The BBC ran an article and survey of school-provided lunches around the world.
And lest you think the US is the worst offender, here is what some little Scottish kids get to eat:
The hamburger and fries lunch for every single US student is absolutely ridiculous. My mom is lunch lady where I went to school and she double-checks the menus to makes sure they meet standards. She’s supposed to be calling me in a little bit, so I can give everyone the nitty gritty on the challenges of providing a nutritious lunch for students, along with the ins and outs of the national lunch program.
I can say, however, that it is entirely possible to eat heathily at school. I was able to work school lunches into my food management with no trouble. (I’m a diabetic.) There was a lot of choice and lots of people brought lunches. While there were fast food type foods available, I don’t remember anyone eating them every day.
Healthily! Healthily! Entirely possible to eat healthily.
God, if there had been Heath bars, I probably wouldn’t be alive today.
Basically, all my cafeteria serves is chicken strips and french fries. They aren’t even very good, either. They have some other stuff, too, but no one seems to get it. We did get a half-assed salad bar recently (lettuce, tomatoes, and dressing), and a few people get that.
I always bring my lunch.