Consumerism: encourages the consumption of material goods and the belief that it directly linked to one’s happiness. Influenced by advertising and branding to make one think obtaining certain goods and services will benefit them. Sky-rocked after World War 2 when people began to have disposable income and began to spend it on extra goods to show wealth.
This relates to bringing school lunch because the food in students lunches are examples of goods being consumed. Yes, people need food to survive, but the types of food and the brands associated with them make a difference. Also, the actual lunch boxes and bags being uses to bring school lunches to school are part of consumer culture. Bringing your own lunch has become a stereotypical display of wealth for students. This is because it shows they are able to afford packing a lunch and are probably not eligible to receive free or reduced lunch.
Suburbia: the reaction to the decaying city; fueled by white flight of middle class moving from the dirty, unsafe, and poor inner-city to the suburbs. The massive movement from out of the city also took place after World War 2 when the nation was having an economic boom. It was based on materialism and public acts of displaying wealth, through newer, bigger houses and everything that goes inside them.
This term also relates to school lunch. After World War II, when suburbanization occured, women’s role in the home changed. Less of them worked the jobs they did during the war and returned to the home to be housewives. One common responsibility would be preparing lunch for their children to bring to school. This has carried through even today. The suburbs have also made a difference on the type of school lunch provided for students at school. When a school district has more students living in the middle-class suburbs, more students are likely to bring their lunch because they can afford it.
These will both be referenced throughout the blog.
Packed School Lunch in America 