Not just food: what lunch looks like at a Japanese school – video

The video, published on YouTube, was watched by more than 16 million people. No, this is not a new clip of Olga Buzova. This channel has only 14 thousand subscribers. And the incredibly popular video tells how the lunch is held at schoolchildren in Japan.

“Do you like school food?” – asks the voice-over. “Like!” – the kids answer with one voice. They approach lunch responsibly. Spend 45 minutes on it – the same as the lesson lasts. Children do not go to the dining room. The food itself comes to their class. But first things first.

The main character of the video is Yui, a fifth-grader. She brings her lunch mat, her own chopsticks, a toothbrush and a cup to school to rinse her mouth with. In addition, the girl has a napkin in her briefcase – not a paper napkin, but a real one.

Yui walks to school with a crowd of classmates. This is also part of the tradition of the Japanese way of life: walking to school. Children gather in groups, one of the parents sees them off. It is not customary to bring a child by car here.

Let’s skip our first lessons and head straight to the kitchen. Five cooks pack food for each class in pots and boxes, load them onto carts. 720 people are to be fed. The attendants will come soon – they will take lunch to classmates.

At the end of the lesson, the children “set” tables for themselves: they lay down a tablecloth rug, lay out chopsticks. Everyone puts on special robes, hats, under which they hide their hair, and masks. Thoroughly wash their hands and rub their palms with an antibacterial gel. And only then the attendants go to get food. An obligatory part of the ritual is to thank the chefs for a delicious lunch. Yes, even before they try.

In the classroom, they also manage themselves: they pour soup, lay out mashed potatoes, distribute milk and bread. Then the teacher tells where the food on the plates came from. The schoolchildren raised the potatoes that will be served for lunch today: a vegetable garden has been set up next to the school. In addition to mashed potatoes, there will be fish baked with pear sauce, and vegetable soup – similar to our cabbage soup, only on water, not broth. Pears and fish are grown on a farm nearby – they don’t carry anything from afar, they prefer local products. Next year, the current fifth-graders will grow their own potatoes. In the meantime, they eat the one that the sixth graders planted.

There are two cartons of milk left, a few servings of potatoes and soup. Their children will play “rock-paper-scissors” – nothing should be lost! And even the milk cartons are then unfolded by the children so that it is more convenient to pack them and send them for processing.

The meal is over – everyone is brushing their teeth in unison. Yes, and the teacher too.

That’s all – all that remains is to clear the tables and tidy up: sweep, clean the floor in the classroom, on the stairs, even in the toilet. Children do all this themselves. And imagine, neither the guys themselves, nor their parents are against it.

Such a ritual, according to the Japanese themselves, forms a healthy lifestyle in general and a healthy attitude to food in particular. Vegetables and fruits must be seasonal, all products must be local. If it is possible of course. Everyone should understand that lunch is not just a set of products, it is also someone’s work. That must be respected. And mind you, there are no sweets, cookies, or other harmful things on the table. The amount of sugar has been reduced to a minimum: it is believed that glucose from fruits is sufficient for the body. It is incredibly beneficial for the teeth. As for the figure.

Here’s the answer – why Japanese children are considered the healthiest in the world. No matter how trite the common truth may sound, it does not cease to be true because of this: “You are what you eat.”