
9 Pics That Show What Kids Get For School Lunches In Different Countries

BoredPanda staff
Debates and initiatives over school lunches in the United States have remained in the public dialogue over the years, and for a good reason. The National School Lunch Program (NPL), which provides low-cost or free lunches, serves an upwards of 31 million students at 92 percent of U.S. public and private schools.
This means the dietary restrictions and provisions of NPL should be of concern to most U.S parents. Well, Sweetgreen, a chain of salad restaurants, that runs the Sweetgreen in Schools program meant to educate kids about healthy eating, fitness, and sustainability, created a photo series to show what kids around the world eat for lunch – and compared to the U.S these schools are serving up gourmet meals. Scroll down below to compare plates!
Italy
Local fish on a bed of arugula, pasta with tomato sauce, caprese salad, baguette and some grapes
Finland
Pea soup, beet salad, carrot salad, bread and pannakkau (dessert pancake) with fresh berries
France
Steak, carrots, green beans, cheese and fresh fruit
Brazil
Pork with mixed veggies, black beans and rice, salad, bread and baked plantains
South Korea
Fish soup, tofu over rice, kimchi and fresh veggies
Greece
Baked chicken over orzo, stuffed grape leaves, tomato and cucumber salad, fresh oranges, and greek yogurt with pomegranate seeds
Ukraine
Mashed potatoes with sausage, borscht, cabbage and syrniki (a dessert pancake)
Spain
Sautéed shrimp over brown rice and vegetables, gazpacho, fresh peppers, bread and an orange
USA
Fried ‘popcorn’ chicken, mashed potatoes, peas, fruit cup and a chocolate chip cookie
What do you think ?
That's what school lunches would look like if they were made of the local dishes. Not real.
I think you are right. doesn't seem like school food at all to me. Would be awesome.. but nope
In Europe, school dishes are mostly cooked at school by staff that only does that. Children eat in real round plates, and in a lot of schools they're served first dish, second one after it, and finally dessert. Those serving plates are more like the stuff in aeroplanes. And I'm sure that any ca
Just no tableclothes, and of course this example is extrem. i will take some pictures tomorrow from my homeless shelter who is furnished by an hospital who make food for schools, hospitals, elderly and some other public places in France. It's called "central kitchen" and it provides for many places , so it's more industrial than the Moore example, of course. But some city's are doing it themselves, but iit's complicated because of nutritionnism rules, hygienists rules, chain of temperature rules and all french rules about food in public spaces...See you tomorrow with pictures that are highly representatives, and "kind of" similar.i will try to have pictures of two lunches.
Looks real to me. Moore went over to check for himself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXK591Rp4BU
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Do you even have a passport? That's EXACTLY what school lunches are. In France, the kids get a sit-down hot lunch with proper china and silver, complete with tablecloths. They are required to be polite - no shouting, getting up, etc., and their teachers are supervising them.
Italian here, never seen a single school lunch like that any day of my school life. Ok with fruit, ok with pasta, but fish? Served like that? The first time I've eated fried fish in my school I vomited all that day and the day after. And I avoid to talk about the taste of the food...
Completely agree, as I'm italian too. School or other canteen services serve you overcooked pasta that can easily stick to the roof if thrown, plus an unrecognisable slice of meat with the worst choice of vegetables (usually the smelliest and horrid kind, like broccoli or cauliflower) covered with odd selections of cheeses for the vegetables actually picked. Even when lasagna is rarely served and pizza too, the ingredients and looks are lightyears away from what you actually eat at home or even in the shadiest restaurant.
celery salad, 2 slices of lamb leg, "pommes noisettes" which is basically fried mashed potatoes, then a natural yoghurt and an applesauce 20181003_1...5064bb.jpg
France: Tomatoes salad with braised beef and carrots, then cheese (of course right) and abricots with light syrup; The bread is always on demand. 20181003_1...7ee299.jpg
why downvotes pictures of actual school meals? Coward, this is seriously fucked up. May i recommand you to see a psychiatrist?
This comment has been deleted.
Highly suspicious that Greek children receive mandarins or clementines with the leaves still on them...
The photographer made it look nice, but it is what kids eat.
I would like to see posted pictures of what students in each of these countrys ACTUALLY get given to eat
greek here, i've seen actual school lunches, they look nothing like that.
What do they look like? (I'm curious!) to me all these look like local dishes, served on a "school lunch tray" - but far from truth.
and yes, in France you gives knives to children since 3 years old! i don't know how but there are no murders... They just eat. Sometimes there is a joke, but about water because "lancelot" from king Arthur, "lance l'eau" means "spill the water "on the face of course, then you ask some questions about a book and when the person say "spill the water", you spill it!
there is no "school lunch tray" in France. but a tray if you are older than 1O, above, this is table served. But this is eventually the same, a glass, to fill with water, a plate, a fork, a knife, a teaspoon and a starter (vegetables or charcuterie), a meat or fish and some vegetables or rice, pasta, potatoes, then a cheese (that's not a myth, and i don't eat cheese and some teachers made me: force-feeding) and a dairy and a fruit. that's the average lunch in France(unless force-feeding), i lived in different places.
boiled brocolli or carrots in plastic containers, an orange, boiled fish....bland stuff like that. tasteless both to the eye and to the mouth
I live in Spain. Where the heck did this person even get the idea that schools would be serving sautéed SHRIMP at lunch???
Ahahah I thought the same thing xD that's just so unreal XD come on!!!
In France we have shrimps as a starter(entire shrimps, cold), for elderly and hospitals( this is the same hospital who make food for several facilities where i live), but for kids shrimps are in the sauce with a fish, or as a fish in a sauce, often with rice. Just without exoskelettons for kids.
Wtf is "sauteed shrimp" anyway, in my school we had lentejas, comida de viejas xD and thank god cause kids in africa had nothing to it.
... shrimp that's been sauteed...
That's what school lunches would look like if they were made of the local dishes. Not real.
I think you are right. doesn't seem like school food at all to me. Would be awesome.. but nope
In Europe, school dishes are mostly cooked at school by staff that only does that. Children eat in real round plates, and in a lot of schools they're served first dish, second one after it, and finally dessert. Those serving plates are more like the stuff in aeroplanes. And I'm sure that any ca
Just no tableclothes, and of course this example is extrem. i will take some pictures tomorrow from my homeless shelter who is furnished by an hospital who make food for schools, hospitals, elderly and some other public places in France. It's called "central kitchen" and it provides for many places , so it's more industrial than the Moore example, of course. But some city's are doing it themselves, but iit's complicated because of nutritionnism rules, hygienists rules, chain of temperature rules and all french rules about food in public spaces...See you tomorrow with pictures that are highly representatives, and "kind of" similar.i will try to have pictures of two lunches.
Looks real to me. Moore went over to check for himself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXK591Rp4BU
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Do you even have a passport? That's EXACTLY what school lunches are. In France, the kids get a sit-down hot lunch with proper china and silver, complete with tablecloths. They are required to be polite - no shouting, getting up, etc., and their teachers are supervising them.
Italian here, never seen a single school lunch like that any day of my school life. Ok with fruit, ok with pasta, but fish? Served like that? The first time I've eated fried fish in my school I vomited all that day and the day after. And I avoid to talk about the taste of the food...
Completely agree, as I'm italian too. School or other canteen services serve you overcooked pasta that can easily stick to the roof if thrown, plus an unrecognisable slice of meat with the worst choice of vegetables (usually the smelliest and horrid kind, like broccoli or cauliflower) covered with odd selections of cheeses for the vegetables actually picked. Even when lasagna is rarely served and pizza too, the ingredients and looks are lightyears away from what you actually eat at home or even in the shadiest restaurant.
celery salad, 2 slices of lamb leg, "pommes noisettes" which is basically fried mashed potatoes, then a natural yoghurt and an applesauce 20181003_1...5064bb.jpg
France: Tomatoes salad with braised beef and carrots, then cheese (of course right) and abricots with light syrup; The bread is always on demand. 20181003_1...7ee299.jpg
why downvotes pictures of actual school meals? Coward, this is seriously fucked up. May i recommand you to see a psychiatrist?
This comment has been deleted.
Highly suspicious that Greek children receive mandarins or clementines with the leaves still on them...
The photographer made it look nice, but it is what kids eat.
I would like to see posted pictures of what students in each of these countrys ACTUALLY get given to eat
greek here, i've seen actual school lunches, they look nothing like that.
What do they look like? (I'm curious!) to me all these look like local dishes, served on a "school lunch tray" - but far from truth.
and yes, in France you gives knives to children since 3 years old! i don't know how but there are no murders... They just eat. Sometimes there is a joke, but about water because "lancelot" from king Arthur, "lance l'eau" means "spill the water "on the face of course, then you ask some questions about a book and when the person say "spill the water", you spill it!
there is no "school lunch tray" in France. but a tray if you are older than 1O, above, this is table served. But this is eventually the same, a glass, to fill with water, a plate, a fork, a knife, a teaspoon and a starter (vegetables or charcuterie), a meat or fish and some vegetables or rice, pasta, potatoes, then a cheese (that's not a myth, and i don't eat cheese and some teachers made me: force-feeding) and a dairy and a fruit. that's the average lunch in France(unless force-feeding), i lived in different places.
boiled brocolli or carrots in plastic containers, an orange, boiled fish....bland stuff like that. tasteless both to the eye and to the mouth
I live in Spain. Where the heck did this person even get the idea that schools would be serving sautéed SHRIMP at lunch???
Ahahah I thought the same thing xD that's just so unreal XD come on!!!
In France we have shrimps as a starter(entire shrimps, cold), for elderly and hospitals( this is the same hospital who make food for several facilities where i live), but for kids shrimps are in the sauce with a fish, or as a fish in a sauce, often with rice. Just without exoskelettons for kids.
Wtf is "sauteed shrimp" anyway, in my school we had lentejas, comida de viejas xD and thank god cause kids in africa had nothing to it.
... shrimp that's been sauteed...