.

[Quasar]

Coopersville said:

People should have the choice to eat whatever they want. If the school system has to create some bogus loophole to provide students that option, along with also providing them with courses on how to eat properly, so be it.

This isn't an issue of people being able to eat what they want.

This is an issue of schools being able to duck under the already ridiculous-in-some-cases nutrition regulations by claiming they're serving a vegetable by squirting some ketchup on the kid's plate.

Naturally the ketchup industry and mass industrial tomatos-for-ketchup growers are fucking thrilled.

If the US government were concerned with allowing freedom to eat, they wouldn't be agitating against home-prepared packed lunches. I fully expect we'll see them outlawed soon.

[Coopersville]

Nutrition regulations have been practically backwards since the 70's. Most of Doomworld's US (probably other countries) population was served improperly in their school cafeteria. I'm on board with everyone saying this specific instance is bunk, but the issue goes back to someone else telling you what is and isn't food one way or another.

[Maes]

Coopersville said:

Most of Doomworld's US (probably other countries) population was served improperly in their school cafeteria.

Schools over here (Greece) don't even have cafeterias (then again they are not full-time: courses typically ended at 14:30). I only got a hint that they might exist from TV. At most they have a "kylikeion" where you can buy junk food crap if you really can't do without'em. I always brought my own snacks from home (usually sandwiches or fruit).

Of course, I could digress on University cafeteria food, and Army food ;-)

[Sharessa]

So if pizza is a vegetable, then...

[myk]

Coopersville said:
Most of Doomworld's US (probably other countries) population was served improperly in their school cafeteria.

The only school I went to with a cafeteria (aside from the university here) was in the US, although most of the time my mom filled my lunch box, so it tended to be proper food... except once when I asked her to make me peanut butter sandwiches to eat what my friend Richard generally ate... good thing the tables had big waste baskets beside them, the impulse wasn't controllable :p

I'm not sure the school sold food, in any case, but it was elementary school. I remember food being served occasionally, but I think those were exceptions for certain events.

[Maes]

First school with a cafeteria I want was by the time I hit university. Italian universities have pretty well organized cafeterias, nothing to envy to a well-organized self-service restaurant. All kinds of pasta, meats, fish, cheese, salads, and, my favourite, unlimited soft drink fountains, including beer and wine ;-)

Greek universities are much more frugal in comparison, usually with a single dish and you'll be lucky to get some pretty generic-looking bread and fruit along with it. I'm pretty sure the portions would be considered "insufficient" by an American kindergartener, too :-p

In the Army, I had mixed experiences regarding the quality, but quantity was almost never an issue: lunches and dinners tended to be over-generous, especially in boot camp.

Breakfast was somehow disappointing though, especially to someone who like me is used to having milk + biscuits, cereals or cake + coffee. Single-serving margarine and jam spreads plus watery tea really weren't my idea of a "solid breakfast". At least they made up for it with "brunch" a few hours later, usually either packed croissants, sandwiches or similar stuff (all nearing expiry, heh).

In Reserve Officer school I had a couple of turns overseeing the kitchens and so saw first hand that we had pro-grade equipment in there, so it was all about who was the appointed "chef" of the day and how willing he was to cook things properly. In remote service units...well, it was just about bearable, but quantity was always more than adequate. Surprisinly, my best meals in a combat unit were during a week-long field exercise, using a mobile kitchen unit.

Of course, as a Reserve Officer I also had access to the Officer's Mess, which was generally very good: restaurant quality for a third/fourth of the price.

[hex11]

The cafeteria at my high school served low grade american fast-food garbage. I brought a bag lunch every day, almost always the same stuff (tuna sandwich, yoghurt, fruit). Saved me from having to wait in line too, so I usually just headed straight outside to sit in the sun and enjoy the peace and quiet. :)

[Technician]

My school's lunches were pretty standard. The pizza was horrendously bad, but Chicken Finger Friday was a big deal, though I didn't think they were anything special.

[Creaphis]

My high school had a cafeteria, and now that I think about it, pretty much all anybody bought from it was fries and cookies, which were available every day. This may be one area where Canadians can't claim superiority over Americans.

[Technician]

Creaphis said:

My high school had a cafeteria, and now that I think about it, pretty much all anybody bought from it was fries and cookies, which were available every day. This may be one area where Canadians can't claim superiority over Americans.

Appropriately, that's all we bought too. It must be a Canadian thing.

I assume poutine would be under the "fries" category.

[Aliotroph?]

Almost all anyone bought in the cafeteria in high school was poutine. Some people bought hamburgers, but they looked like garbage. The only people who ever appeared with pizza seemed to be new kids. It must have been awful pizza.

Whatever kind of sandwich was in my lunch was usually just better because I made it myself in most cases. I always wondered how many people bought from the cafeteria in high school. Most of my friends brought their own food and quite a few more went to the mall across the street.

[Killer Z]

Wow. Pizza is considered to be vegetable.. Too bad I don't live in USA. I love Pizza, but my mum won't believe me when I say Pizza is vegetable. So, no pizza everyday :(

[Technician]

You know, pizza can be one of the healthiest foods if you don't load it up with bacon and sausage.

[Killer Z]

Well, it is just pizza bought in the supermarket and then it's frozen. 20 minutes in the oven, and you can eat. It comes in different kinds I can choose, but not much bacon or sausage. More Salami and Ham, that kind of meats. Or fish like Tuna.