Pictures comparing US school lunch to other countries

That is a big ol' hunk of Brie in that lunch that France serves..I just purchased what appears to be approx the same amount..it cost me almost 6 BUCKS just for that cheese..how do they afford to feed them?

I did see Anthony Bourdain do the school lunch thing in Leon, France..and I was shocked..they eat on real plates and have real silverware! They also had a fresh pumpkin soup with some sort of cream on top..it looked delish..The school lunches here look as though they flopped down something they found in the garbage and rearranged to look 1/2 way descent..yuck--

a reply to: DjembeJedi
yep every school uses the same table tops to eat their lunch off. Next. We were never given the option of state supplied foods, bring your lunch or go hungry, which as an adult i find troublesome there must of been a lot of hungry kids at my school :-(

They all beat the peanut butter and jam sandwiches I got for lunch.......
But don't get down on my mom for it....us kids made our own lunches......

a reply to: DjembeJedi

To be fair that first picture was not representative of a typical American meal. They featured the healthiest foods from those other countries but for America they show processed chicken nuggets. America really has a pretty diverse diet. This past week I cooked Indian food, Italian food. A roast chicken with mashed potatoes, peas and carrots(not frozen carrots either) and some asparagus. My pantry is full of spices and herbs and the grocery store offers just about anything.
I'm pretty sure these are not standard fare in schools around the world any more than that first pic reflects a typical American school lunch. Some days it wasn't much better but salad and milk were offered every day.

a reply to: Neopan100

Okay maybe things have changed but we ate on real plates (melamine but still real plates) And had stainless steel forks spoons and knives. I really doubt that even France uses silverware.
It probably is disposable foam and plastic now but they have to budget those things and I'd think durable dinnerware would be cheaper than disposable. Not to mention the effects on the environment.

I like Finland's lunch the best. Probably because I am Finn and Finns are fond on fish.

I always ate school lunches in the US as a kid, and they were awful- in every sense.
I wasn't sure how much that had changed, but my daughter spent a year in high school in Calif. And said there was nothing but junk food served. Pizza, nachos, hamburgers... she said the only healthy thing she could find was apples.

In France, kids sit down, and are served in courses, and are obligated to eat some of everything. My kids got used to some veggies at school that I never made, and would ask me to make them (like leeks and cauliflower).

Now the kitchen I work in makes the meals for an elementary school, and at first, I would question the menu- "Um....are you sure I should make the sliced tomatoes and artichoke hearts for the little ones? They'll eat that?..."
Roquefort and fruit for dessert? They eat roquefort????"

Yep, they do. The french take food very seriously, and consider it an important part of their education. They don't serve the kids those industrial lasagnas here- everything is made from scratch, and though we tend to think of french cuisine as elaborate, it is actually extremely simple! A tomato salad, for example, has only tomatoes in it. Nothing else (except some olive oil and herbs maybe). So in that case, the quality of the fruit becomes extremely important- you can't fudge on quality, you can't use hot house, out of season, stuff.

originally posted by: Neopan100
That is a big ol' hunk of Brie in that lunch that France serves..I just purchased what appears to be approx the same amount..it cost me almost 6 BUCKS just for that cheese..how do they afford to feed them?

I did see Anthony Bourdain do the school lunch thing in Leon, France..and I was shocked..they eat on real plates and have real silverware! They also had a fresh pumpkin soup with some sort of cream on top..it looked delish..The school lunches here look as though they flopped down something they found in the garbage and rearranged to look 1/2 way descent..yuck--

Pumpkin soup is something we do often- and yes we have to spend the time to peel and cut up pumpkins!
Brie is one of the most inexpensive cheeses here. But that is more likely Camembert.
They eat on real plates with stainless steel ware, and real glass cups (and only water is allowed with a meal).

originally posted by: Neopan100
They also had a fresh pumpkin soup with some sort of cream on top..it looked delish..

That would be crème fraiche.

Randy Marsh's favorite substance.

When I was at school in the UK in the eighties school dinners were good solid english meals. meat potatoes and veg followed by an old school pudding.

Most schools have now outsourced the dinners to factorys that deliver them daily as opposed to local lady's cooking them from scratch.

When my son went to school I asked for information about the meals first from the school who simply reffered me to the company and when contacting them they refused to give me anything other than an assurance that the meals meet goverment guidelines for nutrition.

My son says the food is rubbish anyway, all nuggets and stuff so takes a packed lucnh although there was talk a little while ago about this bieng abolished and provided meals becoming mandatory.

Thats the kind of fight I like to take on.

originally posted by: rickymouse
I like Finland's lunch the best. Probably because I am Finn and Finns are fond on fish.

All I have to say is ... surströmming fermented herring
www.swedishfood.com...

originally posted by: DjembeJedi

originally posted by: rickymouse
I like Finland's lunch the best. Probably because I am Finn and Finns are fond on fish.

All I have to say is ... surströmming fermented herring
www.swedishfood.com...

We used to get barrels, about a gallon size, of those when I was a kid. They were fermented and salty. I liked the little white male glands in the bucket the best, but I ate the little herrings or what ever they are to please my dad.

I actually tried to buy some of those a couple of years ago for nostalgic reasons, but the grocery store couldn't order any. I get the salt codfish often, I am presently out of them. My dad taught me that I have to eat the salt fish, he was actually right. I pee out all my sodium so I have to eat lots of it or I get weak. If I have the saltfish around, I eat a little piece every so often and do not need to be adding salt to my food so often. My wife eats a lot of potato chips and salty snacks which I do not like so much.

My dad did not know that he had gene mutations that made him pee out the salt more and not reuptake the salt after the kidneys. He only knew if you started to feel off, you ate a little salt fish. All his brothers were the same way.