I read an article in a Hallmark magazine that had a couple of interesting facts about school lunches. Okay, I was sitting in the dentist office, and Field and Stream just wasn't cutting it. Anyway, one survey showed that 84% of school children traded food with their friends. This made me laugh when I think about how hard some mothers work to prepare the perfect lunch. Another fact that made me laugh is that in 1981 the Reagan administration declared that ketchup is a vegetable. Although I remember when this happened, it still seems funny that a small condiment packet is given such high regard.
The school lunch brings back memories. My Howdy Doody lunchbox would probably sell on eBay if I could find it. In elementary school, the principal made us walk into the cafeteria single file and sit in that order at long tables. We were not allowed to talk. It was a miserable thirty minutes. Sometimes kids would stare at the people they didn't like during this time. It gave them something to do. One of the popular girls used to put an "X" on the two people who could get in line in front of her and behind her. Of course, one of them might be separated from her if they happened to sit at the end of the table. At least she made sure she sat by one person she knew. Girls would line up every day hoping to have the honor of getting marked with her "X".
As a teacher, eating lunch was always the fastest thirty minutes of the day. There were so many things to do during this time period (restroom, checking messages, waiting in line for the microwave, etc.) that eating was usually just a gulp and run kind of experience. Give me that ketchup packet so I can get a little nutrition for the day! Maybe there could be other vegetables mashed and crammed into little packets designed just for teachers.
My last thought about eating lunch at school is about the fries and nachos many of my middle school students loaded on their plates after finally being allowed to make their own choices. All of that special attention from their elementary school days of eating lunch was a thing of the past. Forget healthy. Forget lessons learned. All they wanted was the "good" stuff.