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.