Yummy & Healthy Japnaese School Lunch ★ Book Review: ''Tokyo Adachi Ward School Lunchroom'' in 2011

'How was your day at school?'
I ask my 8 years old daughter who goes to a local community (public) school everyday.
She always replies, 'The school lunch was yummy!'

That is good!

The boring and tasteless school lunch is an old story and even a recipe book called, ''The School Lunchroom in Tokyo, Adachi Ward - well-balanced meals with the key 12 nutrition, aiming for No.1 in Japan'' was published last year (Japanese language only).

The recipe book is a little arranged for home use but it has the same concept for school meal: good for well-being with balanced nutrition; good for dietary and mental education -  practise respect for the nature and the people who cook, cleanliness and proper table manners.

According to the recipe book, the school lunch in a manciple, Adachi Ward, offers three to four different dishes for each lunch - the main (rice, noodles, and others), a soup, the main/side vegetables, and a  dessert (often fruits).

There are three key points that the school nutritionist cannot miss out:

1) Well-balanced with 12 nutrition - Protein, Liloid, Carbohydrate, Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, Zinc, Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin, C, Dietary fibre;

2) Calorie around 650kcal per meal with less than 5g of salt;

3) Less than 300 yen per head per meal.

This book also introduces the ingredients of the seasons in each chapters.

The daily school dishes are listed in a handout that children receive from the head nutritionist at school, as well as the local government HP, along with useful information on food and healthy eating habits.

Each children are appointed as lunch staff in a team and take responsibility to look after school lunch for their class: prepare, serve and clean up after lunch which gives school children a real work experience. It also gives a chance to build a sense of service and a spirit of harmony.

Good-bye to a colourful lunch box in Japanese kindergarten which was even introduced in BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16069217 as well as in Jaimie Oliver's web http://www.jamieoliver.com/au/news/japan-s-school-lunches-a-new-artform, and big welcome to school lunch in Japanese primary schools.

The children cannot wait for school lunch tomorrow - Korean bibimbap, gelatin noodles soup, pineapple jelly, and milk - an international cuisine.

Thank you for yummy, yummy school lunch, wishing I was there, too.

Y★