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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[-] HuudaHarkiten@piefed.social 27 points 20 hours ago

Which is why the school lunch should be funded by tax money, like in some sane countries.

And no, just because its funded by tax money, it doesnt have to be some cheap slop, you can make laws and regulations that govern what sort of quality the food has to be. Just like in some sane countries.

[-] KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 36 points 20 hours ago

Some US states already do this. It's mainly unpopular in red states, though, because their 'protect the children' rhetoric ends when it stops being synonymous with harming women.

[-] jtrek@startrek.website 21 points 20 hours ago

Not to overly repeat myself, but as discussed in the book "dying of whiteness", there's a lot of people that would rather their kid go hungry than a black kid get a meal.

this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2026

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