The Future of School Lunches

In many countries, schools provide lunch for their students every day. For a long time, the main goal was simply to give children enough to eat. Today, however, many schools are thinking much more carefully about what they serve. They want school lunches to be not only filling but also （ 1 ）.

One important change is the use of fresh, local food. Some schools now buy vegetables and rice from farms in their own area, rather than from far away. （ 2 ）, the food is fresher, and the money supports local farmers. A number of schools have even started their own gardens, where students grow vegetables themselves and then eat them at lunchtime. Children often become more willing to try new foods when they have grown those foods with their own hands.

Schools are also trying to reduce the amount of food that is thrown away. They ask students to take only as much as they can eat, and some collect leftover food to turn into fertilizer for their gardens. （ 3 ）, school lunches are slowly becoming healthier for children and kinder to the environment at the same time. Teachers say that good lunches also help students in the classroom, because children who eat well find it easier to concentrate and to stay active during the afternoon. Some schools now teach simple cooking lessons too, so that students can prepare healthy meals for themselves at home. In these ways, the school lunch has become an important part of education itself.