Tribal school lunches - Montana

[peacetraveler22]

There's a certain childhood rite of passage I never experienced - eating cafeteria lunches. I attended a small, religious school from 5th - 12th grade, surrounded by the same faces until graduation. There were rarely new students who transferred to the school, no new boys to flirt with, or mysterious strangers who suddenly appeared at the desk beside me. In one word, I would describe my school experience as boring. The same can be said of my daily lunches, which my mom diligently packed every morning. Usually, the lunchbox consisted of a peanut butter or ham and cheese sandwich, some type of chips and a piece of fruit. I always envied kids who had the joy of entering the canteen each day to have old ladies with hairnets shovel different food onto their tray, sometimes completely inedible and sometimes a fun game to guess what the mystery meat or slop was. It all seemed very exotic and exciting for someone who was insanely bored being around the same kids and learning environment for so many years.

During my visit to the Native American reservation in Montana last week, I met with a teacher at the local tribal school and ate with the young kids in the cafeteria. The tribe would not let me photograph the students for privacy reasons, but you can see they are eating healthy and tasty lunches. Salad with tomatoes, two servings of fresh fruit, a roll and some type of spicy soup with black beans, corn and ground beef. Btw, last week someone scolded me for using the term Native American "reservation," implying that this is a derogatory term. Perhaps this is the case in Russian, but in English this word has no negative connotation. It is used to refer to the sovereign lands upon which Native American tribes now live in various parts of the U.S., and the Indians I met also referred to their home as "the reservation." Next week, I will write a big report about their lives.

What was your favorite meal? :) Do most Russian children bring packed lunches from home, or eat in the school canteen?

Comments

[irisha8787.livejournal.com]

I love Starbucks' protein boxes. I think if I was still going to school I would have preferred to eat something like that. In my school in Russia we used to get food stamps every month, that would allow us to buy a kotleta or a hot dog wrapped in dough and kompot. But if you used 2 tickets, you could get "vtoroe", which would be a serving of rice with meat or fish. since russian schools are usually 8am to 1pm, students would rather spend their stamps on a snack than a full lunch and then go home to eat. If you had an extra curriculum, parents would give you some money for "real lunch".

Also! You have technology classes, where they teach you to cook, so you can eat there. And usually that food was good too!

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Yes, the protein boxes are good! I'm now back on a low card diet and buy them sometimes when I'm in a rush in the mornings.