きゅうしょく japanese school lunch

Everyone eats the same lunch.  There isn't a sack lunch and teachers don't bring leftovers from home.  In each homeroom classroom there is a rotating group of five students who serve lunch.  Students wait for everyone to be served and then they bless the meal in a unison bowing of the head and choral ittadakimasu! 

Milk, raisin bread, vegetable soup, cabbage, and fried potato pocket.

The food is prepared in local kitchens and brought to the school.  Most of the meals include local and seasonal ingredients and occasionally vegetables grown by the students.   Everyday lunches include milk, rice, noodles or bread, a soup/stew/curry, fish or meat and a Japanese style vegetable or salad and an occasional fruit.

Curry and rice, cauliflower/broccoli, and apple.  There was meat in the curry that I ate around.

A few weeks into my school visits in Japan I decided I would like to join the teachers and students in eating the school lunch or kyuushoku.  Every teacher and student in the school eats the same lunch so I wanted to be part of their system.  It is also a great time to interact with the students in awkward English conversation. 

Bread, Minestrone soup, a piece of chicken and pineapple.  I gave the chicken away

Most days I enjoy what is served to me.  They rarely have a completely vegetarian meal but I knew that when I committed to eating the school lunches. Often I will offer the meat or fish to a hungry boy at my table. The fish tends to be very fishy tasting or include the head still intact.  I also have to pick out or eat around the meat they put in the soups.  I'll even drink the milk once in a while.  I think my pregnancy has helped me get over some of my vegetarian finicky tastes (but I am by no means embracing a carnivores' diet.) 

Fish, rice, miso vegetable soup and a tofu/carrot/diakon salad.

 

Gyoza, seaweed salad, noodles, stew and mixed nuts. This was a special setsubun lunch (they celebrate the day by throwing beans at bad luck spirits to make way for Spring).  I didn't really eat the stew, too meaty.

At a time when childhood obesity is a common problem facing American school children I can't help but wonder why America wouldn't take some advice from Japan on how to run a healthy school lunch program on a big scale. In fact after WWII I think Americans helped Japan establish their current school lunch program.  So why do we feed our kids pizza, french fries and hamburgers for lunch? Why do children even get a choice in what they eat?  In Japan there is one nutritious meal and if you are hungry you will eat it (for the most part).  There has got to be a better way to feed American school children and I see one in Japan.