School food in Australia – a dog's breakfast?

Abstract

This chapter offers new and much-needed insights from children and parents about the effects of contemporary policy approaches to schooling food in Victoria, Australia. And even though we were fully expecting some policy and program messiness, we were surprised by what we found. The chapter begins by providing a brief overview of the role that school food programs are expected to play within public health agendas via a review of the critical scholarship that has emerged over time. We then provide an overview of our project and findings about school food programs and practices. We conclude by suggesting that we need to take stock of the current state of school food policy and programs before amplifying further efforts. We also suggest that critical scholars may need to develop some new engagement tactics in order to ensure that we are (more) welcome at the policy table.