What Do Other Countries Eat For School Lunch

But, but, but... (4.00 / 3)

Why do those countries deny their children high fructose corn syrup?  And Piggle Sticks with dipping sauces, and Pop Tarts!  How dare they?!

Yeah, that's a great series - thanks for highlighting it...

I'd like to think that we just don't get it when it comes to starting our kids off right with lessons in how to eat healthy, introducing them to real food, etc; rather than that we just don't care...

But sadly, I think it's the latter.

Healthy school lunches don't bring in the big lobbying dollars to our "public servants", do they?

"Intelligent discontent is the mainspring of civilization." - Eugene V. Debs

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by: JayinPortland @ Wed May 20, 2009 at 14:17:55 PM CDT

you should hear (4.00 / 4)

what teachers here in my school district say about their students after eating crap at lunch.They fall asleep, the kids not the teachers. This is according to one of (hopefully) our one school board members who wants to redo what our kids eat.

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by: LeeN @ Wed May 20, 2009 at 14:38:51 PM CDT

How do they do it? (4.00 / 3)

And how do they do it that cheaply?  Seriously, is there anywhere I can learn about this stuff?  If I'm trying to convince my school to adopt a garden, maybe I can get them to serve a few real meals.

Vote for yourself at www.ni4d.us!

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by: rossl @ Wed May 20, 2009 at 14:59:59 PM CDT

How'd that go, btw? (4.00 / 4)

Did you ever have that meeting?

I think they can manage to do what they do because, for starters, those countries aren't spending $100,000 a minute in Iraq; and beyond that, those countries never threw away their food cultures in order to enrich ADM and Cargill, etc, while throwing up actual legal barriers to obtaining healthy food in schools.

They view school cafeterias as more than just the 'food' equivalent of a cheap gas station, and they always have.

But we can also do it here, for that matter, and some already do - besides Berkeley, Portland (Harvest of the Month, Local Lunch, the Abernethy Elementary School Garden of Wonders Project...) and others, Jill brought us this story a few days ago about how they're doing it in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.

"Intelligent discontent is the mainspring of civilization." - Eugene V. Debs

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by: JayinPortland @ Wed May 20, 2009 at 15:39:35 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

It went well (4.00 / 3)

The principal liked the idea and the food services director even really liked the idea!  The food services woman was actually excited to get started on it and said she had been thinking about doing something like this.  Also, a tract of farm is being given to the school district (It's a place for cows that graze right now) and my principal didn't know any specifics but said that that might be a good place to put the garden.

The biggest obstacle, it sounded like, were insurance issues.  I'll have to have a meeting with the food services woman, the director of facilities or something like that (I've met with him once before and was going to meet with him about planting trees and saving energy and other stuff like that anyway).  But the ball is rolling a bit and it seems like in time it will get done.

Thanks for asking and thanks for reminding me - I need to email my principal!

Vote for yourself at www.ni4d.us!

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by: rossl @ Wed May 20, 2009 at 20:02:12 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Nice! (4.00 / 2)

May you one day be able to visit your old school, and admire the fantastic thing that you played a large role in creating...


"Intelligent discontent is the mainspring of civilization." - Eugene V. Debs

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by: JayinPortland @ Wed May 20, 2009 at 20:43:46 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Excellent point that! (4.00 / 3)

"They view school cafeterias as more than just the 'food' equivalent of a cheap gas station, and they always have."

I think you just hit the nail on the head here Jay. That's exactly the oposite of what our (USA) society, in general, and our governments all the way from the top to the bottom (with a few exceptions) does. It's a gas station. Look at the regs from USDA. In Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilema he points out how foods used to be regional in this country too. It was recognized that produce from one part of the country was different not only in taste but in nutritional value than that produced in another area or at another time of the year.
Differenced between pastured/grasse finished meats, eggs, etc. and grain fed/finished or indoor raised animals, or even produce.

Now, according to USDA it's all supposed to be the same, except in instances where some organizations claim that things like pastured poultry is actually bad, or not as good for you as chickens raised in broiler houses. I actually heard Dr. Dean Edell say that one on the radio one day. I really respect him, but he sounded like he agreed with the statement and I really had to question my trust in him when that happened. But, he was going with what the 'industry experts' were saying.

Regarding locavores as elitists - explain to me how supporting local business is elitist....

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by: Joanne Rigutto @ Wed May 20, 2009 at 22:20:02 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

in italy, note that a lot of the meals are (4.00 / 3)

vegetarian. Also, I'm sure they can get SOME discount by purchasing items wholesale instead of retail. And then I think there are also savings that come from cooking the food in school kitchens instead of paying a for-profit company to cook it for you and then just heating it up at school, using all disposable packaging.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Wed May 20, 2009 at 16:04:31 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I suspect that they consider it as part of the curriculum (4.00 / 3)

and not a separate endeavor that's expected to be self supporting.

Consider the cost per hour for school lunch versus the cost per hour for a history or science or math lesson.

As it was, he did a deal with a blancmange, and the blancmange ate his wife.

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by: elfling @ Thu May 21, 2009 at 11:21:14 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Unbelievable article! (4.00 / 5)

Wow! You get what you pay for, sadly.

If we put in nearly as much as France how much better would we be nationally health wise, let alone the fact that it is literally buying a lunch for our future.

Outstanding diary, Jill. Very disturbing too, in the sense that we complain about how terrible these "European" systems are, and yet their own children eat better than ours do.

Thanks for the article.

Cheers

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by: MinistryOfTruth @ Wed May 20, 2009 at 18:14:00 PM CDT

School lunch in Japan and Mexico (4.00 / 1)

Yes, I loved school lunch in Japan. So cheap but so yummy and wholesome. The only reservation I ever had was about the lack of whole grains. Despite this, there were actually demonstrations in my neighborhood by concerned parents that school lunches should be still cheaper and healthier!

School lunch in Oaxaca, Mexico, where I did my fieldwork, was walking home for the second and last meal of the day. There a meal is basically beans and tortilla, and perhaps one of every two or three meals includes egg or chicken.  

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by: takenitora @ Mon Nov 09, 2009 at 21:35:32 PM CST