‘Merican Foods - Whats The Difference?

[ChanceHuncha]

Alright so this is pretty random but this has been a serious thought of mine for years,

I know that many of you come from all over the world, but I really want to know what your School Lunches were like.

I ask this because here in America, The typical High School Lunch is nothing but artificial, although pretty tasty. I want to know what the difference is for you guys and wether America has too much of a diet. I'm not trying to complain about it, (because Honestly, I'd rather take it over Mystery Gruel) but I just wanna know what it was like for you.

[ChanceHuncha]

For Refrence, Here's A Photo Of The Food From my school.

-Chicken Sandwich (Bacon, Lettuce, Mayo)
-Curly Fries
-Potato Chips
-Pepsi
-Tiny Bowl Of Grapes

Keep in mind, there's a lot more on the menu, but I wanna see what you guys think of it.

[sixtee5cuda]

I attended a rural high school in the state of Washington, over 30 years ago.  None of the items shown by ChanceHuncha in his lunch picture would have been available in my cafeteria.  We ate out of plastic (fiberglass?) trays with dividers for each type of food.  A typical meal would include green beans, potatoes, and a main dish containing hamburger.  Food items were prepared in the cafeteria kitchen, not pre-packaged.  Beverages were probably milk or water.

[nicanary]

There's an awful lot of fat in that meal.  Healthy eating isn't expensive or difficult to mamage, even though many people argue that it is. They're just making excuses. Unfortunately junk food tastes nice. Can't argue with that.

School meals when I was your age (the 1960s) were simply inedible. I took a sandwich made by my mother and had a larger and nutritious dinner in the evening as my main meal of the day. Quite simply, we eat far more than we need to, and IMO there's more food in your photo than you really need for lunch.

I drink Pepsi Max as my preferred cola - it's sugar-free but I'm not stupid and there must be something in there to make it taste good. Also the mayo is pure grease. The portion of curly fries is way too large - I doubt if there's much potato (if any - it could be some sort of ersatz spud!) and anything deep-fried is asking for trouble health-wise. I suppose your school is providing a meal which is healthy to some extent - we all need a balance of fat, sugar, protein, vitamin, carbohydrates, etc., but I personally don't think it's as good as it could be.

You may have noticed I have definite opinions about all of this - I had a complete and radical change of diet a few years ago in order to stay alive! All my meals are now cooked at home from fresh ingredients. I never eat prepared meals or take-out food. It's a bit different for you at the age of 14, but I'm sure your mum could sort it out for you.

Don't let people make you "conform" to please marketing men.

[ChanceHuncha]

The thing with High schools, maybe even all schools is that they are "required" to have some sort of healthy portion, the simple issue with kids nowadays is that they dont wanna eat it. I remember being in elementary, and my parents told me to eat any fruits or vegetables they offer. I did eat some fruits, but the problem with most of it is that its poorly maintained. Broccoli used to be very dry, Green Beans (the fake ones) were in microwaved containers and were super chewy. The things like this made kids not want to eat it, and they all simply threw it away. But high fat foods however, were more maintained since it consisted of the main meal. Greasy Pizza, Hamburgers, the whole lot. Its just more appetizing to kids and to people of all ages. I've maintained a steady diet since I do sports, but to see sometimes when the lunch ladies scoop out large portions of french fries and plops them onto the tray is just crazy. I dont understand how they can do it. Another thing is money. Meals like the one you saw cost $6-$8. Thats a lot of money for a lunch, and why I never order school lunches that much anymore. But the U.S needs money like it needs oxygen, so it seems thats places like schools will do whatever than can to get the most bang for their buck.

[nicanary]

It's the same all over the world (except possibly North Korea). School authorities have a limited budget for meals, and it's so much easier to offer kids what they like if it's cheap to produce. Junk food tastes great.

There has been a limited effort in the UK to improve the situation, with high-profile chefs getting involved to encourage the provision of healthy AND TASTY meals, but in the end the enthusiasm tends to peter out. The government here has run a "five a day" campaign to get people to eat ANY fruit and veg but it's had little or no effect.  Most lower-income families have virtually no nutritious food at any time.

I applaud your concern. In my experience it's not that often I encounter a young person who has any interest in this subject. The health system in the UK is presently at breaking-point and sadly much of the illness is self-inflicted. It's all falling on deaf ears.

[gilescooperuk]

That is lunch, my lunch today was two sandwiches, marmite and cheddar, then peanut butter and tomatoes.

That is a lot less. I might have a burger for dinner but that would just be a single burger in a bun with onions and cheese....

That is a lot of food for lunch

[Carnut]

Like nicanary I was at school in the 1960s and our school meals were made of cardboard and papier maché I think; they were revolting - exept every other Friday when we had sausages, beans and chips!

Also like nicanary I only eat freshly prepared foods, lots of vegetables and lots of fruit.  The problem with obesity in the UK is largely that the pace of life seems to dictate that most people buy pre-packed dinners in the supermarket, which are of course full of complete rubbish..   Then they 'graze' all day and evening long and then wonder why they're overweight!

[Ultra]

Close the cafeterias.  All of em.  Bring your food from home or starve. Your choice.  Schools can't even educate the kids properly and you're gonna trust em to feed your kids too?!?!

Home school. 

[ChanceHuncha]

Close the cafeterias.  All of em.  Bring your food from home or starve. Your choice.  Schools can't even educate the kids properly and you're gonna trust em to feed your kids too?!?!

Home school.

I could only dream of being home schooled!