TY - JOUR
T1 - From "old school" to "farm-to-school"
T2 - Neoliberalization from the ground up
AU - Allen, Patricia
AU - Guthman, Julie
N1 - Funding Information:
Instead, FTS programs are supported by a combination of private and public funders (‘‘partnerships’’), with funds usually doled out through a competitive grant-making process. In California, virtually all existing FTS programs have thus far been subsidized by some combination of special, one-time competitive funding from public agencies and private foundations. For example, the Ventura program received a grant for a refrigerated truck from the Chez Panisse Foundation and its food director is paid for through a grant from the California Nutrition Network and tobacco settlement funds. Occidental College’s Center for Food and Justice received a nearly $700,000 Kellogg Foundation grant in 2002, which helped provide seed money for several FTS programs throughout the state.7
PY - 2006/12
Y1 - 2006/12
N2 - Farm-to-school (FTS) programs have garnered the attentions and energies of people in a diverse array of social locations in the food system and are serving as a sort of touchstone for many in the alternative agrifood movement. Yet, unlike other alternative agrifood initiatives, FTS programs intersect directly with the long-established institution of the welfare state, including its vestiges of New Deal farm programs and public entitlement. This paper explores how FTS is navigating the liminal terrain of public and private initiative, particularly the ways in which it interfaces with neoliberalism as both a material and discursive project. It examines the political emergence of school food programs and finds that FTS is strikingly similar to traditional school programs in objectives, but differs in approach. Yet, in their efforts to fill in the gaps created by political and economic neoliberalization, FTS advocates are in essence producing neoliberal forms and practices afresh. These include those associated with contingent labor relationships, private funding sources, and the devolution of responsibility to the local, all of which have serious consequences for social equity. The paper also discusses how FTS programs are employing the rhetoric of neoliberal governmentality, including personal responsibility and individual success, consumerism, and choice. While these may be tactical choices used to secure funding in a competitive environment, they may also contribute to the normalization of neoliberalism, further circumscribing the possibilities of what can be imagined and created to solve social problems.
AB - Farm-to-school (FTS) programs have garnered the attentions and energies of people in a diverse array of social locations in the food system and are serving as a sort of touchstone for many in the alternative agrifood movement. Yet, unlike other alternative agrifood initiatives, FTS programs intersect directly with the long-established institution of the welfare state, including its vestiges of New Deal farm programs and public entitlement. This paper explores how FTS is navigating the liminal terrain of public and private initiative, particularly the ways in which it interfaces with neoliberalism as both a material and discursive project. It examines the political emergence of school food programs and finds that FTS is strikingly similar to traditional school programs in objectives, but differs in approach. Yet, in their efforts to fill in the gaps created by political and economic neoliberalization, FTS advocates are in essence producing neoliberal forms and practices afresh. These include those associated with contingent labor relationships, private funding sources, and the devolution of responsibility to the local, all of which have serious consequences for social equity. The paper also discusses how FTS programs are employing the rhetoric of neoliberal governmentality, including personal responsibility and individual success, consumerism, and choice. While these may be tactical choices used to secure funding in a competitive environment, they may also contribute to the normalization of neoliberalism, further circumscribing the possibilities of what can be imagined and created to solve social problems.
KW - Alternative agrifood institutions
KW - California
KW - Community food security
KW - Devolution
KW - Farm-to-school programs
KW - Neoliberalism
KW - School nutrition
KW - Sustainable agriculture
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U2 - 10.1007/s10460-006-9019-z
DO - 10.1007/s10460-006-9019-z
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33845266728
SN - 0889-048X
VL - 23
SP - 401
EP - 415
JO - Agriculture and Human Values
JF - Agriculture and Human Values
IS - 4
ER -