Module 6: Gershom Espinoza

There’s quite a disparity in public school food offerings regarding what the pyramid “plan” calls for and what is actually served. From personal experience in different states, the food being served was essentially mono/staple crop derived food in general. Corn, potatoes, wheat and chicken were quite often what was served the most frequently as these calories were affordable and filling. Likewise, a constant side item was fried salted potatoes whether in the form of French fires, tater tots, sweet potato fries (students would pick up a mixed plate and only eat the regular potato fries so this was a failure), baked potatoes or chips. Though numerous students may have different diets or preferences for eating, the limited variety of food often meant that in the end students would become accustomed to food that was either fried, salted, sweet or plain (in the context of lack of flavorful herbs or supplements to meals). One drawback of the public education system is that food offerings are often dictated by budget rather than what’s best for the child nutritionally speaking.

Being raised in the public school system can be negative for children’s dietary habit as one has an almost daily routine of consuming food groups that aren’t balanced. The way the current food system is structured favors low variety of food as it is cheaper to produce a few crops in great quantities. Not only is this food practice harmful as it eventually reduces the yield stability of the soil but also doesn’t take into account the external cost of shipping the food long distances. Chemical pollution from the transportation methods, increased fossil fuel use, energy spent keeping food frozen or refrigerated, potential of spreading bacteria farther (becomes harder to pinpoint origin and quarantine) are just several large-scale collective problems from such practices. Once kids leave the educational system this dietary habit becomes very hard to change. The social norm should be a locavor culture that emphasizes seasonal foods with typical “American foods” being offered less frequently.

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One thought on “Module 6: Gershom Espinoza

  1. Hi Gershom, my name is Avi and I am a student here at University Park. Your module caught my attention because I completely didn’t think about the implementations of this unit and social norms in public school food. Your entry made me realize how much of a problem this really is and I completely agree. It becomes very hard to develop a society of people eating healthy when they are being raised on unhealthy and processed food every day in school at a young age. I think a big reason it is hard for kids to eat healthy in school is that even their healthy offerings are low quality food, which discourages kids from even trying to eat a healthier diet in school and elsewhere.

    Here is a link to my Module 6 post: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/15/module-6-food-choice-and-social-norms-2/

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