Public Diplomacy Done Right with School Meals

Judith McHale, the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy, goes to work every day with a legend. She uses the same office George Marshall did when he served as Secretary of State after World War II.

Marshall guided the U.S. war effort as Chief of the Army, and as the Secretary of State he organized the recovery program for Europe known as the Marshall Plan. McHale calls the Marshall Plan "the greatest example in our nation's history of Public Diplomacy done right. "

Food was what got the Marshall Plan started, in the form of an interim aid program in 1947-1948, and this is where public diplomacy came in.

In early 1948, posters and postcards were made highlighting a free supplementary meals program for Italy's school children. Posters, sometimes created through art competitions, served as a way to inform the public of how American aid was benefiting Italy. The postcards were distributed throughout schools taking part in the meals program.

School feeding and public diplomacy were a perfect match during the Marshall Plan era, not only in Italy, but in Germany. General Lucius Clay thought school feeding was the most important public outreach we undertook to win the trust of the German people during reconstruction. Clay realized the school meals were going to change a generation for the better.

Our school meals for peace tradition, a staple during the Marshall Plan years, should be rolled out today as a foreign policy tool. Congress needs to get school feeding out of the trash can of recent budget cuts .

A good start would be restoring funding for the McGovern-Dole international school meals program. Then go forward, thinking of what works in peacemaking. Instead of just pouring mostly military aid into different countries, why not feed the children?

As McHale said in a speech at the Marshall Foundation last year, "What gave unassailable moral strength to the Marshall Plan was the fact that it was based on the simple but profound insight that what unites us all as humans is far more powerful and important than what divides us. That even after the wreckage and animosity of a world war, we could come together to build a better future.... From Lexington to Lubumbashi, from Indianapolis to Islamabad, people everywhere share the same aspirations for their families and communities."

Think of what people in other countries need. It's not any different than people back in America. They want to see their children healthy, receive an education and have hope for a future. School feeding gets at the heart of all three of these objectives.

It would be relatively inexpensive for the U.S., along with an international coalition, to work toward a global school lunch program. This is a global movement that is certainly within reach.

In Afghanistan, this means full rations for children, something that tragically has not been achieved. In flood-ravaged Benin, support is needed for the World Food Programme's school feeding mission. In Haiti, the goal is a national school lunch program supported by local food producers.

In our troubled world today, we see people asking how can we improve America's image around the world? Why not through more school meals? Instead of just slashing our international schools meals budget as the House recently did, start thinking outside the box. Think of a lunch box.

Article first published as Public Diplomacy Done Right with School Meals on Blogcritics.