School meals around the world. School breakfasts around the world

Proper nutrition of a child at school or college is a guarantee not only of high-quality studies and active development of the body, but also a guarantee that in adulthood he will have fewer health problems. In an ideal world, in those few hours without parental supervision, the child eats balanced and correct.
However, in reality, he succumbs to temptations and tries to use every change to his advantage: grab a chocolate bar, a slice of pizza, wash it all down with a carbonated drink. Let's look at what children eat in schools around the world. What kind of breakfast would you choose for a child?

When President Harry Truman signed the National School Lunch Act in 1946, he probably didn't anticipate that American schools would sooner or later start feeding children ready-made chicken and frozen french fries. American activists are seriously puzzled by this problem, and now you can increasingly find fresh healthy products on the plates in school cafeterias.

Finland

The Finnish education system is one of the best in the world. Here, healthy school meals are a priority. The authorities make sure that the dishes are tasty, colorful and nutritious. Since the late 1990s, basic proportions have been established: vegetables should make up half of the dish (carrots and beetroot salads are especially popular), proteins and starchy foods make up one quarter of the dish. Many schools serve vegetarian meals daily. On Thursdays (according to Finnish tradition) green pea soup with smoked pork is served.

Italy

Most Italian school meals are made from locally grown, organic produce. The daily lunch most often includes pasta or risotto with salad, which is served separately. Meat appears on the menu only a couple of times a week, in small portions. As a dessert or snack, they often serve bread spread with Nutella chocolate spread or a few sweets and cakes. By the way, in Italy the percentage of overweight children is quite high.

Kenya

Here, school lunches are not encouraging with a variety of dishes. Traditionally, children line up for a mixture of beans and grains called githeri. The dish originated in the Kikuyu tribe, and today this porridge is an indispensable part of the school diet.

Korea

Most school cafeterias in Korea use sectional metal trays for serving lunches. The two largest sections are for rice, which is served with pickled kimchi vegetables and soup. Smaller compartments - for vegetables and fish. Drinks include sweet yoghurt.

Brazil

The school day for most students in Brazil starts at 7 am and lasts until noon. In order not to go hungry, children are often offered a snack called queijadinhas, a cake made from cheese and coconut. While many children eat lunch after school, the Brazilian government has established a nationwide school lunch program (since 1955) that provides hot, healthy meals to underprivileged children.

France

School food is taken seriously. In fact, children here eat almost the same as adults. The menu of French schools sometimes includes Marengo veal scallops, hake with lemon sauce, lamb with red pepper. Fresh bread and salads, fruits, yoghurts and desserts are also included in the diet. The only thing the children lack here is wine.

Japan

The Japanese school breakfast, known as kyuushoku, is an important part of every child's daily schedule. Children receive food directly in the classroom. Rice and fish make up the bulk of the menu, but these classic lunches are interspersed with Western lunches. Schoolchildren especially love korokke - fried potato croquettes, scrambled eggs, chicken with ketchup.

Singapore

Singapore is famous for its street food. At lunchtime, all residents rush to open food courts. In most schools, children do the same. School cafeterias in Singapore are often rented out to private chefs. Students choose between noodle soup, rice curry and so-called "Western" food. A typical Western lunch is chicken chop (chicken fillet topped with a thick sauce), spaghetti or beans, and coleslaw.

Greece

The standard school lunch in Greece consists of baked chicken, stuffed vine leaves, pasta or rice, salad and fresh fruit.

Many of us remember school lunches from our childhood very well. If you are interested in looking at what modern schoolchildren are fed, not only here, but also in other countries of the world, then we advise you to look at this post.

India, city of Bangalore. Rice, something with peas, and a hard-boiled egg.

Japan. Lunch at elementary school. Milk, soup, bread and something marinated.

Iran. Rice, tomato and lamb kebab.

South Korea. Pickled sesame leaves, kimchi (vegetable dish), doenjang (soybean paste), goulash, rice and a couple of grapes for dessert.

Guatemala. Flatbread, hard boiled egg, tomatoes and fruit juice.

USA. Minced meat tacos, crisp potatoes, crushed tomatoes, pudding, and some drink.

Finland. Salad, chicken curry, vegetables, milk.

Türkiye. Rye bread, nuts, fruits and kefir.

Thailand. Some pork, rice and some banana leaves.

China. In fact, although it is "China", but lunch is at a German school in Shanghai, so we were a little deceived here. French fries, sausage, carrots, bread and pudding.

Great Britain. Sausages, mashed potatoes and beans.

France. Fish, spinach, potatoes, lettuce, cheese and bread.

USA, but again unusual - in a French school (above was an example from a regular school in Texas). Boeuf bourguignon, aka Burgundy beef, and pineapple.

Russia, vermicelli soup, vinaigrette, scrambled eggs, compote.

The topic of school meals is being actively discussed and criticized not only here in Russia, but also, for example, in the USA. As always, everything revolves around making it healthy, tasty for schoolchildren and relatively inexpensive.

The Sweetgreen company from the USA maintains a chain of "salad" restaurants, and at the same time educates schoolchildren about what a healthy diet is. The company recreated healthy school lunches in the style of cuisine from around the world. As a result, it turned out not so much like reality, but more like a fantasy on the topic of how it could be with them.

However, each of these meal examples contains important healthy nutrition elements: variety, lots of vegetables and fruits, a significant proportion of carbohydrates (WHO recommends getting about 50-55% of kcal from carbohydrates), sources of protein.

It is worth considering, if only for inspiration, how to feed a child (and eat yourself) - and the school has nothing to do with it.

The typical school lunch in the US is cited as not the best example of how to have a great lunch.

Soup, vegetables and fruits, sea squirrels in the form of shrimp and carbohydrates in the form of rice and a delicious bun.

The company's selection also included a "Ukrainian" school lunch - more precisely, as they imagine it. We believe that Ukrainian schoolchildren would not refuse such a thing. And again, a fairly balanced diet is on the plate, except that instead of sausages, a less processed protein product, such as chicken breast, would look more harmonious. But, it was important to observe the national flavor.

School lunch in Greek is also from the category of “I wish they fed me like this at school!” And again, there is a variety and harmonious composition: vegetables and fruits, milk (Greek yogurt), boiled meat with carbohydrates and something similar to dolma.

Again, the perfect variety: soup, lots of different vegetables, and “long” carbs with protein.

A piece of roast beef, soft cheese and asparagus look not childishly appetizing. Slightly fewer carbohydrates than in the previous examples, but there is plenty of protein and a variety of vegetables and fruits.

In the Finnish dinner, in our cursory glance, there is not enough yummy rich in protein. For him - soup, most likely on a meat basis.

An Italian lunch is almost ideal (and for some it may be): a chic salad with cheese, tomatoes and greens, meat with arugula, slow carbohydrates in the form of pasta, bread and grapes.

In the US, a typical school lunch might consist of chicken, whole grain bread, and salad. But in France, students' plates can be filled with salmon and ratatouille. Today we will find out what canteens offer for students in different countries of the world.

Paris, France

In the French capital, schoolchildren are offered lunch, which consists of pike, green beans and mushrooms (main photo).

Lambersart, France

Here, the school lunch includes ratatouille, rice, salmon, celery and carrot salad, a slice of bread, an orange, and a doughnut.

Bamako, Mali

Students are offered fried donuts in the school cafeteria, but many prefer to have lunch at home.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Potatoes and empanada with thin slices of meat.

Also, in some schools in Buenos Aires, students are offered lunch, which consists of rice with chicken milanesa (meat covered with egg and breadcrumbs).

Barcelona, ​​Spain

Here, lunch consists of a creamy vegetable soup, grilled veal with salad, a slice of bread, an orange, a banana, and water.

Madrid, Spain

School lunch in Madrid consists of scrambled eggs, vegetable soup, banana yogurt and water.

Some schools may provide vegetable cream soup and yogurt.

London, England

Here, students can choose one of two lunch options. The first is pasta, broccoli, slices of bread and seasonal fresh fruit.

Another option is broccoli, chili with rice, banana, custard biscuit.

Havana, Cuba

Children in Havana are offered lunch of rice, chicken croquettes, a piece of taro root, yellow pea soup, fried bananas and an orange drink.

Quito, Ecuador

Here lunch consists of a sandwich with ham, cheese, tomatoes and lettuce, a drink, and an apple.

Singapore

Here, schoolchildren are offered a salad, which consists of fruits, beans, sauce and barley, as well as homemade bread.

Jakarta, Indonesia

Students here eat rice, tofu and vegetables, soup with meatballs for lunch.

They can also buy street food.

Nablus, West Bank

Children at breaks dine with what they bring from home. Basically, these are sandwiches, which consist of pita bread stuffed with olive oil and zaatar, a mixture of herbs and spices.

Jammu, India

Children queue up to get a free lunch, which consists of sweetened rice.

Many also bring lunch from home. Most often these are tortillas, a turnip and mango dish.

Montevideo, Uruguay

The students have vegetable soup for lunch.

La Fria, Venezuela

Pasta with corn tortillas is the main lunch for schoolchildren.

Zhejiang, China

For lunch, students are given rice, beans and mixed vegetables.

Jenin Refugee Camp, Palestine

Children buy chickpeas from a street vendor.

Rawalpindi, Pakistan

Most children bring lunch from home with them. It may consist of eggs, chicken nuggets, bread, rice, or noodles. Another lunch option is vegetables, lamb or beef.

Daido, Japan

Japanese school lunch is rice, soup and oranges.

Kingston, New York, USA

Here for lunch they cook stewed beans, meat, carrots, broccoli, peaches, bananas and milk chocolate.

Denver, Colorado

Pupils in Denver schools eat vegetable tacos for lunch.

Seattle, Washington, USA

Grilled cheese whole grain sandwich served with corn, fresh carrots or canned pears and apples.

In different countries of the world, meals in the middle of the day are treated differently. For most of us, for example, a full meal is the first, second and compote. In the US, as a rule, at lunchtime, office workers eat a salad or a sandwich while sitting at their desk. In other parts of the world, the picture may be quite different.

Singapore

Hawker centers (indoor catering center with stalls) have many different kinds of eateries that sell relatively inexpensive local dishes - dumplings, chicken with rice, noodles.
During the lunch break, office workers flock to these centers, looking somewhat strange here, sitting on small chairs in their formal suits.

America

For many Americans, lunch is a necessity, not a break from work. Many employees either bring food with them or buy something to snack on, like a salad or a sandwich, and then eat it at their desk while they work.
Except when you invite a client to dine with you in a cafe, drinking alcohol during the lunch break is prohibited. Lunch time in the United States is not used by employees to communicate with colleagues and take a break from work, as in some other countries of the world.

Brazil

à quilo restaurants are the usual places where employees in Rio de Janeiro go during their lunch break. These restaurants have huge buffet counters that attract diners with an abundance of food on their plates.
Most of the dishes offered here are typically Brazilian: rice, meat, black beans, as well as vegetables and french fries.

Germany

During lunch in Germany, they usually eat quite a lot. Germans love to enjoy their lunch break while sitting with their colleagues somewhere in a cafe or restaurant.
For Germans, lunch is the main meal - usually sausages, potato salad, schnitzel, french fries, etc. And for dinner, they eat something light. Also, many people prefer to drink beer.

India

In India, the food delivery service has its roots deep in history. Every day, approximately 5,000 food vendors deliver around 200,000 hot meals to office workers across the city of Mumbai. Lunches are usually brought in metal containers.
The food delivery network is very extensive, but effective, even if food containers have to be passed like a baton from hand to hand by several couriers. It's amazing how they still manage to deliver food to the customer and not confuse anything.
Until recently, the food supplied was local food cooked in home kitchens. But now everything is changing; prices are rising and food is becoming more modern. However, the delivery method remains unchanged.

Japan

Throughout Japan, you can find many eateries located in quiet streets and alleyways. Some of the best eateries are tiny "minks" that attract patrons who want something hot for lunch.
Employees come to such eateries at lunchtime and sit at the counter right in front of the chef, who prepares noodles for them. Thus, the client and the chef can communicate.

Spain

The Spaniards call their afternoon meal la comida. As in Germany, lunch is often the main meal of the day. La comida consists of a variety of dishes and is served from 14:00 to 16:00.
Typically, a meal starts with something light, like soup or salad, followed by a meat or fish dish (like paella or seafood stew), and ends with a dessert that can be anything from fruit to traditional confectionery.