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School meals were developed because of charitable, and subsequently official, concern about the effects of poverty on children’s capacity to benefit from education. Superficially, one might regard Edwardian interventions – in the early part of the twentieth century – as a historical footnote to today’s issues. In fact, this period of UK history was notable for attempts to find solutions to problems that are still relevant. Despite appearances to the contrary, child poverty has not been eliminated in the UK of today and the recent reintroduction of nutritional standards for school meals in the UK is an important reminder that feeding bodies remains crucial to feeding minds. In this article we map social concern expressed in contemporary studies of Dundee, York and London, the impact of army recruitment problems, and the initiation of a school meals policy in Scotland and England. We conclude with an assessment of the issues and solutions as they relate to the UK in the early twenty‐first century.

Investigates whether the recent emphasis on persuading employers to abandon ageist attitudes and appoint or promote on merit, irrespective of the applicant’s age, has been justified by comparing the results of the 1992 Institute of Personnel Management survey with those from 221 post‐experience management students from a survey carried out in 1995. In this preliminary analysis of the data, major points of similarity and divergence are examined to see if a “new generation” of managers are thinking in substantially different ways on this long‐standing labour market issue.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the rationale and limitations of public nudging approaches currently to be found in the UK food choice environment.

The paper uses a critical review of the literature with case studies.

Nudging has potential value to assist healthier food choices, although the current focus of proponents tends to be the individual micro‐environment for selection rather than the wider food choice context. Ethical questions are raised by nudging as a policy and limited evidence of success to date would suggest that a combination of personalised tools and public nudges – individual empowerment and attention to the choice environment – might be more effective for embedded healthier eating.

This paper contrasts the underlying assumptions of the nudge approach by reference to the behavioural toolbox.

The application of McDonald′s product/production principles to other restaurant chains, and totally different social enterprises has been the subject of recent criticism. This “McDonaldization” is said to betoken a world of increased rationalization where large‐scale systems for the mass production of goods and services obliterate small‐scale opposition and give rise to fears for diminished choice in the future. Previously it has been argued that the advance of McDonaldization is far from total and the pessimistic prognosis is at least premature. Criticizes the McDonaldization thesis by reference to an alternative paradigm of “mass customization”. Argues that this is not only the logical next step for the production of goods and services, but also that it is already starting to happen.

In Scotland and Finland, a relatively small proportion of older people are in some form of residential care, but their numbers are not insubstantial given generally increased longevity. Moreover, those currently in residential care tend to be among the most vulnerable survivors of their generation. Residential care for older people has always been something of a paradox. The state has extensively recognised the vulnerability of those who can no longer care for themselves, or be cared for by their partner and family. However, provision is seldom adequate for the scale of demand and even commercial provision is characterised by low staffing ratios and unmet training needs. This paper outlines the development of Leonardo funded training materials for use across the European Union.

THAT, TO BE SURE, was the cry of the lookout man on the old style whaler before the days when those creatures were found to be an endangered species and steps taken internationally to safeguard them. It was the cry when the harpoon was sharpened and got ready to fire into the soft body of the victim.

THE first part of Professor Duncan Dowson's paper (March/April issue) dwelt on late 19th century development of machinery outstripping the performance of available lubricants. Contemporary lubricant research, and personalities involved, where described, leading to the concept of fluid‐film lubrication, documented by Professor Osborne Reynolds' paper read to the Royal Society in 1886.

THIS scheme of exact classification has now been long enough upon trial to justify the publication of a few explanatory notes, adjustments, and revisions which may be useful to present and future users of the system. For an entirely new scheme, which to some extent broke fresh ground, its reception has been extremely kind and flattering, and although it has not escaped criticism, nothing has appeared which has been anything but reasonable and helpful. A surprising circumstance has been that, notwithstanding the very controversial nature of much of the subject, so few points of difference have appeared. These are all more or less directed against the mere placing of certain topics and do not to any extent reflect upon the theory or structure of the system as a whole. One mistake has been made, however, of a more important nature, but this must have arisen either through misapprehension or carelessness. It has been assumed that the Subject Classification claims to be thoroughly scientific, and that each class is arranged in a logical and evolutionary order, so as to modulate or merge naturally into its successor. Any modest claim which may have been made to an attempted logical order is invariably qualified by a statement in the “Introduction” to the effect that such perfect order is only to be expected to a very limited extent. On page eight it is stated that—“The departments of human knowledge are so numerous, their intersections so great, their changes so frequent, and their variety so confusing, that it is impossible to show that they proceed from one source or germ, or that they can be arranged so that each enquirer will find the complete literature of his special subject at one fixed place.” All through the tables and the introduction the same kind of limitation is insisted upon, and it can only be due to misunderstanding to say that I have made such a preposterous claim to sequential perfection. No librarian who has attempted to compile a system of exact classification would ever dream of claiming that he did more than get as near as possible to an ideal arrangement in accordance with his basal plan.

While many characteristics of food consumption have been examined, little attention has been given to the health potential of consuming from local food communities. Local food communities, including community supported agriculture (CSA) are food initiatives, which try to respond to the healthy food, environmental or socioeconomic challenges of the food system. As a step toward understanding local food communities, this study sets out to examine the health-related adaptivity and self-management practices of CSA participation.

The qualitative research approach, which included semi-structured interviews (n = 35), was designed to discover the potential for being healthy: the ability to adapt and to self-manage among CSA participants. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis.

The results suggest that local food communities can influence health-related adaptivity and self-management in the following themes: awareness of product origins; enhanced food-management capability; expanding applicability and usability of the food environment; and strengthening one's food-related self-image.

Increasing the presence of local food communities might be part of developing strategies to evaluate the health effects of the local food environment and to encourage consumers to take responsibility for their own health.

This study extends the food consumption literature to include new knowledge about how local food communities facilitate individual efforts to enhance their own potential for health as well as improving understanding of the mechanisms that underpin a healthy diet.