School Food Politics in Mexico

From first-hand observations and deep research, José Tenorio makes it clear that school food in Mexico is about much more than feeding hungry kids; it’s about how food corporations have taken advantage of social inequalities to replace native food traditions with less healthful but profitable products. School food politics, indeed! Marion Nestle, New York University, author of Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health. José Tenorio reveals how the discourse of ‘healthy lifestyles’ works to blame individuals for their ‘unhealthy’ food choices and to expand corporate market interest in the name of ‘health’. This is a must-read for scholars in food and nutrition, as well as development studies, interested in understanding how larger structural forces interact with those at play at the micro-sociological and cultural levels. Gerardo Otero, Simon Fraser University. Author of The Neoliberal Diet: Healthy Profits, Unhealthy People. In School Food Politics in Mexico, José Tenorio carefully examines how the discourses of nutrition, ‘healthy foods’ and ‘healthy lifestyles’ have worked to question the healthfulness of more traditional and hand-made foods prepared by school canteen workers in otherwise cash-strapped schools, and to legitimize the interests of food manufacturing corporations. Gyorgy Scrinis, University of Melbourne. Author of Nutritionism: The science and politics of dietary advice.