Whether carrying a brown bag from home, picking up a tray from the lunch person, or serving up the food themselves, lunchtime at school can be one of the most important parts of a child's day. Let's take a look at what kids around the world eat for lunch. French students can expect up to a four-course meal at lunch. They begin with a salad of fresh veg, followed by a quality protein like salmon with a side of roasted broccoli. They wouldn't be French without a course of soft cheeses, jam, and fresh bread. And kids finish with a sweet confection like marzipan before
heading back to class. In Japan, kids aren't
served healthy meals; they serve them. To teach healthy cooking, kids take turns helping to cook, serve, and clean up for their peers. Meals are heavy on rice,
vegetables, and fish. Students in Nigeria are fed
well-balanced meals each day. Meals could include smoky,
tomato-y jollof rice with chicken and steamed veg. Finland was the first country in the world to provide free lunch to every student, and the law ensures high
nutrition standards. Veggies like beetroot
salad and roasted turnips take up at least half the plate. Starches and grains such as a crepe topped with slightly tart lingonberry jam take up one quarter, and a protein such as hernekeitto, a split-pea soup topped with smoked ham, takes up the other. Crispbread is served on the side. In South Korea, students
eat off steel trays sectioned out for perfect portion sizes. The bigger section is for
rice, the circle holds soup, and the smaller portions
are for tangy, spicy kimchi, some veggies, and meat
like marinated strips of pork shoulder called jaeyook bokum. With a large orthodox
population in Ethiopia, meals are largely plant-based. An array of foods like
spicy lentils, zucchini, and yellow split-pea
soup called kik alicha are eaten with injera,
a fermented flatbread. Thanks to the islands' burgeoning
Farm to School Program, kids in Hawaii can expect
meals made from scratch with local, fresh ingredients, such as a chicken stir-fry with veggies and fresh-baked bread on the side. Ukrainian kids get their
lunch in three courses. First, a soup course such as borscht, a hearty beef-based soup with cabbage and red beets to give it a vibrant color, followed by meat and starch like grilled sausages with potato- and cheese-stuffed
dumplings called varenyky. They finish sweet with
a shortbread biscuit. A lunch tray in the US could include a gooey grilled cheese on
crunchy whole-grain bread with creamy tomato soup, carrot sticks, fruit like a box of raisins and an apple, and a brownie for dessert before heading back to class. Italian students run to the cafeteria to receive a two-course meal, and if these kids reside in Rome, the meal must by law be 70% organic. Primo is the pasta course, while protein and a veg, like grilled chicken
with a tasty mozzarella and tomato salad, is served for secondo. According to the World Food Program, Thai students receive the
most nutritional lunches in all of Asia. Kids can expect a balanced meal like grilled chicken, rice, and an antioxidant-packed, spicy, sweet green papaya salad. Families in China pay a monthly fee of about 70 cents per day for children to receive a box lunch. Inside, kids can find
rice, meat, and vegetables. Food is a constitutional right in Brazil, which means schools are required to provide students with healthy meals with 30% of ingredients
sourced from local farmers. Kitchen staff cooks fresh foods like frittatas loaded with veggies paired with hearty rice and
beans and a piece of fruit. Kids in India show up to
school with a tiffin box, a stackable metal container filled with a home-cooked meal. What's inside depends on the region. Northern Indian kids might enjoy parathas, seasoned, flaky bread, accompanied with boondi raita, crispy gram-flour balls floating
in a sea of spiced yogurt. Kids in Guatemala go home for lunch, where they'll eat dishes
like pasta in a tomato sauce with beets and tortillas. With classes six days a week, school in Israel finishes
before lunchtime, but kids do bring aruchat
eser, a morning meal, which could be a small snack like pita with hummus and a hard-boiled egg. Kids in Trinidad and
Tobago might be served rich and gelatinous oxtail stew for lunch paired with buss up, soft
and flaky shreds of roti. Students in Hong Kong can expect a veggie like steamed broccoli alongside wok-fried pork
slices and white rice. A kid in the UK might be
served baked cod fingers with a hot jacket potato,
a heaping side of beans, and a handful of chocolate
biscuits for dessert. In Mexico, instead of a meal, kids might bring along a morning snack such as a torta layered
with spicy bean dip, sliced ham, tomato, and
fresh, crisp lettuce. Australian kids eat lunch outside, bringing food from home or buying meals from a
cafeteria or street vendor. Food can include classic takeaway comforts like a sausage roll, pork sausage wrapped
snugly in puff pastry, with a couple of sweet chocolate biscuits called Tim Tams for dessert. Norwegian schools don't have cafeterias, so kids bring a light lunch from home, which could include an open-face sandwich with liverwurst, a sausage of pork liver blended with bold spices like cardamom, coriander, and mace. The meat's texture is almost
spreadable, close to pâté, and is accompanied by toppings
like mustard and cheese. Milk and fresh fruit is
provided by the school. Although students bring a
home-cooked lunch daily, teachers in Pakistan are
known to contact parents if meals don't err on the healthy side. Kids might bring aloo gosht, a stew of lamb and potatoes, paired with roti and a sweet and creamy mango lassi in the summer. So, which type of school
lunch do you want to try? Are there any we missed? Let us know in the comments below.
