Food, says Carolyn Pluim, is more than fuel – especially when it comes to school.
Pluim is a widely published researcher and author on the topic of school lunch – and, as part of her work, she is able to set a figurative table full of philosophical questions and clear challenges for adults who care for, and about, children.
Topping her list are teachers.
“Ultimately, teachers are in positions to advocate for their students and to understand that children’s lives outside of school matter in the classroom,” says Pluim, chair of the NIU Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology and Foundations.
“When students aren’t being properly nourished, that’s going to affect their ability to excel in the classroom,” she adds. “I also want teachers to have an understanding that schools don’t exist in isolation. They are grounded by other kinds of social supports, networks and communities that children live within.”
She will make her case at 3 p.m. Wednesday, March 26, in Gabel Hall 146 as the Morgridge Office’s guest speaker for a “What’s in Your Food?” presentation.
All are invited; bagels and coffee are provided. A virtual option is also available.
“I will focus on school lunches, thinking about the implications for feeding children at school,” Pluim says. “Where and why did this start? What individuals and groups advocated for these initiatives ? On what moral, economical or philosophical grounds was the imperative argued?”
Many of those historical decisions were motivated by “wanting to provide students with food security and to combat food insecurity,” she adds, and its decades of success have helped to lift countless families above financial hardships.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, the federally funded provision of free breakfast and lunch to children whose families met income requirements “lowered the poverty rate by 53 million people. As soon as those supports were removed, poverty significantly increased.”
Beyond the nutritional necessity of eating, Pluim also will address “how teachers can use food and meals as a way to integrate critical inquiry and critical questions around where food comes from, and around social-equity power structures of how we advocate and care for communities.”
“We think about food being functional, but it can also serve as an important pedagogical moment to investigate resource allocation, equity and justice,” Pluim says. “Teachers can use food as an instructional strategy to encourage children to explore these critical issues.”
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