Yowzah! Public school lunches in France.

Man...

My thoughts exactly.

It's a completely different approach to eating.

I wonder if all of the districts are like that, or if they cherry picked?

I also wonder about the salaries of the chefs there vs. salaries in the US.

I bet they're drawing from a completely different talent pool.

Obviously they're fishing in a different talent pool than American schools are but I think the difference is more about culture than money.

I have no idea what the other schools are like. Maybe Francis will stop by and fill us in.

Mo's school cafeteria is actually pretty good. They work with area farmers and since our area is still very agricultural there is a lot to choose from. But still.... nothing like this. I'm seriously stunned.

last year the Food Programme on BBC Radio had a great story about some british schools that had partnered with chefs and local farms to improve the school lunches, kids were involved in the raising of crops and animals, menu planning, preparation and serving of food, really interesting stuff

When I was in Marseille in 2002, the schools didn't serve lunches. They closed for two hours, during which everyone went home for a nice, leisurely, sit-down lunch. Many businesses took two hours also. They thought Americans' rushed, eat-on-the-go lunch hours (or half-hours) were ridiculously unhealthy.

I think they were right.

That makes a lot of sense.

And the science supports that. We take a while to "feel" full after we've actually ingested the food. Eating slowly helps because it gives more time for the feeling of fullness/ satiety to catch up with you. (And of course ideally you only eat as much as you need, not more.)

That video makes me hungry . .

I do wonder what Yaya would say if I told her we were having snails for lunch....

pass the butter and garlic..

That's what I meant about it being a cultural difference. Thanks for adding the first hand experience.

I thought the part of the video where they said something like "mealtime is about sharing and conversation" to be particularly interesting in that it really highlighted the difference.

One day I was volunteering in Mo's class when lunch rolled around and he asked me to have lunch with him so I said okay. He'd brought his lunch, I had to go through the line. They had this huge tray of sliced up kiwi. I love kiwi so I took a couple of big spoons of it. When I got to the table Mo was eying the kiwi so I offered him some. "We aren't allowed to share food." was the reply. The rest of the kids all nodded.

It turns out it was some kind of a "safety" deal but I still think it's a weird rule.

Also, they get 25 minutes (I think) for lunch and recess so they all try to eat in 3 minutes so they can go outside. Which, as Soz pointed out, is a terrible way to eat.

Yep. They're way too rushed, especially because it's very hard for kids to JUST eat without chatting too (and chatting while eating is actually healthier!)

At least they can share... yikes. I actually pack for her assuming she will share. Those little mandarin oranges are in season now and I always pack two or three for trade/ share currency. (She's been regularly trading one of them for kumquats that a friend brought back from Florida.) Everyone's expected to pack a few of anything extra-delicious -- bad manners to hog it all, in her crowd.

Of course, since it's not always like-for-like trades (as in mandarin for kumquat), I sometimes find out she's had a brownie, a cookie, potato chips, and cheese for lunch. (When I sent in a turkey wrap, banana, and crackers.)