School Lunch

School lunch in Japanese Elementary Schools

In April, I started teaching at elementary schools. One of the biggest differences that I noticed between elementary schools in Japan and the U.S. was the lunch system. In Japan, the students eat with their classmates and are required to eat EVERYTHING off their plate. I don't know about all of you, but being forced to eat everything is a bit extreme. Some people can eat more than others, and some have certain dislikes of food. In my case, I do not like hijiki or konyaku which is a main ingredient in most school lunches so I just leave it untouched. But as soon as the children see that I haven't eaten, all hell breaks loose. Kids start telling me that I have to eat it and then tell the teacher that I didn't eat everything. Even worse, some kids who just can't eat everything because they are full are bullied by the other kids into eating and aren't left alone until everything is clean off their plate.

In the U.S., kids are allowed to bring their lunches from home. Those who don't are allowed to choose what they want to eat from the school cafeteria so every one is happy. Now this is for me, the ideal school lunch system.