“I walked into the dining room to see tables of four already set – silverware, silver bread basket, off white ceramic plates, cloth napkins, clear glasses, and water pitchers laid out ready for lunch. I was standing inside my children’s public elementary school cafeteria, or canteen as the French call it, in our local town near Annecy, France.”
This is a quote from the website mindbodygreen.com, from an article about what French kids eat for school lunch. I find it so inspiring to see the way the French have decided to do school lunches for their younger children. They have courses, usually four courses. They have real, nourishing, freshly cooked food. They sit down to enjoy it together at beautiful tables with lots of time – they have at least half an hour to sit, and they have to enjoy their meal slowly. There are so many good principles that we can learn from this! Also, it’s just so inspiring to see the actual food that they are served. It’s not easy, I can imagine, to make it all happen, but the benefits are huge.
So, today we’re going to talk about what French kids eat for school lunches, and we’re also going to mention a few tips for picky eaters. All the websites that I reference will be linked in the show notes on familyfoodformoms.com. This episode is number 23, and if you go to that post, you’ll find a link if you want to read any of the articles that I’m referencing, or look at the photos.
To give you an example of what French children eat, I’m referring to the same website mentioned before. She’s got four examples here of what children eat in their school lunches. These menus would be prepared in advance by the school, and usually shared with a dietitian who would then balance things, like perhaps they need less carbs or more carbs, or replace a sugary dessert with a piece of fruit, making sure they’re balanced with enough protein, etc. Then the parents would get a copy of the meals that would be cooked so that they can complement the lunches with dinners, so that the kids aren’t having the same thing twice, etc.
These examples are fascinating! The first course is cucumber and tomato salad, perhaps with a light cream dressing. Then the main course, meat veal, in this case is marinated with mushrooms, and there’s some broccoli; steamed broccoli on the side. Then there’ll be a little plate with cheese like brie and some crisp french bread. And then in this case the dessert is apple tart – a little tartlet with apple slices. So, that’s their four courses.
Here’s another example – we have a cabbage and tomato salad. It looks like there’s some dressing on the cabbage, though sometimes they would just put olive oil or balsamic on a salad. The main course is roast beef, roast potatoes, and baked tomatoes with herbs. Then again, there’s a cheese course. In this case it’s a Laughing Cow cheese with some French bread, and there’s a kiwi for dessert.
Apparently, often the older children will serve the younger children at their lunches, and help the little ones to cut up their meat or whatever is needed. They drink water with their meals, and usually there’ll be a delegated one of the four at the table who is able to go and fill the water jug, but the other three will have to stay at the table for the whole half an hour or longer that the lunch time is, and enjoy their meal slowly, and really chew it well, and just have a good break from their school day.
Here’s another one. There’s tabula, made with bulgur wheat for the first course. The main course is sausages with sliced herb zucchini, and then there’s some French bread on the side, and dessert is an ice cream on a stick, and an apple.
And then the last example from her website: potato and pickle salad as the first course, the main course is breaded fish with cauliflower and a slice of lemon, then again some Laughing Cow cheese with French bread, and then a peach for dessert.
If you want to see the photos of these meals, just go to familyfoodformoms.com, look for the podcast episode 23, and then there’ll be a link showing her website, and you can see all the pictures there.
So, this food is fascinating because it’s so nutritious, and it’s so healthy. Usually it’s a piece of meat, so a piece of fish, or chicken, or veal, and then a nice vegetable, some cheese, a salad as a starter, and then fruit as a dessert, or sometimes a sweet dessert. But there’s a lot of nutrition in that. We’ve got good vegetables, good salad, good protein, good dairy, and good fruit. Amazing! The fruits and vegetables are often sourced from local farms or markets nearby and are in season. The local bakery delivers the bread daily.
As I mentioned, the kids sit down at the tables and relax during the meal and are served by the older children, and one of them can ask for more water or bread. The platters come to the table, and then the students serve themselves, and one of the children could also get up and ask for more food if necessary.
The variety of food is also fascinating. Right from the time they’re youngsters of two or three years old, they learn to eat these types of foods. Also, the cheeses used in the dairy course would vary a lot – they wouldn’t just be laughing cow cheese. There might be real camembert. There might be emmental, or there might be a yogurt; usually a plain yogurt with a bit of honey. These schools really do a great job of keeping it healthy. And, as I said, the foods are made freshly on site. The main course, the potatoes, desserts, salads, and soups; these things will be made daily and not frozen in advance, so that they’re fresh and extra delicious.
This is so inspiring. You know that it’s hard to do this for a school lunch if you have to pack it, but there’s certainly parts of it you can do, and I think one of those things is variety. This helps your children to learn to have a palate that appreciates different cuisine, and be willing to try new things.
So, in a school lunch you could put an unusual cheese with some good quality bread. You could do a little container of something like a tomato and cucumber salad, chopped with a little bit of creamy dressing. Then you could do a protein in a side dish- you could do a chicken breast with some barbecue sauce that’s chopped up, and put in a separate compartment of a bento box, or in its own little container with a lid. The vegetables are a bit harder because they don’t taste so good when they’re cold, but if your child is not eating at the school cafeteria, they can certainly benefit from these unique courses. Then you can perhaps give them a piece of fruit for dessert.
French children also don’t eat sandwiches, unless perhaps the canteen staff are on strike. But compare this to an American menu where there’s usually peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, burgers, and pizza featured heavily, and that’s usually what’s served. Sometimes there’s tacos, but there’s a heavy emphasis on processed foods; on carbohydrates. There’s no balance that includes good vegetables and good protein.
So, the idea here is not at all to feel guilty, or to feel overwhelmed, but rather to be inspired, and maybe move a little bit in the direction of a healthier lunch in your unique situation, in a way that works for your family and your kids, whether it’s helping them to choose better options at a cafeteria, or choosing to pack them a healthier lunch that’s less processed, with less packaged food and more good stuff.
French culture emphasizes the importance of good quality food, nutritional food, and local food, with well prepared dishes; home cooked meals. The French insist that their children eat like the grown ups do, and they want to expose them to many flavors and textures at a young age. This would happen at home and at school. It’s actually the law in France that the school lunch must include a main course, a side dish, a dairy product, and then a starter and/or dessert. They’re allowed unlimited water, but no other beverages, and then salt, sauces, and French bread are added. After the meal, the children still have a little bit longer in their lunch break, and they let off steam by running around or walking; burning some energy, which also aids digestion, and adds to the health of the meal. They do include vegetarian options at various intervals, depending on the area.
The children are used to sitting at the table. They’re well behaved, and they cheerfully try new foods that they perhaps haven’t had before. They can also wait between meals without complaint, because they have such a nourishing and satisfying meal that they’re okay with the gap between meals, and they don’t need a snack. Often French children will have a snack in the afternoons when returning home from school, but that will be their only snack of the day.
A lady named Karin Le Billon is a Canadian who moved to France and then came back again. She married a French man, and she was interviewed on bbcgoodfood.com. You can also get the link to this article on our website in the show notes. Once again, it’s familyfoodformoms.com, episode 23.
They asked her what her children’s original attitudes to food were, and she says that her kids had the standard bland beige food diet with a lot of processed carbs, white bread, crackers and dairy. Her older daughter was reacting to those things. Then there was a big culture shock when they moved to France. She was surprised how long and how easily children sat at the table, how well behaved they were, and how they happily tried new foods when they were in France. Here she says, 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, and then cheese and dessert. French baguette is also served and the kids drink water.
There is a national ban on vending machines and junk food in all French schools. Dessert is usually fresh fruit, but a sweet treat is served about once a week. There’s only one choice on the menu, and food is served to children at the table until they are finished primary school.
She was asked what her children’s biggest challenges adjusting to the French way of eating were, and she says: “The random snacking habit was a big challenge. They were used to getting food whenever they wanted it, but this was reducing their appetite so they ate less at mealtimes. And I decided that random snacking had to go. We scheduled one snack per day after school, and I made sure it was really healthy and tasty, and after a week or two, they settled into the new rhythm.”
So, when she returned to Canada, she and her husband decided to continue the French way of eating as much as possible. Here she tells a typical day’s diet for her children: Breakfast is oatmeal; steel cut oats, with blueberries, flax oil, and maple syrup, scrambled eggs, fresh fruit, and organic apple juice. It’s interesting to me that it wasn’t just oatmeal. That’s not enough to keep you satisfied for the morning, so she added the eggs, extra protein and the fruit.
Then for lunch, she says the girls take a packed lunch as there’s no lunch service at their school, so she makes carrot soup in advance, and thaws and heats it. She has various soups ready in her freezer for the soup starter. She puts it in a thermos so it stays warm. Then there’s a whole grain bread and butter ham sandwich with apple slices.
Milk, and a fresh fruit and veggie plate with carrots, kiwi and oranges is the afternoon snack. Then dinner is served with a fresh baguette and water. The first course is avocado, cherry tomatoes, and vinaigrette. Then the main course: winter stew with ham, cabbage, onion, kale, carrot, and celery. Then there’s a salad course; leaf lettuce and cheese, and stewed peaches for dessert.
So, she works full time, as does her husband, and she cooks some things on the weekend and thaws them, or, like the stewed peaches, they’ll be frozen from the end of summer, and she’ll put them in a saucepan with a bit of water to stew while they eat dinner. It’s not easy, but there are definitely ways to make this work, even when you’re working full time.
Karin gives some tips to deal with fussy eaters for if your children are picky eaters, and not used to trying new things or eating what’s put in front of them. The French believe that taste is a skill that can be acquired, and should be taught, just like reading. It’s not a permanent problem, but something that they can learn to do well, so she says don’t label your child as a picky eater. Tell them things like: “You’ll like that when you’re a bit more grown up,” and eventually they will. This can take years, so be patient. Also, ask your children to taste everything you’ve prepared, even if they don’t eat it. Tell them to have just one spoonful. It helps when the others are doing it too, as somehow that makes the little ones want to try it as well.
You should introduce your child to a new food before serving it to them. Show it to them, let them touch it, if it’s a beetroot for instance, or something they haven’t seen before. And then help them to kind of become familiar with it. Often when they say “I don’t like it,” they can mean, “I don’t know much about it.” So, introducing it to them in little ways, and getting them to help with the cooking; help with the chopping, just makes it less strange and more familiar.
Then Karin recommends talking less about health, and more about good tastes: eating for enjoyment, eating for pleasure. Say “This is yummy,” rather than saying “This is good for you,” – she says this helps.
And then limiting snacks definitely helps. Have a good schedule for your food so that the children know when to expect their next meal, and they’re not going to want to snack on junk, but when the food comes they’ll eat it because they’re hungry.
So, those things can be helpful. Never despair! This takes time and energy, but if parents model it, and enjoy their food, then the children will too.
Next time I’m going to talk a little bit about Spanish food and the way the Spanish like to eat, and what they serve for their school lunches. Then we’ll talk about some examples of what you can eat for different courses from each of those cuisines – the French and the Spanish – just a whole lot of ideas that are easy for appetizers, for main courses, and for interesting desserts.
Thank you so much for joining me today. I’ll see you next time.
