Why do American kids rely on the school cafeteria than bringing their own food? (feddit.online)

submitted 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) by animemann80@feddit.online to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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For perspective: I come from a country where "cafeteria" food at school is good and affordable (most is less than the equivalent of 5-10 USD max and it's not slop, it's actual food), but it's not an obligation for everyone since it's up to the student if they want to buy something or bring their own lunch.

The "cafeteria" in my school isn't a typical American one, rather it's closer to a canteen where they sell food you can purchase from cup noodles, fried stuff, sandwiches, baked goods, etc. also appliances like a kettle or microwave are available in the dining hall for students to heat up left overs if they wanted.

The thing I tend to notice from American schools (according to US movies, there's bias whether it's true or false) is that they tend to depict kids always heading for the cafeteria for recess or lunch picking up whats available instead of bringing their own food from home (left overs from dinner), why is that the case?

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[-] ProfessorScience@lemmy.world 49 points 20 hours ago

There's also the meal prep time, which many families, particularly poor ones, can't afford either.

[-] JoMiran@lemmy.ml 11 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

My mom prepped my lunch for the week on Sunday. One pot of white rice, one can of SPAM, sliced and pan fried, and packets of ketchup lifted from restaurants. Lunch was rice, one slice of SPAM and a packet of rice. Prep was quick.

Still, free school lunch like those shown in movies looked luxurious.

[-] ProfessorScience@lemmy.world 7 points 15 hours ago

Yeah, making lunch can be quick. But I also think its easy to overlook how scarce of a resource time can be when you're struggling to make ends meet. I say this as someone who has been fortunate for most of life; it didn't really occur to me until it was pointed out.

[-] EggInDisguise 6 points 15 hours ago

From experience, it was usually gross and either over or undercooked.

But it was enough to fill an empty stomach :/

Except my senior year of highschool in which they only were allowed to offer a single slice of bread with peanut butter on it and a tiny Dixie cup of water. If you had allergies, fuck you, starve.

[-] SlurpingPus@lemmy.world 1 points 24 minutes ago* (last edited 14 minutes ago)

I have warm memories of shitty school and cafe pizza from my childhood, when it hasn't yet become a fashionable food around here and we weren't collectively spoiled by choice of proper pizza. A thick but small slab of yeasty-as-fuck dough over- and undercooked at the same time; oddly sweet red liquid called ketchup which we're told includes tomatoes and is burnt where it dripped onto the tray; obscenely cheap and suspicious sausage and a generous helping of pickles, topped with a pitiful smattering of crappy local cheese that didn't bother melting. I have such a vivid taste of it in my memories from the days when “time felt like a thick jelly” that I've looked up YouTube videos with recipes and am planning to make it sometime. It's imperative to bungle it in all the right ways.

[-] Zirconium@lemmy.world 3 points 15 hours ago

This is a special case but we learned my partner has AFRID on top of food restrictions. So it can be especially harder for children with special needs to be able to eat

[-] Catoblepas 3 points 14 hours ago

I realize you only made a typo, but for anyone looking for more information the abbreviation is ARFID

this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2026

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