"Food- gotta have it. Food- got to have it. Food- gotta have it. Food- got to have it. Gimme that mac 'n' cheese! Gimme that mac 'n' cheese! Food- gotta have it. Food- got to have it. Food- gotta have it. Food- got to have it. Gimme that mac 'n' cheese! Gimme that mac 'n' cheese!"
For those of you who don't recognize the above chant, and I'm assuming that's the majority of you, this little cheer can be heard all across America in highly caffeinated, white bread social environments. For example, high school student council conventions, cheer camp, and youth group church retreats. You know the type: "My super cool church- it's not like other churches- our youth pastor plays the guitar and has a pet ferret."
At first glance, it may seem like I'm knocking all of these "wholesome" environments, but I can't say I'm not guilty of partaking. (Do you partake?) In college I was involved in student housing, or "Res Life," and whenever we would go to a national or regional conference, this obnoxious jingle could be heard in the dining hall around lunchtime.
No-I haven't taught the little Japanese children how to do this... yet, but yes- its high time I talked about my favorite time of the school day: lunch.
While I cannot speak for the entirety of Japan, I
can speak for my town of Salt Butt, Long Field. Much like back home, junior high students eat their lunch at school, but there are a few differences in how they go about it.
Act I: Let's talk about lunch, baby!
給食, or meal served at school, is one of the highlights of everyone's day. It starts promptly at 12:40, and the duration of everything surrounding it lasts about an hour. However, the work that goes into 給食 starts early in the morning.
According to the 栄養士, or nutritionist, the first of several trucks comes around 1:30 in the morning with milk. The milk itself is probably no different than what is served in schools back in Houston, but something about it being in that carnival game-o-chance-style glass bottle makes it that much more yummy. It reminds me of soda, too. It's still the same soda, but you and I both know it tastes better out of that glass bottle.
Throughout the morning, various trucks come with all sorts of foodstuffs: the vegetable truck, the fruit truck, the meat truck, the bakery van, and once every three days or so, the rice truck makes an appearance too.
Around 9AM, the Kyuushoku Sensei(s) begin working on the meal for the day. This usually takes them about three hours from start to finish. They have to not only cook the meal, but also divide the portions for each homeroom based on the morning's student attendance record. For example, a homeroom with thirty children will get more food than the special education department that only has twelve kiddos. The members of the front office get their own set of military grade food containers too.
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| Rice, rice, baby |
Much like everything else in a Japanese junior high school, students eat lunch in their homeroom with their classmates and teacher. Every week I rotate from class to class. When the 12:40 lunch bell rings, each homeroom sends down a few students to the school kitchen. They grab their lunch tubs, milk, and any tableware needed, and make the awkward schlep back to their classrooms.
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| Students pick up lunch for their class. |
Act II:
While the food runners are off on their
Quest: The Search for the Golden Goblet, the other students are preparing the classrooms for lunch. The desks are arranged from individual rows to three long tables. Students then line up at the sinks and wash their hands. There's a hand washing song that plays, and during this, everyone "washes up" for lunch. Students are encouraged to wash their hands before and after meals to prevent the spread of germs.
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| "You will remember to wash your hands before you eat anything?" |
By now, the food has made its way to the classrooms, and the serving of lunch begins. Every week, there are designated lunch leaders who are in charge of dishing up the food. They sometimes wear face masks, gloves, and hats. These leaders pass out the milk and chopsticks, or forks if we're eating non-Asian cuisine. They divvy up the food in appropriate portions and set the various bowls and plates on the desks.
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| Students serve up curry and rice. |
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| A display case shows how to serve the lunch. |
Once everyone has their food on their desks, the lunch leaders then begin to do a double check of who's missing what:
(In Japanese, of course)
Lunch Leaders: Does everyone have their chopsticks?
Everyone: はい！(Yes!)
Lunch Leaders: Does everyone have their milk?
Everyone: はい！
Lunch Leaders: Does everyone have their salad?
Everyone: はい！
This continues until all items have been checked off. Everyone is now ready to eat lunch together.
Act III: GRACE! Loved it!
Lunch Leaders: Hands together please!
Everyone: はい！
Lunch Leaders: いただきます！
Everyone: いただきます！
I-TA-DA-KI-MA-SU is the Japanese version of saying grace or what have you. It is usually spoken before every meal in Japan, and it acknowledges that the food one is about to eat didn't come from thin air. Itadakimasu is a way for the eaters to thank the chef, farmers, food servers, restaurant staff, in this case- lunch leaders and school cooks, for the hard work they have put into the meal. It's also an opportunity to pay respect for any animals that have been slaughtered for nourishment purposes.
A Typical Day's Lunch
The lunch menu varies from day to day, and there is rarely a perfect repeat of menu items within a month. That isn't to say that there's not a system, though. Usually the meal consists of five items: A milk, a soup, a veggie, a meat, and a carb- with the carb being the main staple. Rice is served on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Noodles are served on Thursdays, with the exception of the last Thursday of the month- bread day. The lunches are samples of various cuisines from around the world, and are usually revered by the children. If we're lucky, we get dessert in the form of fresh fruit, cake, or pudding.
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| Milk, cabbage soup, cucumber salad, baked pasta au gratin, rice with furikake |
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| Milk, vegetable soup, Tandori chicken, stringy-veggie salad, too much rice to eat |
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| Meatballs with rice cooked in the middle. Don' worry, Joe. The Merry recipe is much tastier. |
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| Winter break dinner- It was bread day AND we got Christmas cake! |
After the students finish the meal, they claps their hands together once more and say in unison ごちそうさまでした！(GO-CHI-SO-SA-MA-DE-SHI-TA:It was a great meal thanks to all entities involved!) Everyone cleans up, washes their hands, and brushes their teeth. The last 15 minutes of the lunch hour transitions into recess. The kids go buck wild. They run around the halls screaming like chickens with their heads cut off; they wrestle, play fight, and engage in general horseplay; they burn off that pent up energy from the morning and are nice and sedated for their last class in the afternoon.
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| Running! Running! Screeching! |
What I like about Kyuushoku:
1) The meals are usually pretty tasty, and the kids seem to like them too. In my book, they have a 85% success rate. 10% are meals that are just "meh."
2) The meals are always filling. The school nutritionist sets the lunch to average about 850 calories, and I feel every one of them by the end of the meal. I often have to turn down offerings of seconds or extra helpings.
3) In comparison to back at home, the school lunches here are fairly healthy. While they may be high in calories and carbohydrates, they are relatively low in fat. Children aren't allowed to bring
any food or money from home; vending machines and junk food don't exist within the walls of the school. No greasy pizza with a side of hot chips for you, Tanaka-kun.
4) I don't have to think much about it. My lunch fee comes out of my paycheck before it ever reaches me, and I don't even have to be fussed with packing a lunch or spending money on lunch out of the office.
5) The children are pretty educated in what they're eating. A lot of the foods come from local farmers and businesses, and it's made a point to let us know what comes from where. If there's a featured item, such as fresh fruit, it gets its props. Hashtag: michelleobamaswetdream
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| "You're late... again!" |
What I don't like about kyuushoku:
I don't have many negative things to say about it, but if I were to say something bad, it'd be that other five percent that's missing from #1 in the above section. Sometimes the lunches can be a miss. It's a rare occasion, but it does happen.
Why it works for Japan:
1) Japanese society is often times centered around the group mentality. Everyone eats the same lunch as their peers on a daily basis, and not much complaining is to be had. If a student doesn't like something they simply don't eat it, or try to pawn it off onto one of their friends. There isn't a different option for every dietary deviation under the sun. You get what you git, and you don't throw a fit.
2) Often times, both Mommy and Daddy are busy during the week. They don't have to worry about grocery shopping or lunch packing, and they're okay with trusting the school with their child's nutritional needs. They pay the lunch fee every month, and they kiss their kids goodbye knowing that they'll have a good meal away from home.
3) The high cal-high carb/ low fat diet works perfectly for the generally active lifestyle of Japanese youth. The kids are pretty food-savvy, and they still eat junk food; it just isn't happening from 8 to 3 on school days.
Why it wouldn't work back at home:
1) As a society, we pride ourselves on diversity and novelty. I love my fellow countrymen, but we're outspoken and fussy: "I'm lactose intolerant. Look at me, I'm trendy and only eat brown rice. I have an aversion to gluten. I can't eat this. I'm a vegetarian. I only eat organic whole foods-nothing processed. Did I mention that I absolutely hate seafood?" I have my food idiosyncrasies too, trust me. Anyone who has lived with me (Mom, Dad, Liz, Erin, Dennis, Brooke, Joe) can probably rattle them off. The point is, as a child I liked having a choice on what my Mum packed in my lunch or what I put on my tray in the school cafeteria.
2) There doesn't seem to be as much trust in the school lunch program at home as there is here. Some parents will go as far as not letting their kids eat school lunch in fear of what it contains. Also, the choice issue comes into play again. "I don't want my child eating X-Y-Z. It's un-American for kids not to get a choice. This is communism. Blah blah blah. Obama's a Muslim form Kenya. Blah blah blah. Let's all load up in the Suburban with Me-maw and hit up the buffet."
3) (See #3 from the section above for a reference point) We're not the high cal-high carb/low fat diet type. We like having calorie dense, greasy, high fat foods in our tummies at every meal- our kids are no exception. Mix that in with a fairly inactive culture of people with little to no chance for recess, and there you have it.
One thing I will miss when I move to the next chapter of my life will be the school lunch. Not to keep score or anything, but Japan is kind of pwning us when it comes to the nutritional well being of kids in public schools. That being said, I wouldn't mind having a nice meat product chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy right about now.
