School Lunch Tour
Join our museum’s Gallery Guides for a “drop-in” tour of Lunchtime, our special exhibition on the history and development of school lunch.
Learn about the complicated relationship between food scientists, the government, and the public throughout the last 200 years as ideas about nutrition and education have evolved.
Does school lunch affect student performance? How did innovations in agricultural science lead to the national school lunch program? What challenges do school lunch advocates face today? And why do we have guinea pigs to thank for our understanding of basic nutrition? We will answer all these questions and more!
This tour has an interactive component, too! You’ll have the chance to touch specially chosen artifacts from our handling collection, examine them in detail, and draw connections between your own experiences of school lunch and this fascinating facet of food history.
Drop-in tours are free and no reservations are necessary.
Featured image: Detail of “Metalam Makes Your Meal Complete,” advertisement for Dow Chemical Company, 1963.
More events
Functional Food and Drink: What’s for Lunch in the Global Cafeteria?
This virtual panel will discuss what functional food means in the U.S. and other countries and how chemistry helps deliver protein, carbohydrates, fat, and flavor.
Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America
Professor and author Beth Linker reveals the surprising origins of our concerns over poor posture.
Stories of Science
Join us in our museum EVERY SATURDAY for a family-friendly program that highlights strange and surprising stories from the history of science!