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In 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 b

In 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 ago
Yeah 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 ago
  Poor 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 ago
    It 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 ago
  We 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.
  - johnisgood 2y ago
    I usually cook something healthy for 2-3 days. Yesterday I just made a stew of broccoli with potatoes (with seasoning and whatnot) and it tastes quite nice, and it was very easy to do so. It was my first time, did not even need to check the recipe. You just make it as you would any stew, you just boil the vegetables in seasoned water, then after it is soft, you can turn it into a stew by mixing oil + garlic + flour, heating it up a bit, and then putting it all into the boiling vegetables. I am sorry if this explanation may not be adequate, however, but I hope you know what I mean. The last thing we put into the boiling veggies is called "rántás" in Hungarian, but I am sure the translator would bork on this, because "rántott" is an adjective, and probably the past tense of "rántás", but they mean two very different things.
Yeul 2y ago
I was always against school lunches because I know my government- they will serve worse food than I can buy myself. Forget organic produce. But then I started to do research and there are children out there who are literally starving because their parents suck. So if school food can save more kids than it kills it's probably a good thing. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good.
johnisgood 2y ago
> In 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. Yes, we used to pack breakfast, but healthy lunch has always been provided.
chrisdhal 2y ago
I went through school in the 70s and 80s and always had school lunch. I hardly saw anybody bring lunch to school. Maybe it was because of the schools I went to, but they were public schools. They were "good" schools though (some of the best in the major metro area), so maybe that changes things. In high school I honestly don't remember seeing anybody bring lunch, obviously people did, but it would have definitely been the super minority and definitely not common by any means.
r00fus 2y ago
As long as we're speaking anecdotally, I very rarely took lunch to school in grade school (1980s). Even as a vegetarian in red-meat-eating Utah, I got a hot lunch prepared by real people and the food tasted good.

gedy 2y ago

Yeah 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 ago
Poor 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 ago
  It 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 ago
We 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.
- johnisgood 2y ago
  I usually cook something healthy for 2-3 days. Yesterday I just made a stew of broccoli with potatoes (with seasoning and whatnot) and it tastes quite nice, and it was very easy to do so. It was my first time, did not even need to check the recipe. You just make it as you would any stew, you just boil the vegetables in seasoned water, then after it is soft, you can turn it into a stew by mixing oil + garlic + flour, heating it up a bit, and then putting it all into the boiling vegetables. I am sorry if this explanation may not be adequate, however, but I hope you know what I mean. The last thing we put into the boiling veggies is called "rántás" in Hungarian, but I am sure the translator would bork on this, because "rántott" is an adjective, and probably the past tense of "rántás", but they mean two very different things.

Yeul 2y ago

I was always against school lunches because I know my government- they will serve worse food than I can buy myself. Forget organic produce. But then I started to do research and there are children out there who are literally starving because their parents suck. So if school food can save more kids than it kills it's probably a good thing. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good.

johnisgood 2y ago

> In 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. Yes, we used to pack breakfast, but healthy lunch has always been provided.

chrisdhal 2y ago

I went through school in the 70s and 80s and always had school lunch. I hardly saw anybody bring lunch to school. Maybe it was because of the schools I went to, but they were public schools. They were "good" schools though (some of the best in the major metro area), so maybe that changes things. In high school I honestly don't remember seeing anybody bring lunch, obviously people did, but it would have definitely been the super minority and definitely not common by any means.

r00fus 2y ago

As long as we're speaking anecdotally, I very rarely took lunch to school in grade school (1980s). Even as a vegetarian in red-meat-eating Utah, I got a hot lunch prepared by real people and the food tasted good.