Professor unpacks school lunch research
For Marcus Weaver-Hightower, a professor in Virginia Tech’s School of Education, studying school food is a fascination.
While finishing his dissertation at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Weaver-Hightower contemplated areas of research that might sustain his interest upon graduation. He landed on school meals.
Seventeen years later, his interest continues, and in the past year, the topic has moved into the political limelight.
“Now I know way too much about tater tots and pizza sauce,” said Weaver-Hightower, who joined Virginia Tech in 2020.
He is a professor in the Foundations of Education program, where he teaches graduate courses in gender and education, the sociology of education, and qualitative research.
The professor has penned numerous articles on public school food initiatives. In his book, "Unpacking School Lunch: Understanding the Hidden Politics of School Food," he tracked multiple motivators for school lunch programs over the years. Those include national emergencies, such as the Great Depression and COVID-19, and preparatory nourishment for students on the verge of military service during World War II.
But the motivator that has most noticeably shaped American's views on free school meals is a greater concentration on hunger and poverty relief efforts, said Weaver-Hightower. Connecting free school meal initiatives with poverty reduction created a longstanding, stigmatizing impact on America’s perception of these programs, a correlation that was cemented in the 1980s.
“It is decidedly not a poverty program,” he said. “It is intended for all kids to have access to good, healthy food and always has been from the very beginning.”
In the current political climate, free school meals have resurfaced as a hot button issue. While serving as governor of Minnesota in 2023, Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, signed a bill that made school meals free for all children in his state. In Virginia, Senate Bill 283, which sets up a task force to investigate the possibilities for free school meals for all public school students, was approved in March.
Minnesota and Virginia, along with several other states, are attempting to uphold the original intent behind free school meals as a universal right that fuels a solid education for all children, regardless of their socioeconomic status.
“School meals are healthier than what most kids can get at home,” Weaver-Hightower said. “They have nutritional standards that we parents don’t always follow.”
Plus, the economic benefits “are pretty broad as well, because [free school meals] help families not have to pay as much at the grocery store,” he said.
This eases social stigmas associated with food insecurity, he said. Furthermore, the federal government buys the food for these programs from farmers with surplus supplies, which supports agricultural commerce too.
Written by Jacob Perkins
