Skip to main content

Jennifer Gaddis

Pronouns: she/her/hers
Journalists: Please use these pronouns when appropriate.

Expert on school food politics and systems change in local, state, national, and international contexts

Associate Professor, Civil Society & Community Studies School of Human Ecology Work: 608-265-3759 — Home and cell phones available upon request jgaddis@wisc.edu Home page Twitter: @JenniferEGaddis

Topics

  • School food politics and program change (strong expertise in the United States, Wisconsin, and Madison Metropolitan School District)
  • Universal free school meals and participation in school meal programs
  • School food labor
  • Farm-to-school programs and local food systems
  • Coalitions and community organizing to improve school food systems

Achievements

  • Author of the award-winning book "The Labor of Lunch: Why We Need Real Food and Real Jobs in American Public Schools"
  • Co-editor of Transforming School Food Politics around the World (MIT Press, 2024).
  • Principal investigator on $1.5 million USDA-funded national study of the school food workforce.
  • Opinion pieces published in New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, USA Today, Teen Vogue, The Conversation, and Cap Times.
  • Advisory board member of the National Farm to School Network and core member of the Healthy School Meals for All Wisconsin Coalition.

Tags