School Lunches

MypinchofItaly said:
In elementary school, I remember that both my brother and I used to bring a snack from home mid-morning (usually a focaccia or a pizza or a brioche) since lunch was in the school dining room, so we didn't need to bring lunch from home.
My mom had embroidered a little towel with our names on it, and she had embroidered a little flower next to mine and a little sailboat next to my brother's. So that could be my first lunchbox where to wrap around the snacks.
I still have it, by the way!

We used to put everything carefully in the school backpacks without having a real lunchbox, in those days it was not used yet.

In middle school I hardly ever brought a snack, at most it could be crackers or chocolate, but no more, and at lunchtime I would come home to eat. And no lunchboxes, even in that case we put everything in our school backpacks.

In high school instead I started to bring a lunchbox on which I had stuck the sticker of Nirvana, then Pearl Jam and slowly all the music scene of the 90s, usually there was a pizza or fruit and yogurt ... actually I would not really need a lunchbox even then, it was more like a kind of beauty-case or hiding place for cigarettes ...
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epicuric said:
Cafeteria? Choices? You guys had it easy. Lunch would start with an orderly queue outside the dining hall (we Brits practise queuing from an early age) regardless of the weather. When the doors opened we would file in and go to pre-arranged refectory tables that seated about 20 on hard benches. After standing for grace, we would be served our meal, from memory it always involved boiled potatoes, cabbage and carrots, along with some form of unidentifiable meat in gravy. If you cleared your plate you got pudding, usually something stodgy with custard. No choices, other than take it or leave it.
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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5diMImYIIA


CD
 
epicuric said:
Cafeteria? Choices? You guys had it easy. Lunch would start with an orderly queue outside the dining hall (we Brits practise queuing from an early age) regardless of the weather. When the doors opened we would file in and go to pre-arranged refectory tables that seated about 20 on hard benches. After standing for grace, we would be served our meal, from memory it always involved boiled potatoes, cabbage and carrots, along with some form of unidentifiable meat in gravy. If you cleared your plate you got pudding, usually something stodgy with custard. No choices, other than take it or leave it.
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Sounds rather much like hospital food, which I loathe too. Which gives me an idea for a seperate thread :wink:
 
In the second grade I had two traumatic incidents in the school cafeteria. The first one involved a carton of spoiled milk. I took a big gulp and I can still remember the sour clumps in my mouth and throat. I've neve been able to drink milk ever since, though I've had it on cereal, but I prefer plant-based milk.

The second one involved a stewed tomato on my tray and something else inedible (I can't remember what) and one of the lunch ladies (the one who sat and kept an eye on us to make sure we weren't causing trouble) told me I wasn't leaving until I finished everything. I refused. So the bell had sounded and I was the last kid in the lunchroom. About 25 minutes passed and my teacher came to find me and take me to class. That lunch lady was furious. I brought peanut butter or lunch meat sandwiches from home after that.
 
I didn't mind school dinners at secondary school. I was vegetarian which was very unusual in those days (1960's) and I didn't get any special meals, I just had loads of the vegetables and usually some cheese with it. I actually liked all those milk puddings (tapioca, semolina, sago) and all the other desserts too. It was plain cooking but OK as far as I was concerned.
 
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