Manchester University Press Serving the public: The Good Food Revolution in Schools, Hospitals and Prisons (Manchester Capitalism)

A revealing account of what we feed our citizens in schools, hospitals and prisons, which argues that better provision leads to better outcomes for everyone. A BBC Food Programme Book of 2025 A Food Tank Must-Read Book for Summer 2025 Access to good food is the litmus test of a society’s commitment to social justice and sustainable development. This book explores the ‘good food revolution’ in public institutions, asking what broader lessons can be learned. In schools the book examines the challenge of the whole school approach, where the message of the classroom is being aligned with the offer of the dining room. In hospitals it looks at the struggle to put nutrition on a par with medicine and shape a health service worthy of the name. And in prisons it shows how good food can bring hope and dignity to prisoners, helping them to rehabilitate themselves. Drawing on evidence from the UK, US and Sweden, Serving the public highlights how public institutions are harnessing the power of purchase to secure public health, social justice and ecological integrity. This quest for good food is a crucial part of the struggle to redeem the public sphere after forty years of neoliberal decay.