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This paper presents ethnographic work conducted to investigate how notions of culinary capital have the potential to shape the everyday experiences of children during mealtime in school. Children's early experiences with mealtimes and food are critical determinants for eating behaviour over the life course. The paper presents an account of conceptual debates based on longstanding ethnographic work on school food with a particular focus on a case study of Maple Field Academy to frame the research. Research methods used included semi‐structured interviews, fieldnotes and photographs with the aim of capturing a rich picture of the school. This paper introduces Laird's sensory theory to frame the discussion. This research calls for the need to recognise the social good that can be realised from participating in mealtimes and school is a microcosm of society, which means it can function as a driver for social change. The paper calls for more engagement with social theorising on studies which focus on researching food in school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School mealtimes, for many schools, are characterized by behavioural difficulties, a problematic time of day requiring much attention and resources. Yet for many school food reformers, those wanting food environments to be educative and pleasant, strict behavioural interventions are contrary to the ideals of social learning. This paper presents an ethnographic case study of Peartree Academy, an all-through academy school in England, to explore how school personnel used the dining hall simultaneously as a community space and as surveillance mechanism. We deliberate on causes and variations of how this manifests. A Foucauldian lens, viewing dining space as 'heterotopia' and 'heterochronies' [Foucault, M. 1986. "'Of Other Spaces." Translated by J. Miskowiec. Diacritics 16 (1): 22. ], highlights tensions that shape the everyday for both students and staff in the school. As counter-spaces used differently by administrators, pupils, and food reformers, we show how rules and regulations imposed by staff work against the original intentions to develop the dining hall into a community forum in which children develop positive eating behaviours and good citizenship. The children became subjected to power relations through which bodies became docile or resistant, with less opportunity for social learning. True progressive food reform thus requires, ultimately, deeply understanding and negotiating the multiple, overlapping functions of dining spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a theoretically influenced discussion of methodological issues in carrying out ethnographic work at Peartree Academy. Food is central to our sense of identity. It draws on notions of the school restaurant and presents an account of the complexities surrounding the disorderliness of fieldwork in researching children's food space. The aim of this paper is to explore how researcher identity needs to be considered within the relationship between discipline and social learning spaces for eating. Foucault's concept of discipline is introduced in conceptualising the study. Key reflections place emphasis on the messiness of researching such spaces and offer recommendations for navigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy makers in the UK are trying to improve school meals, by focusing on eating well. This article explores the way policies are framed by academic performance and health as a reason for providing school lunches. Using Nussbaum's capability approach we argue that the purpose of schooling should be to provide young people with the ability to lead a life of choice. We argue that school meals are an important social good, which allow young people to develop critical skills around food which they can then use throughout their lives. We draw on evidence from two ethnographic research projects on food in schools, conducted in England. We question whether the collocation between healthy eating and learning should be the focus of school food reform and contemplate the role of society and government to provide children with healthy meals, irrespective of learning outcomes. School meals are more than good exam results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]