Social Science & Medicine
Volume 57, Issue 2 , July 2003, Pages 313-325

Children's feeding programs in Atlantic Canada:
some Foucauldian theoretical concepts in action

Jutta B. Dayle,and Lynn McIntyreb

a Department of Anthropology, Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia,
Canada B3H 3C3
b Faculty of Health Professions, Dalhousie University, 5968 College St., 3rd
Floor, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 3J5


Available online 21 February 2003.


    Abstract

    Since 1989 the number of Canadian children depending on food banks has
increased by more than 85%. To combat perceived hunger, breakfast and lunch
programs have been initiated by localized volunteer efforts. This paper attempts
to show the Foucauldian concepts of power, truths, space and time in action in
feeding programs in Atlantic Canada. A potential `relation of docility-utility'
is imposed upon children by providers of feeding programs and ultimately the
state. The `power over life' or `micro-physics of power' is accomplished through
procedures that use food, rules, rewards,
reinforcements, space, time, and truths. Children voluntarily subject themselves
to this relation while reserving the power to resist through acts of defiance or
by not attending at all. This ability to exercise one's agency allows for
shifting power relations in the social dynamics of feeding programs.
    The potentially coercive nature of these relationships is embedded in the
pleasurable environment generated by the feeding process.

    Author Keywords: Hunger; Children; Nutrition; Breakfast programs; Lunch
programs; Foucault;
    Canada


     Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-902-494-1056; fax: +1-902-494-1966


 Social Science & Medicine
 Volume 57, Issue 2 , July 2003 , Pages 313-325

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