: PG/M.Sc./09/50997 has satisfactorily completed the requirements for award of the degree of Master of Science in Food Science and Technology. The work embodied in this dissertation is original and has not been submitted in part or full for any other diploma or degree of this or other university. ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------- DR G.I OKAFOR MR C.S. BHANDARY (SUPERVISOR) (HEAD OF DEPARTMENT) ----------------------- ---------------------- Date Date iii DEDICATION This work is dedicated to the Holy Spirit, my source of inspiration and my family, for helping me in ways I can never quantify. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The successful completion of this research was made possible through the efforts and commitment of so many to whom I owe my appreciation.
    [Show full text]
  • Winter 2009 Morsels & Tidbits
    VOLUMEVOLUME XVI, XXV, NUMBER NUMBER 4 1 FALL WINTER 2000 2009 Quarterly Publication of the Culinary Historians of Ann Arbor Sweets from the Middle East (Part 2) Painting of a confectioner, or helvahâneli, in his official attire from the Topkapı imperial kitchens of Istanbul, Turkey. Joan Peterson’s article about Turkish halvah begins on page 3 inside. Image from Ottoman Costume Book: a Facsimile Edition of Osmanh Kiyafetleri by Fenerci Melmed, 1986. REPAST VOLUME XXV, NUMBER 1 WINTER 2009 MORSELS & TIDBITS Ann Fowler, a cherished veteran member of the Culinary and Wine in America: A Remarkable Story”. Curated by CHAA Historians, passed away on February 14 after a long illness. founding members Prof. Dan Longone and Jan Longone, it Ann’s devotion and unflagging service over many years will opened on February 16 and runs until May 29, 2009. The remain forever in our hearts and memories. She volunteered for a Longones will present a lecture about the exhibition, co-sponsored variety of tasks within CHAA, and was a docent at the by CHAA, on May 10 (see calendar on p. 20 for details). University of Michigan’s William L. Clements Library, where she labored to help establish and organize the culinary archives. CHAA member Ann Larimore, a professor emerita of Our deepest condolences go to Ann’s husband and fellow geography and women’s studies at the University of Michigan, CHAA member, Don Fowler. gave a talk there on March 19, “The Trouble with Tractors: Speaking up for the Ox”. Her presentation, part of the Turkish Nor is it easy to imagine the UM Clements Library without Studies Colloquium, examined what happened to traditional wheat- Jan Longone, who has made known her intention to retire there based farming villages in Turkey in the 1950’s, when tractors and later this year as Curator of American Culinary History.
    [Show full text]
  • Master's Thesis
    Master’s Thesis Public Health Nutrition May 2021 School children’s participation in a free school meal scheme: Experiences from a pilot project in the Oslo school. Name: Sandra Mauer Course code: MAME 5910 Word count: 29210 Faculty of Health Sciences Preface and acknowledgements When I started my master’s study in Public Health Nutrition in the autumn of 2019, I did an externship at the Agency for Health in Oslo, which means to get a glimpse into the real-life workplace through shadowing an employee from the same field and observing the jobsite. In connection to that externship I got the opportunity to write my master’s thesis on the pilot project for free school meals, that was launched in that year. Free school meals are politically strongly debated and I found the topic very exciting. When I decided to write my master’s thesis on that topic, I also applied for a place in the Health Science Research Programme at OsloMet. The application process led to the early planning of the project already in the autumn of 2019. It was inspiring and instructive to be involved from the beginning of the planning phase of the research project. The Covid-19 pandemic required several changes and adjustments. Undoubtedly, the past year has been intense and demanding with many challenges, especially related to Covid-19 and the data collection. After all, this year was the most exciting and instructive year in my life, and I am grateful for everything I have experienced and learned. I have planned and carried out my own research project with the best professional support one could get.
    [Show full text]
  • Canadian Literary Breakfasts1 Alexia Moyer
    Abstract Résumé Measuring Out Life in Coffee Spoons: Canadian Literary Breakfasts1 Alexia Moyer Nathalie Cooke Two bodies of secondary literature — literary criticism about the appeal of imagined food and food studies analyses of breakfast — identify the potential of this morning meal to establish an aspirational standard. For literary critics, this aspirational standard involves the norms and conventions of the narrative world being staged, which will inevitably come under pressure as the narrative develops. For food writers, this aspirational standard involves nutritional value. Drawing from specific examples in Canadian literature, we argue that it is precisely this aspect of breakfast — as benchmark or standard of measurement — that makes it such a fruitful meal in the writer's narrative toolbox. Literary breakfasts either embody tension and conflict, or set up and therefore contain the germs of tension and conflict that will drive the plot. Deux corpus documentaires – l’un constitué d’analyses littéraires sur l’intérêt d’imaginaires alimentaires et l’autre d’analyses en études alimentaires ayant pour objet le petit déjeuner – suggèrent que ce rituel matinal pourrait signifier un objectif souhaitable. Pour les critiques littéraires, cet objectif recense les normes et les conventions de l’univers narratif mis en scène qui évoluera au cours du récit. Pour les écrivains intéressés par l’objet alimentaire, l’objectif serait la valeur nutritionnelle. Les auteurs se servent d’exemples issus de la littérature canadienne afin d’argumenter que le petit déjeuner – comme norme de référence ou comme mesure – est un outil narratif riche et porteur de sens. Les déjeuners « littéraires » symbolisent la tension ou le conflit ou amorcent l’intrigue du récit.
    [Show full text]
  • A Short History of Breakfast
    A short history of Breakfast Introduction questions What did you eat for breakfast this morning? What might you get in a “Full English Breakfast”? Have you ever tried it? What is a traditional breakfast where you live? Breakfast Breakfast as we know it didn't exist for large parts of history. The Romans didn't really eat it, usually consuming only one meal a day around noon, says food historian Caroline Yeldham. In fact, breakfast was actively frowned upon. "The Romans believed it was healthier to eat only one meal a day," she says. "They were obsessed with digestion and eating more than one meal was considered a form of gluttony. This thinking impacted on the way people ate for a very long time." In the Middle Ages monastic life largely shaped when people ate, says food historian Ivan Day. Nothing could be eaten before morning Mass and meat could only be eaten for half the days of the year. It's thought the word breakfast entered the English language during this time and literally meant "break the night's fast". Religious ritual also gave us the full English breakfast. On Collop Monday, the day before Shrove Tuesday, people had to use up meat before the start of Lent. Much of that meat was pork and bacon as pigs were kept by many people. The meat was often eaten with eggs, which also had to be used up, and the precursor of the full English breakfast was born. But at the time it probably wasn't eaten in the morning.
    [Show full text]
  • Breakfast Cereal Cultural History Dustin Goldberger May 18, 2010
    Breakfast Cereal Cultural History Dustin Goldberger May 18, 2010 A Spoonful of History: Health, Wealth, and The Rise of The American Breakfast Cereal Objectives 1. Provide a comprehensive history of the dominant players in the breakfast cereal industry, from its 19 th century origins as a health food alternative to its current status as a part of the mainstream American diet. 2. Identify and discuss how a discourse that paints breakfast cereal as a health food competes with corporate needs to drive profits. 3. Assess the breakfast cereal industry’s engagement with consumers. This includes notable citizen protest against Big Cereal and the industry’s response. Summary of Findings I. Family First: The 19 th Century Origins of America’s Breakfast Staple The discourse surrounding the nutritious value of breakfast cereal has a rich historical trajectory. While today’s consumers question the motives of cereal executives who claim to provide healthy products, those who first produced cereal products seem to have sincerely felt they were essential to household health. In the mid 1800’s, the American diet was in a state of disorder. As the frontier expanded, Americans needed cheap ways to preserve food over long journeys, and could not afford to keep around perishable fruits and vegetables. For many, mornings in the West began with whiskey and men commonly came “to expect more than three sorts of meat” during supper, which was a social affair that could last as long as seven hours. 1 Not surprisingly, such a rich diet put a chokehold on American health. Nineteenth century Americans came to recognize the “difficulty of digestion or fermentation in the stomach or guts” that came from such eating as “Dyspepsia”, an affliction that had spread across the nation.
    [Show full text]