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Canteen report card
Lunches provided in schools around the world reflect the country’s culture and its external influences.
For example, it seems that North Americans have a fondness for disposable cups and plates.
Moreover, it’s not surprising that in Asian countries, rice is included in all the trays and many countries don’t have dairy products in their menu.
We asked our Director of Nutrition, Danielle Lamontagne, who worked for over 20 years at the Montreal School Board, to assess 16 school lunches from around the world.
1. Menu from Japan 4/5
Fried fish, dried seaweed, tomatoes, miso soup with potatoes, rice in a metal container, served with milk.
Advantages:
- Balanced,
- Surprising to find milk,
- No dessert
Disadvantages:
- Presence of fried food,
- White rice is obviously included
Author
Registered Dietitian and member of the ODNQ (Ordre des diététistes-nutritionnistes du Québec), Danielle has 25 years experience in school and industrial food service. She has directed SOSCuisine's internal and external team of dietitians since 2006. Her expertise in getting people to make sustainable eating changes is an integral part of the SOSCuisine formula.
I hope the reference to Anglo-Saxons liking their mashed potatoes was an oversight and a language issue. I am Anglo-Saxon, if one refers to my mother tongue, but my ancestors would be horrified. I like mashed potatoes, too, as do many other people, especially in canteen lines where they are sometimes one of the less noxious choices.
The menu you profiled was from Texas:
“As of 2003, DISD was 58% Hispanic, 34% African American, 6% White, and 2% Asian and Native American.” from Wikipedia regarding the Dallas public school system. Many are quite possibly native speakers of English, but probably not white, depending on your definition.
But I did read the post!
Hi Marianne,
Good point!!! Thanks