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In Hungary, hospitals and schools and kindergartens make their own food from scratch (they all have their own kitchen), from healthy ingredients. Crazy how diff
by johnisgood 2y ago
In Hungary, hospitals and schools and kindergartens make their own food from scratch (they all have their own kitchen), from healthy ingredients. Crazy how different it is in the US. We don't give chips to students, we give them real, healthy food. Every single day. We have been doing this for many decades.
- YesBox 2y agoSame in France: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovO18E-hgew https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovO18E-hgew Your comment brought back my memory of watching this CBS mini-documentary comparing school lunches in France vs USA from years ago. Enjoy!
- impossiblefork 2y agoThis thing about eating slowly that they mention is something I've begun to think is worth it. I've noticed that the stomach is more relaxed and happier if one chews carefully and lets the eating take some time.
- Yeul 2y agoSchools wants to save money and outsource to the cheapest catering service. And pizza is cheaper than fresh vegetables.
- johnisgood 2y agoIn the US? We have never been given harmful, ultra-processed food here, let alone pizza. The differences are wild. Pizza costs a lot here, to be honest. It is cheaper here to just make food from scratch from fresh, healthy ingredients.
- crowbahr 2y agoPizza is flour, tomatoes, yeast, salt and cheese with a splash of oil. Cheese is heavily subsidized by the us govt so the only expensive piece is tomatoes. It's made on an assembly line and shipped out as frozen slabs or as constituent ingredients that are then baked on demand.
- johnisgood 2y agoDamn, tomatoes are expensive over there? Yeah, the differences are really huge.
- nemo44x 2y agoNo they’re cheap. But compared to the other ingredients which are mainly subsidized…
- ac29 2y agoNah, even at retail prices canned tomatoes are less than a dollar a pound if you buy the big cans (#10, approx 6 lb / 3kg).
- s1artibartfast 2y agoStill more than flour and water,no?
- rcxdude 2y agoThe US has a lot of 'food deserts', areas where there's no easy access to a supermarket with fresh food. But there's usually plenty of fast and processed food available, and it's often cheaper than fresh.
- phil21 2y agoFresh tomatoes worth eating raw are relatively expensive. Tomatoes (cans or buckets of sauce) used for frozen pizza are very cheap in bulk food service level packaging.
- protonbob 2y agotbh canned tomatoes actually taste better because they aren't raising them for appearance like the horrible ones at the grocery store.
- johnisgood 2y agoFresh tomatoes are cheap here, although I have to admit their taste has deteriorated over time. The canned ones are better to use as an ingredient due to this reason.
- SirMaster 2y agoPlenty of schools in the US have kitchens and cook their foods from scratch...
- Stefan-H 2y agoSource? My Suburban school district primarily heated up foods from Sysco.
- FactolSarin 2y agoMany still have the kitchens, but the two in my hometown rarely cook from scratch anymore. I live in a small 5k person town in North Carolina, and recently got involved with the school PTO. And the cafeteria is basically just heating up premade meals these days.
- johnisgood 2y agoThat is really sad. :(
- quasse 2y agoCan you point to a single public school in the US that does this? Not being snarky, I would love to have one to show as an example. My public school had a kitchen ... that it used to heat up pre-packaged deep fried chicken and pizza from Sysco. Sometimes we would get some withered celery on the plate as well.
- SirMaster 2y agoI was just looking at the school I grew up going to. https://www.lodi.k12.wi.us/our-families/food-service https://www.lodi.k12.wi.us/our-families/food-service https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1742572951/lodik12wius/j0jovx5litdaxyrz9pk7/April2025LunchHSBlue5Dayweekly.pdf https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1742572951/lodik12wi... My mom works there and she says they are making a lot of the stuff themselves, like the casseroles and bakes, chili and soup, tacos, pizza, etc. Glean what you can from these images on the site I guess too? https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_5/v1739979554/lodik12wius/an0lq6oj9kuwiiasgyor/camiloexplainingtacostostudent1.jpg https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image... https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_5/v1739979554/lodik12wius/smdwvuroqq7emyf31xj8/camiloandsetupforlunch13.jpg https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image...
- downrightmike 2y agoWe used to, but with the Reagan deregulation in the 80's, corporations seized control. Ketchup is a veggie according to their rules, so pizza is now "healthy"
- spogbiper 2y agohttps://www.straightdope.com/21343649/did-the-reagan-era-usda-really-classify-ketchup-as-a-vegetable https://www.straightdope.com/21343649/did-the-reagan-era-usd... "The story is so convoluted that it defied simple explanation at the time. Even today, the episode can be plausibly presented (depending on the political leanings of the presenter) as either a simple bureaucratic screwup or an unsuccessful effort by the right to pursue its agenda at the expense of the nation’s kids." in either case, ketchup was not actually ever classified as a vegetable in approved legislation: "When the proposed new rules were released for comment in September 1981, food activists went ballistic. Democratic politicians staged photo ops where they feasted on skimpy-looking meals that conformed to the new standards. The mortified administration withdrew the proposal and the USDA official in charge of the program was transferred, a move widely interpreted as a firing."
- gopher_space 2y agoIIRC the main frustration wasn’t with the proposal but with the train of thought that led to it. MBAs chipping away at load-bearing structures out of sheer human cupidity.
- spogbiper 2y agoI'm too young to remember anything from the time. I have many times heard people say "american schools classify ketchup as a vegetable" as if it actually was put into practice or true today, both in the states and while talking with people in europe. it's one of my earliest memories of realizing firsthand how "truth" is so easily manipulated.
- gopher_space 2y ago
- nemo44x 2y agoUsed to in the USA. when I was in school lunches were all made from scratch from a full time kitchen staff. Guessing today the MBAs have figured out how to reduce costs by automating and centralizing food production so that schools only need to heat-up lunches and thus reducing tax burden. America has highly developed industrial food manufacturing and supply lines and a public willing to accept it. Just different values about how food is made, priced, and brought to market.
- _zoltan_ 2y agonot all hospitals and not all schools and not all kindergartens. some do, some serve really bad food.
- johnisgood 2y agoWell, in cities it is usually fine. The breakfast and supper sucks, however, at hospitals. :P Lunch has always been great everywhere in my experience. I was at rehab as well (in another county), everything was healthy, from breakfast, to lunch, to supper, and good portions. You could even get more ("repeta") if you wanted to, and of course it was "free" (TB-based).
- tastyfreeze 2y agoWhen I was in elementary school in the US in the early 90's lunch was made in the school kitchen. Every school in the district did the same. By the time I was in 7th all of the lunches were Food Service items warmed and shoved in a foil pouch at one school to drive to every other school. It is completely my bias but to me this is the result of cronyism. A couple corporations make an enormous amount of money off shit food sold to schools. The problem is that it is way cheaper to buy prepared food and have a few people warm it than having cooks at each school.
- jajko 2y agoThe centralized preparation is a lesser evil from the description. You can still cook well tasting very healthy food that was done early in the morning and then distributed, there is 0 reasons why it should be worse and no need for any bad chemistry to make it last. After all, check what first class is served in airplanes, it often looks and tastes amazing yet it was done 4-15 hours before. The issue I think is way more fundamental - look at general US portions everywhere - at home, restaurants, school. Those ain't normal sizes for any human being to eat sustainably. How much physical effort is paired with that, also how the dinner looks like (cue - it should be lightest meal in both size and content of whole day). Kids eat what they see parents eating and whats available home. Can't expect kids of obese parent(s) to have some healthy habits. And so on
- bko 2y ago> A couple corporations make an enormous amount of money off shit food sold to schools. The problem is that it is way cheaper to buy prepared food and have a few people warm it than having cooks at each school. I don't get it, are the corporations making a shit ton of money or is it cheaper for the school? If both of these things are true, then it's a win-win. I don't think it's necessarily about pre-packaged or not, just the type of food. If anything, having it outsourced would make change a lot easier. No need to install a kitchen and hire cooks, just call up the giant corporations, tell them you want apple slices instead of Takis. They would almost certainly accommodate very quickly, because you know, they're making a shit ton of money. Or others would jump in Unfortunately I think a lot of this is demand driven. It's like the few pieces of rotting fruit in a bodega. They don't stock them because kids don't want to eat them. So I imagine supply side won't do as much as you think. But it still might be worth it because it might be better for the kids to be a little hungrier than stuffing their face with poison and they might eventually come around.
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- casey2 2y agoPshaa, the US didn't become the richest country on the planet by letting their kids eat caviar and green beans. Why learn if you already live like a king? Struggle builds character.
- watwut 2y agoHungarian kids eat chips or other sweets, including as part of lunch. Sometikes they get pirely sweet lunch or pizza. And American kids don't have chips as lunch given by school to them.
- johnisgood 2y agoHungarian kids don't eat chips as part of lunch (unless their parents packed them it for breakfast, but for lunch they do not give them chips). Where have you have gotten this from? I have never encountered a place where it is common, at all, and I have been to many schools, kindergartens, hospitals, and rehabs.
- legitster 2y agoIn the US, it used to be much more common to pack a lunch to school. A school lunch was either a luxury, or subsidized for low income families. But there has been a big push to make school lunches universal in the US. Compared to what I had growing up, what my kid receives is pretty mixed. On one hand, so much more is pre-cooked and pre-packaged. On the other hand, there is much more focus on "natural" ingredients and less "snacky" kids foods like pizza or nuggets. Ironically, now packing a homemade lunch is a luxury.
- gedy 2y agoYeah I don't get it, we've always packed a lunch for our kids as a matter of fact and it's not much money or work. Same as I growing up and we were quite poor for the US.
- alistairSH 2y agoPoor students qualify[1] for free/reduced lunches. Did you qualify and decide not to use the program? 1 - Free lunch at 130% of poverty line, which for a family of four is ~$42k USD in 2025. Reduced at 185%, or $59k in 2025. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/03/13/2025-03821/child-nutrition-programs-income-eligibility-guidelines#p-15 https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/03/13/2025-03...
- gedy 2y agoIt was a long time ago, but probably did qualify. However it was just what was normal to do and didn't see a need to have them provide lunch.
- smokey_the_bear 2y agoWe pack lunch for our three kids because the free lunch at school is low quality and they don't like it. I'm not claiming it's an overwhelming amount of work, and if we just packed sandwiches it would be easier, but it's easily 30 minutes a day of food prep and cleaning lunch boxes. My middle schooler can't eat whole apples because of trauma to one of his front teeth. The fruit with school lunch every single day is a whole apple, and he isn't allowed to bring a knife to school to cut it.
- sixtram 2y agoWell, I don't know, I live in Hungary and just this morning I checked what's on the menu at my child's kindergarten. For breakfast they have margarine with honey on white bread, I'm not sure if that's good. For afternoon snack they got "kakaóscsiga" which is a pastry full of chocolate and sugar.