What do French Students Eat For Lunch?

It's a stereotype that the French are healthier than Americans. The truth is, it's a fact that on average, MOST countries around the world are thinner than America, and France is no exception. Most likely it has to do with portion control, the average French person eats fewer calories per day than the average American, the amount of exercise and the way food is cooked. That said, many historically "healthy" nations have been packing on the pounds in recent years – so if the French continue that trend, they’ll catch up with their American counterparts soon.

It got me interested to see what French students eat for lunch, as compared to American children. Note: All photos were borrowed from a Blog called "What's For School Lunch?", focusing on what people from countries all over the world eat for their mid-day meal. All of the French lunches had a few things in common:

1. They looked like REAL food, not the processed crap that we eat.
2. They were plentiful in portion size, but in a good way.
3. They were well-rounded and included veggies, decent carb choices and meat
4. There weren't too many fried items
5. There was lots of variety of different combinations
6. There was some actual color on the plate, instead of the sea of beige we see in America

Baguette, salad, couscous, mixed veggies in sauce, meat.

Poultry, potatoes, vegetables, salad, cheese, dessert. 

Israeli couscous, stewed chicken or duck with lentils, a broth based soup, yogurt

braised poultry, vegetables, salad, cheese, bread, desert and more

With the modernization of society, the deterioration of the family structure people have less time and will to grocery shop and cook for themselves. This is slowly happening more and more in industrialized nations. America is not the only one to blame. It makes me confused and angry as to why other countries can do it so much better and on budget, and our kids are eating the kinds of meals that make me wanna barf (just a little.)

Fries and chili dog for lunch. Really? for a 5 year old? So, gross.

There's so many things wrong with this picture, but I don't feel like listing them all now. If you want to do something about this epidemic email your school district. I can't provide one single link, because every state and every school district has a different website.

Here's some information about school lunches in California.

Can anybody comment on what else we can do inspire change?