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?
This is a 1:1 copy repost of a thread from months ago. Will post original if I find it again.
Because 1) its convenient, and 2)its affordable, and the pay scales with your parents income.
Children from very low income would get free lunch, people from low income might have to pay 2 dollars a week, and then kids from regular income might pay…10 dollars a week? At least from what i remember during my families financial ups and downs as a kid. Those prices may be different now, with inflation and seething hatred of government towards helping people.
Typically you only see the well to do kids bringing lunch, cause they’re the only ones that can afford it.
Socialism!!! That’s socialism, how dare they!
It’s convenient and they like it.
I ate school lunch whenever I could because I had enough problems already without preparing a lunch for myself while groggy in the morning.
I send my kids in with a home lunch because I don’t trust the school food. I can do that easily because I’m home all day, I imagine overworked parents don’t have the time or the money, they rely on the school to feed their kids.
A lot of kids eat school lunch because it’s subsidized, and cheaper than food from home would be.
Or because both parents work and don’t have time to pack lunches, and the kids won’t do it themselves.
Or because no one in the household knows how to cook (no, really).
Or because it helps them “fit in”.
I always packed my own lunch, from middle school onward. Now I send my kids with lunches I pack; if I don’t they just won’t eat.
Kids are weird.
FWIW, in Portugal, during my youth, I ate at the cafeteria rather often. It was decent food for the most part (it was also my first exposure to soy minced meat). It was hot, didn’t involve carrying a lunchbox, and it was tasty and convenient and cheap. Eventually I opted to go back home because I lived close enough to walk, and mom’s food is better.
We did not get ways to heat up food (though I bet you could have asked the cafeteria staff if you needed it) of our own, though.
I haven’t seen any mention the social aspect. Kids could be sent with their own lunch, but (at least growing up the '90s) there was a lot of social pressure to conform. Bringing something from home invited scrutiny. One way to mitigate that was by bringing one of the popular pre-packaged products like Lunchables, which was certainly less nutritious than any regulated meal coming on a tray from the kitchen.
The lunch arrangements will vary greatly by age/grade level. A high school is more likely to have the canteen style while an elementary school is more likely to have the cafeteria style. In either case, bringing a lunch from home is also reasonably common.
affordable (most is less than the equivalent of 5-10 USD max and it’s not slop, it’s actual food)
The average cost of school lunch in the United States in 2025 was about $3.20, before subsidies bring them down to free for many families. So the cost to the actual families is often between $0 and $2, and almost always under $4 for the pre-set lunch.
Also, speaking as an American parent who often packs kids lunch from home, it’s just a lot of work in a tight window between my kids waking up and getting to school on time. I’ve got enough tasks to do in the morning, sometimes I just don’t feel like adding to that task and have my kids buy lunch instead. I’m literally a former professional cook and meal prep is really easy and fast for me, but sometimes I just don’t want to.
We in Germany just pack a sandwich (some meat, sausage and/or cheese between bread slices) and some vegetable or something.
Not like we are doing major lunches lol. Though they are an option (lunch in cafeteria that is)I’ve seen German students literally eating in class. It’s bizarre
As a German, you don’t understand the social constraints of a North American. Best not to ever eat anything any time. If you need to, get the most casual thing possible. Bringing something from home is lame
When I was in school, the full price of the cafeteria lunch, with 8 oz milk, was $1.25. That was very affordable, and the federal nutrition guidelines meant it wasn’t that unhealthy. Finally the actual food wasn’t actually all that unpalatable either.
Breakfast was free for everyone under a federally funded program. But I didn’t eat that because you had to show up at 6:30 am to get it.
It’s free in our state, so why not?
We live in a pretty rich district too, so the food is actually really good. They’ve got multiple options each day for vegetarians and gluten free, and also a salad bar.
And it’s hot food. Sure you could send a packed lunch, but they don’t allow 1000 kids to microwave their lunches. It would take too long. So if you want hot food, you go through the lunch line.
Thermos
It’s free in our state, so why not?
Because it’s second rate slop and you’re supposed to be concerned about your child’s health. Maybe if US states spend the tax money on proper teachers instead of corrupt food service contracts your kids might learn to read.
The irony about talking about not being able to read, when apparently you can’t read yourself.
No, their food is actually really good lol. They have open lunch where parents can drop in and eat lunch with their kids. I’ve been there and eaten their lunch. It’s really solid. Whenever possible, things have to be sourced locally and the menu fluctuates seasonally depending on what is available locally. The meat comes from a few different ranchers here in Colorado directly, the veggies come from local farmers, and the milk comes from one local dairy (which we also get delivered directly to our house).
And again, I live in a pretty rich district. The teachers are VERY well paid. The absolute minimum any fresh-out-of-school teacher can make is $63k. And that’s with just a bachelors in your first year teaching. Most of their teachers have a masters or a masters and extra credits, have been there several years, and make closer to $100k or more. With a PhD (which several of the teachers have) they cap out at $140k. Our specific school is pretty small, and we know almost all the teachers personally because we almost all live in the same two neighborhoods. There are several married teacher couples with advanced degrees pulling in close to $300k a year combined, and the teacher parking lot has more BMWs and Mercedes than anything. They’re not struggling.
And my kids consistently test several grades ahead, thank you very much.
When I went through school, I did both at various points. Sometimes I’d buy lunch in the cafeteria. Sometimes I’d take a bag lunch.
The cafeteria can do hot food, which you can’t bring. But a bag lunch lets you choose options that aren’t served in the cafeteria.
I mean, honestly, same subsequent to education, at work. People might bring a lunch, or might eat commercially-prepared food. Not really a universal standard.
This has to be reiterated whenever anyone talks about ‘American schools.’
US has a Federal system where each state runs its own schools, and each local community has its own school board. Two schools can be ten miles apart and have completely different standards and curriculums.
Also, each school has a different social milieu. In one place, the popular kids might bring in meals cooked by their maids, so eating cafeteria food is a sign of poverty. In another place bringing your own lunch might be a thing only the poor kids do.
Sometimes bringing your own food is due to cross-contamination in cafeteria foods, especially if a kid is allergic to stuff. I was below poverty and still had to bring my own food due to celiac disease.
In one place, the popular kids might bring in meals cooked by their maids
Ha, plenty of rich households completely separate the function of food preparation from cleaning the house. Maid, chef, nanny are 3 different jobs.
In my school about half the kids packed their own lunch and the other half would get a lunch from the school. The school lunches were made hot and you had a rotating menu with 3 options and a salad bar each day, they called it hot lunch. Some kids (most of the ones who got hot lunch) received it at a free or reduced price. A little over 2 dollars normally but 75 cents reduced or free like I got mine. Some schools did have a canteen rather than a lunch menu. American culture is not anywhere near as homogeneous as it appears in our media.
