What do French schools serve for lunch?

Starting when children enter school at age 3, school lunch consists of four courses: a vegetable starter (for example, grated carrot salad, or beet salad), a warm main course served with a side of grains or vegetables, cheese, and dessert.

How is school lunch different in France?

It's all fresh food, cooked in the school's kitchens and local bakeries, served on proper plates with metal utensils, cloth napkins (in some schools), and water to drink with it. Lunch in Paris schools lasts an hour. That's right, a whole hour.

What is a typical lunch in France?

An usual French lunch will include: an appetizer (une entrée), such as a mixed salad, soup, terrine or pâté; main course, (le plat principal), choice of beef, pork, chicken, or fish, with potatoes, rice, pasta and/or vegetables; cheese course (from a local selection) and/or a sweet.

What are the guidelines for a school lunch in France?

French food culture

The students are served three- or four-course meals and the break time is usually two hours. Every school lunch must consist of a main course with a side dish, a dairy product and either a starter or a dessert.

What is lunch time like in French schools?

At school, the lunch break lasts between 90 minutes and 2 hours, during which a four-course meal is eaten while seated. French etiquette recommends that everyone starts eating at the same time and leaves the table only once everybody is finished.

School Lunch France - Michael Moore

Do French schools have free lunch?

Note: unlike the United States, there is no national school lunch program in France. All of the lunches you'll read about here are funded by local municipalities. Three-course (or even four-course) freshly-prepared hot lunches are provided to over 6 million French children in the public school system every day.

Do French kids go home for lunch?

Lunch. Lunch breaks are much longer in French schools: usually at least one and a half hours! Students have a choice between eating at the school canteen or going home for lunch. Bringing your own packed lunch is usually not allowed, which is usually a popular option in the UK and America.

How much does a school lunch cost in France?

So prices vary between French municipalities. But the average price per meal paid by parents is somewhere between $3 and $3.50 (as compared to $2.70 for the SNAP-funded meals in the US). In Paris, for example, most families pay $3, the wealthiest families pay $7, and the lowest-income families pay 20 cents per meal.

What country has the best school lunches?

For example, Japan has an excellent school meal program. Finland is probably the best in the world. France and Italy have decent programs. I had an Italian friend who used to bring me menus from the school meal program, and it reads like a fancy restaurant menu.

How long is a typical lunch break in France?

Standard hours

The French working hours are usually 8 or 9 AM to 4 or 5 PM, with 1 hour of unpaid lunch break. This will, however, vary depending on the business and company agreements. The weekly working hours are 35 (7 hours a day, five days a week).

What is the most popular lunch in France?

Is lunch a big deal in France?

France has a much more leisurely approach to lunch breaks that the locals take very seriously. Instead of a meager hour or less, everyone, including school children, is allotted two full hours to eat and wind down with friends or family.

What are some facts about lunch in France?

Lunch is a bit heavier. This might include a starter dish and the main course, sometimes finished with fromage or a desert. Then, appetites are build up for dinner. Typically, dinner won't be served until past 7 PM, or later.

What do the French feed their kids?

The French tend to eat (and feed) more whole foods and favor high quality ingredients. Even at school when parents are not around, the children are served gourmet school lunches with four courses including a vegetable starter and a cheese course.

Why is lunch so important in France?

The French are known to take time with their food, and they believe it's important to take a break in order to enjoy one of life's most important pleasures (we agree). Lunch, which often consists of a three course meal, is usually enjoyed with a glass of wine as well.

Is lunch paid in France?

The employer provides a place to eat. Lunch is not normally paid as it does not constitute actual working time. Of treaty provisions can set a minimum lunch break time.

What country has free school lunch?

Sweden, Finland, Estonia and India are among the few countries which provide universal school meals to all pupils in compulsory education, regardless of their ability to pay.

What do Italians eat for school lunch?

Guidelines state that Italian school lunches must include a starchy dish such as rice or pasta, a main course such as meat, fish, cheese, two or more vegetable side dishes, and plenty of fruit.

What country eats lunch early?

In West Asia (Middle East) and in most Arab countries, lunch is eaten before 12:00 pm, usually between 9am and 12:00 pm and is the main meal of the day. It usually consists of meat, rice, vegetables and sauces and is sometimes but not always followed by dessert.

What is a typical French school timetable?

Primary school

Students come to class 4.5 days a week. School begins at 8:30 am and finishes at 3:15 pm every day except Wednesday when classes end at 12:30 pm. From Monday to Friday, students have a lunch period that begins at 11h45 and ends at 1:15pm.

What do kids in France eat for breakfast?

At home in France kids will have breakfast composed of either cereal or toasted bread with butter and/or jam with a glass of milk and often a fruit juice on the side. On weekends, they sometimes get a croissant or a pain au chocolat, but never savoury dishes.

How many days a week do French kids go to school?

Schools in France are working four, four and a half, or five days a week in different regions. There are some schools that close on Wednesday afternoons and may have lessons on Saturday for older pupils.

Why is there no school on Wednesday in France?

That French schoolchildren have had Wednesdays off is a quirk of history. When France instituted universal public education in the late 19th century, the government granted a weekly day off for children to attend catechism by the Roman Catholic Church.

Do kids in France have school on Saturday?

The school day in France typically runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a half day on Saturday, although students do not attend school on Wednesday or Sunday.

What are French school dinners like?

Starting when children enter school at age three, school lunch consists of four courses: a vegetable starter (for example, grated carrot salad, or beet salad), a warm main course served with a side of grains or vegetables, cheese, and dessert. Fresh baguette, eaten plain, is also served.