Jennifer Gaddis is an Associate Professor of Civil Society and Community Studies and an expert on school food politics, labor, and systems change. After earning a PhD from the Yale School of the Environment in 2014, she joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison's School of Human Ecology, where she teaches in the Community and Organizational Development major and the Civil Society and Community Research PhD program.
Dr. Gaddis brings a care economy and worker-centered perspective to school food research in her award-winning book The Labor of Lunch: Why We Need Real Food and Real Jobs in American Public Schools (University of California Press, 2019) and through her role as Principal Investigator of a $1.5 million USDA-funded study of the US school food workforce.
In addition to ongoing community-engaged research in Wisconsin and across the United States, Dr. Gaddis partners with international collaborators to understand the global human ecology of school food systems. This includes her new co-edited volume Transforming School Food Politics around the World (MIT Press, 2024) and current research with the Rockefeller Foundation on regenerative school meals in South Korea and Brazil.
As a public scholar, Dr. Gaddis has written guest essays for the New York Times, Washington Post, Guardian, USA Today, and Teen Vogue, appeared on NPR, HBO, and AJ+, and delivered keynotes at state and national gatherings. She regularly collaborates with practitioners and policy think tanks through her advisory roles with the National Farm to School Network, IPES-Food, and other food systems organizations.
View her complete CV here.
Dr. Gaddis brings a care economy and worker-centered perspective to school food research in her award-winning book The Labor of Lunch: Why We Need Real Food and Real Jobs in American Public Schools (University of California Press, 2019) and through her role as Principal Investigator of a $1.5 million USDA-funded study of the US school food workforce.
In addition to ongoing community-engaged research in Wisconsin and across the United States, Dr. Gaddis partners with international collaborators to understand the global human ecology of school food systems. This includes her new co-edited volume Transforming School Food Politics around the World (MIT Press, 2024) and current research with the Rockefeller Foundation on regenerative school meals in South Korea and Brazil.
As a public scholar, Dr. Gaddis has written guest essays for the New York Times, Washington Post, Guardian, USA Today, and Teen Vogue, appeared on NPR, HBO, and AJ+, and delivered keynotes at state and national gatherings. She regularly collaborates with practitioners and policy think tanks through her advisory roles with the National Farm to School Network, IPES-Food, and other food systems organizations.
View her complete CV here.

NEW OPEN ACCESS, AWARD-WINNING BOOK
How to successfully challenge and transform public school-food programs to emphasize care, justice, and sustainability, with insights from eight countries across the Global North and South.
"If you are interested in school food advocacy, this book is your Bible." - Marion Nestle
"A hopeful, informative read for anyone who seeks to change school food systems." - Civil Eats
"Young people, mothers, teachers, farmers, and policymakers share their stories, demonstrating the crucial role that school food programs play in caring for and educating children." — Food Tank
Winner, Association for the Study of Food and Society Book Award, 2025
Winner, Gourmand Awards, Best School Meals Book in the World, 2024
How to successfully challenge and transform public school-food programs to emphasize care, justice, and sustainability, with insights from eight countries across the Global North and South.
"If you are interested in school food advocacy, this book is your Bible." - Marion Nestle
"A hopeful, informative read for anyone who seeks to change school food systems." - Civil Eats
"Young people, mothers, teachers, farmers, and policymakers share their stories, demonstrating the crucial role that school food programs play in caring for and educating children." — Food Tank
Winner, Association for the Study of Food and Society Book Award, 2025
Winner, Gourmand Awards, Best School Meals Book in the World, 2024
Public Education and Engagement Opportunities

Dr. Gaddis provides expertise, consultations, and presentations to a range of audiences, including media outlets, policymakers, nonprofits, labor unions, schools, youth organizations, parent-teacher groups, museums, community centers, and more. She is available to speak on the following topics:
- School food politics (history and current)
- Organizing for school food systems change
- School food workers and high road labor practices
- Farm-to-school, scratch cooking, and universal free school meals
- International school food programs
To book an interview, talk, or workshop, and for all other inquiries, please contact: [email protected].
- School food politics (history and current)
- Organizing for school food systems change
- School food workers and high road labor practices
- Farm-to-school, scratch cooking, and universal free school meals
- International school food programs
To book an interview, talk, or workshop, and for all other inquiries, please contact: [email protected].
© Jennifer E. Gaddis, July 2025. All rights reserved.