A school meal or school lunch is a meal provided to students and sometimes teachers at
a school, typically in the middle or beginning of the school day. Countries around the world offer various kinds of school meal programs. Because it is important for children to eat
nutritious and healthy food, school lunches around the world become one essential topic to
discuss.
Japan
This country is a world-wide known place of healthy eating. According to the teacher of
English in one of the Japanese districts, students in Japan usually eat a bowl of rice, some fish,
a salad made from pickles, some sort of soup and tofu added with vegetables and fruits.
Japanese students are also given a bottle of milk for every school lunch. This variety of
products is traditional for the Japanese people and represents quite a healthy and nutritious
range of foods.
The United States
The typical school lunch in the USA is burger and chips, which is not as nutritious as
expected. It leads to such health problems as obesity and overweight in the later years of life.
However, recently, the American government has passed an act according to which school
lunches should comprise of more nutritious and healthy foods. Hopefully, such measures will
help to improve the quality of school lunches in the US.
India
Schools in India do not provide school lunches. Therefore, children in India typically
eat lunch at home. There is also a service of providing fresh meals and delivering them to
school. The containers from school lunches are then picked up by the servicemen. A typical
school lunch in India comprises of flat bread known as “roti” and a meat or vegetable curry.
Such lunch can be considered a nutritious option being beneficial for the health of children.
South Korea
People in this country care much about school lunch. The country’s government has
actually banned the fast food advertisements because they might not be good for children and
make them eat unhealthy foods. The typical school lunch in South Korea consists of “kimchi”,
tofu, soybean sprouts and rice. Such lunch is absolutely healthy for children and sometimes
look alike Japanese school lunches. South Koreans are known for taking much care about
health and nutrition. So their school lunches definitely stand out compared to other countries.

b. Decide the statements below are True (T) or False (F).
NO.      STATEMENT                                                                                           TRUE                  FALS
                                                                                                                                                            E

34       Japanese students usually eat seafood, salad and vegetable soup
with rice and fruits.

35        What students in England often have for their school lunches are
burgers and chips.
36        Eating too much fast food at lunch can lead to obesity among
American children.

37        Many Indian children eat lunch at home, or have their lunches
delivered to school by the servicemen.
38        Korean students rarely eat kimchi, tofu, soybean sprouts and rice