Defrance, Anicée, Po, June Y. T. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6124-8235 and Picchioni, Fiorella (2026) A critical review of school food provisioning using feminist lenses. Food, Culture and Society. ISSN 1552-8014 (Print), 1751-7443 (Online) (doi:10.1080/15528014.2026.2698995)

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Abstract

School food is championed to address food-related illnesses, child food insecurity, and the environmental impacts of agri-food systems. Yet, it is often branded as unhealthy, unappetizing, and underfunded. To unpack such systemic contradictions, this critical review offers a novel conceptual framework grounded in feminist social reproduction and ethics of care, to situate school food provisioning (SFP) within a capitalist mode of production and highlight the everyday relations it comprises. The review draws on international literature and a semi-systematic approach to scope multidisciplinary research in the UK as an example of SFP in a late-stage capitalist economy. This novel methodology aims to understand school meals beyond a matter of consumption, by situating SFP within a political economy, unpacking the labor, relations, and experiences it encompasses. UK school food reforms will be situatied within wider shifts in social reproduction from the nineteenth century. Current school food programs and everyday experiences of SFP are then identified, to understand the multi-scalar and contested forms of care SFP entails. Future research opportunities are proposed to consider how SFP may help achieve equitable and sustainable systems of food provisioning.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	school meals, social reproduction, ethics of care, sustainable food systems
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Engineering & Science Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute > Centre for Society, Environment and Development (CSED) Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute > Centre for Society, Environment and Development (CSED) > Gender & Social Difference
Last Modified:	24 Jul 2026 16:12
URI:	https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/53983

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