Nutrition policy in local discourse: A case study of food service work and policy

The rise of child obesity as a public health concern has instigated new nutrition policies in public schools. This study examines nutrition policy through policy text and the local discourse of two groups of food service employees at one elementary school. To expand on Weick’s sensemaking theory, this study engages work-life, sensemaking, and work identity in order to reveal what policy means to employees and their work. The study shows how policy shapes and is shaped by the organization through the relationship between work and policy. Furthermore, it compares two sets of local discourse, one from managerial employees and one from service employees, to find significant connections between work identity and sensemaking. The study employs qualitative research methods to collect data including participant observation at Columbine Elementary School and interviews with seven food service employees. The findings of this study provide insights into how nutrition policy functions through the work of employees and how policy discourses are interpreted by employees in local discourse. From these findings, the study identifies themes throughout local discourse to indicate what policy means to the employees. New understandings of the ways in which nutrition policy is at work in a public school setting could be useful in enlightening the policy creation and implementation process

Three types of suffixes in French:Discarding the learned / non-learned distinction

Traditionally a two-way distinction is made in French between learned and non-learned suffixes, based on etymology. However, this distinction does not account for all suffixes. Furthermore, suffixes are traditionally considered as categorial heads, but some suffixes derive words of multiple categories. This paper proposes an alternative analysis of French suffixes, distinguishing three instead of two types, using a theory by Creemers et al. (2015) proposed for Dutch. In their analysis in the framework of Distributed Morphology, Creemers et al. distinguish three instead of two types of suffixes, proposing an alternative to Lowenstamm (2010). Starting from their proposal, we show that it is possible to distinguish three types of suffixes in French as well, accounting for the categorial flexibility of some suffixes, without resorting to the vague distinction between learned and non-learned.</jats:p

Introduction to RLLT 19

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How will sea-level rise affect coastal habitats such as salt marshes in the long term?

Coastal habitats such as salt marshes are flooded by the sea regularly. These land-water interactions have an effect on sedimentation, horizontal and vertical accretion, other geomorphologic features, and plant growth. Concerning the predicted sea-level rise, the question is: How will sea-level rise affect coastal habitats such as salt marshes in the long term? This subject has been studied worldwide and resulted in several models that are able to predict different aspects of the salt-marsh reaction to a rising sea level. The overall prediction is that salt marshes will be able to compensate for the general sea-level rise if they get enough inorganic sediment and/or organic matter supplied. Models from the US generally consider organic matter as an important factor, whereas the Northwest European models do not take this factor into account so much. When sediment accretion stops, the marsh is unable to grow and perhaps this will lead to a loss of salt-marsh area. This can be concluded from sea-edge erosion or cliff formation, and changes in the vegetation. For future management strategies the main goal is to prevent additional stress that can reduce the ability of wetlands to respond to climate change. The goal in Natura 2000, the general guideline for Dutch nature areas, is “maintain surface and improve quality” for the salt marshes in the Netherlands. Most salt marshes in the Netherlands can be found in the Wadden Sea and in the Delta area in Zealand. Differences lie mostly in the type of marsh soil.