American School Lunch Is Becoming More Diverse, Like It Was in the 1910s

Atas Obscura ^ | March 21, 2019 | by Reina Gattuso

[pburiak]

I work at a relatively small suburban high school in Western Pennsylvania and our cafeteria is to die for, for both employees and students. It’s set up like a food court, with different stations available every day. These are the stations:
Taco bar
Salad bar
At least three varieties of pizza
Depending on the day, burger, chicken sandwich or chicken strips w/fries
Hot entree of the day, with everything from sesame chicken over rice, Philly Cheesesteak, Italian sausage, pasta dishes with meat, marinara or Alfredo sauce, fish, meatloaf, turkey and gravy, always with sides and hot veggie choices.
Fresh and canned fruits
A cooler with “grab and go” cold sandwiches, pre-made salads, and yogurt.
The condiment bar has the basics plus things like sriracha, lemon pepper, garlic parmesan, etc.
It costs the students $2.15 for full price, and as an adult for $3.25 I can assemble a meal that would cost $12-15 at a restaurant.

[ssfromla]

Our children are so grateful to get rid of moochelle’s lunch program.

[ASOC]

My “School lunch” came in a brown paper bag - a PB&J sandwich made with (at least) day old bread and a bag of Fritos - because they were at the time, the lowest cost small bag chip.

Sometimes, I would get an orange, in season.

I also rode a bicycle (HORRORS!!) without a helmet...

I’m still kicking.

[Teacher317]

Anything other than traditional American customs or habits or ideas or institutions is “good”

[MomwithHope]

I took in head cheese sandwiches on white bread most of the time, or bologna.

[cherry]

"supper" was always the meal towards evening.....I try to keep it in my vocabulary because we are losing so many words and concepts as it is.....

"dinner" was used mostly for Sunday's big meal which was right after Mass about 1200 or 1:00 PM...... in those days you had to fast before taking communion and you would be really hungry after Mass, thus the big meal...

[exDemMom]

But everyone else on the planet, well, they are trying to be like us, aren’t they?

Indeed. I can think of few places as remote as Mongolia, so (of course) I wanted to visit for the longest time. When I finally had a chance to go, I saw signs of American and generally Western culture everywhere. Outside of Ulaanbaatar, there was a big barn with a huge Minion painted on the side. In a nomad’s ger (what we typically call a yurt, but that is incorrect), I saw a Disney princess clock. Many Mongolians wear Western clothing, even out in the Gobi. Cell phones are used everywhere; there is better cell phone coverage than electrical grid coverage. And so on. There is a distinct Mongolian culture, but they have been adopting elements of Western culture pretty readily.

This phenomenon of incorporating Western/American culture elements into indigenous cultures goes on worldwide. If our culture were really so inferior, why would everyone want to emulate it?

[exDemMom]

I’m still kicking.

Didn’t your parents ever teach you that kicking is rude? Tsk, tsk.

[Flaming Conservative]

I grew up in the 50’s and 60’s. My grandmother covered up the leftovers with a plate and put them in a cupboard, then had them the next day. And we still leave all the leftover food out all day at holiday meals, so we can nibble at will, the rest of the day. Nobody ever got/gets sick.

[Flaming Conservative]

Restaurants are a different thing all together. I wouldn’t eat restaurant food that had been left out at lukewarm temperature.

[Flaming Conservative]

The Italian grandmas would go to early Mass, then make the food while everyone else was at late Mass. (I sometimes went to church with Italian friends.)

[Balding_Eagle]

or breakfast, dinner, and supper.

You forgot the lunches.

Breakfast

Lunch, thick slices of home made bread and home made jelly.

Dinner (noon)

Lunch, watermelon or fruit, or thick slices of home made bread and home made jelly.

Supper.

No snacks before bed, might get fat, which we never did, we worked too hard.

[fini]

"my sister invited our aunts to dinner

they showed at 11:45.

sister has lunch at noon and dinner in the evening"

Ha, ha. I had forgotten about that. All four of my grandparents called dinner the noon meal and supper the evening meal.

[Oatka]

Back in the 60’s, we use to get locally shot venison, donated to the school by hunters who didn’t need all the meat.

In late '50s I worked in Colorado and the state would pay for the deer hunting license if you gave any game you shot to the local school. I fancied myself shooting game for them but never had the chance.