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

[genka8.livejournal.com]

Soviet propaganda always implied that the Indian reservations were akin to the concentration camps, and that the Indians were forcibly moved there and prohibited from living anywhere else.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

That's why I went to visit the reservation, to understand for myself and show others how Native Americans now live. I learned a lot. :) Hopefully I can write the report this weekend. They can live, or work, wherever they want. Same as all Americans.

[creaze.livejournal.com]

> Perhaps this is the case in Russian, but in English this word has no negative connotation

Oh really? Can i call negroes negroes then in your comments?

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

You can call them whatever you want, but you sound like an idiot if you use this term in America. Like you're still a slave master on the plantation. :)

[whiteeye.livejournal.com]

And in Rusisan negroes are just black people:)) So, these differences we have.

[logofilka.livejournal.com]

Looks like a decent food, but I doubt that kids in reservation enjoy it. From my observation, public and Indian schools usually offer fries/burger/pizza/pasta kind of meal, especially, if they provide subsidized lunches. My kids are attending a charter school now, and it is slightly different: they have ethnic food assigned to each day of the month, with some repeats. Chinese, Greek, Mexican, Japanese, Italian, Indian, All-American (meaning bbq chicken and burgers, usually), etc. These lunches are catered by local restaurants, so school does not cook anything. We pick up the days and pre-pay on-line, and on other days 9let's say, if it is "taco Tuesday") they bring their own lunches. We are blessed with a very diverse student body, so nobody treats you like a weirdo, if you eat buckwheat or pirogi.

[logofilka.livejournal.com]

Keep in mind that mentally Native American tribes of North are very different from the ones populating Arizona and New Mexico.

[j1980.livejournal.com]

Иногда в столовке разнообразней питаешься, чем дома.

[romanklimenko.livejournal.com]

My school cafeteria memories are horrible. In a last decade of USSR existence we had disgusting cold sweet tea and two days old bun with piece of some pastrami parody. Most of my childhood memories are clear from negative episodes. But I still recall with disgust that cafeterias.

[j1980.livejournal.com]

и ещё неплодородные места отдали, на всякий случай

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

In what way?

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

In Russian, the term "nigger" also seems acceptable but here it's an offensive term.

as a matter of fact, no

[creaze.livejournal.com]

Most of us learned this word in the zeroes from american popular culture. I mean, we are aware of its connotation, which is pretty much like the russian word "churka".

As opposed to "negro" which some 30 years ago was completely innocent.

ава ок

[creaze.livejournal.com]

-

Re: as a matter of fact, no

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Did you have any interactions with Native Americans during your U.S. journeys?

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

I guess the menu varies each day, but on this reservation that had a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables. This is true even of the commodities building I visited, where they ration out food for the tribal members each month. I need to visit my nephew's school one day for lunch. I think healthy options always exist, it's just a matter of whether a kid will pick them. If they are faced with pizza, burgers or some other junk food, most will pick that over a salad.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

This does not sound tasty. You did not have hot soup or buckwheat? :))

[ksiuniko.livejournal.com]

Hi, Russian kids don't bring lunch to school. There are healthy food in Russian schools. But in NYC OMG, only junk, maybe once in week kids get something about healthy. Fried potatoes, nuggets, burgers. All go to garbage. They call that healthy food)))

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

What do kids eat in Russian schools? I've seen some photos online. This food does not look healthy or tasty either. Some type of mystery meat and sweet juice, with buckwheat on the side.

Купер, Джеймс Фенимор

[andrey-kaminsky.livejournal.com]

The ancestors of these Indians were disgusting commies, who had no private ownership of land and had universal suffrage. Hopefully now they abandoned these delusions and replaced them with more advanced ideas - to vote for Republicans and to build aircraft carriers. That's what progress is.

Re: Купер, Джеймс Фенимор

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

No, now they live under a sort of socialist scheme with the Tribal Council as leaders, and U.S. government to a certain extent. Not so bad. They can sit all day on their asses, and still collect food, or loiter in the alley and drink their lives away. But there are many good people there, trying to preserve the Native traditions with the youth and make the communities better.

Re: Купер, Джеймс Фенимор

[andrey-kaminsky.livejournal.com]

Jews must take this great idea and to arrange something similar to the Arabs.

[inescher.livejournal.com]

Sometime there is difference in the "health" definition. :) I still don't understand why a lot of Russian people think that "kotleta" is healthy but burger is not, or why "healthy" lunch should be 3-course meal and "normally" include soup, main dish (some kind of meat, garnished any type of carbs), sweetened drink.

[logofilka.livejournal.com]

I am truly blessed with kids who would naturally pick a salad. :)

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Exactly! :) I think the worst Russian food is the kholodet! I cannot eat this stuff!