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How different could a school lunch possibly be? Writer Erica Jackson Curran described a “four-course meal on offer including a starter, main, cheese course and dessert.” So très French.
Back home in Virginia, her son’s school lunch was a “quick, no-frills affair” and featured menu items such as “hamburgers, chicken nuggets, hot dogs and pizza,” Jackson Curran wrote. It was all served on disposable trays with plastic cutlery that went into the garbage once the meal was over. Her son complained “that lunch was his least favorite part of the school day,” Jackson Curran wrote.
In Bordeaux, however, she described her son’s cafeteria as “a cozy yellow room where the students sit at tables with eight place settings. The meal is served on real plates with real cutlery, which are washed and reused the following day. A pitcher of water sits on each table, which students pour into their own glasses and refill themselves.”
One daily menu consisted of “salade de lentilles (lentil salad), aiguillettes de saumon meuniere (butter-fried salmon) with ratatouille, Emmental for the cheese course, and organic fruit salad for dessert,” Jackson Curran wrote.
This might all seem like a lot of effort for a non-academic part of the school day, but what Jackson Curran realized was that lunchtime was, to the French, a time for a different kind of learning.
“Lunch is very much a part of the students’ education where they learn about proper nutrition, balanced eating and the value of trying new things. They’re practicing socializing, self-sufficiency and sustainability while benefiting from a well-deserved rest in the middle of a busy day,” she wrote.
Perhaps it is this attention to detail that makes the French experience more civilized and enjoyable. The end result is the same — the children eat lunch — but the process is less rushed and more pleasant.
Recently, the Instagram duo Annabel and Dale (user name wearemorethanmoms) posted a video about the differences in parenting in France, breaking it down into five points. Not surprisingly, their American followers were intrigued and the post went viral.
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