U.S. Should Adopt Japanese-Style Cafeteria Education

Some students often say that lunch is one of their favorite parts of the school day because it provides them the opportunity to socialize with their friends while giving their brains a much-needed break. Many students, however, find the time they must spend in the cafeteria to be stressful and unpleasant, even on a good day. Cafeterias are loud, messy arenas that are often overcrowded and not adequately supervised. There are food fights, increased bullying, and a harried wolfing down of substandard meals. These problems combine with the noise and confusion to create what amounts to an unhealthy and unproductive part of every school day.

Still, students need to eat, and they need time to socialize. So what's the solution? Maybe we should change our lunch system to reflect the system that's used in Japan. The Japanese recognize that students cannot remain sedentary or inactive all day. They also realize that students need a nutritious meal that will provide them with the carbohydrates and proteins necessary for thinking and learning. Here's how they do it.

First, all students eat lunch in a classroom. At the elementary level, that classroom is their primary classroom. At the intermediate and secondary levels, the classroom is whichever room they are scheduled to be in just before lunch. The noise level is dramatically reduced from that of the typical cafeteria because there are no more than thirty students dining at one time.

Second, the students are responsible for the dining space. That includes transforming the room into an acceptable dining space, cleaning that space after they finish eating, and turning the room back into a learning environment once lunch is finished. If all the students were responsible for cleaning up the mess, would they start a food fight? If there were a good chance they would get caught and be punished for misbehaving, wouldn't they be less tempted to engage in such behaviors?

Third, students no longer have to spend half their time waiting in line to purchase foods that aren't healthy. The cooks bring lunch around on carts to each classroom. Students can opt to either bring their lunch from home or purchase a meal off the cart. Besides being brought to each classroom, this option is different because there is only one meal choice offered, and that meal is healthy. The lunch I ate while visiting a school in Japan consisted of rice with jacko (tiny whole fish), seaweed, a piece of grilled salmon, and milk.

With this system in place instead of the crowded, noisy cafeterias, imagine how much more peaceful and relaxing lunch would be. Students would be able to eat their lunch at a pace that encourages good digestion, and they would have plenty of time to talk with friends, read, or just relax before their afternoon classes begin. No more chaos! Serving only one meal choice a day-and a healthy choice, at that-would make this a feasible approach to lunch that every school in America could easily create.