I grew up in the Netherlands, where primary schools (age 4-12) do not have any lunch facilities at all, i.e. no kitchens, canteens or lunch areas. School lunch

I grew up in the Netherlands, where primary schools (age 4-12) do not have any lunch facilities at all, i.e. no kitchens, canteens or lunch areas. School lunch works as follows: - Parents pack lunch in a box for their children, typically 2 to 4 sandwiches with cheese/ham/peanut butter/chocolate paste, a piece of fruit and some water, though occasionally some lucky kid brings some reheated pasta, wraps or sushi. - Lunch is eaten at the classroom table, with one or two externally hired supervisors (so that teachers get an afternoon break). Parents pay a contribution of €2-€3 per lunch for the supervision (not for food), with subsidies for low income households. Note that the price of the food that the parents are packing (sandwiches and fruit) is often less than the price of supervision. - The alternative is to go home for lunch. In recent decades this is uncommon for the younger children (not many stay-at-home parents), but starting around age 10 more children can manage this. (Average distance to primary school is less than 1km, so most kids can walk or cycle on their own.) I only learned much later in life that even in Europe this model is a bit of an outlier, and that most other countries have more extensive lunch facilities in schools. Elsewhere in Europe there is debate to what extent school lunches should be universally subsidized[1]. In the Netherlands there are no school lunches to subsidize in the first place. [1] https://www.euronews.com/business/2023/09/04/school-meals-in-europe-which-countries-provide-free-food-for-students https://www.euronews.com/business/2023/09/04/school-meals-in...