What's for lunch?

One of my less than stellar parenting moments came the first day Jack went to Grade One in Canada.

Having grown up in the U.S. and eaten a lifetime of hot school lunches, the default (in my brain) was that my kids would eat hot lunch at school. I had heard that children at the public schools in Lethbridge had to bring their lunches or go home to eat, but that at the French immersion school -- since kids are bussed from around town -- the school provided a lunch program.

In my mind -- that meant hot lunch.

So, on the first day, I sent Jack with about $5 (not knowing how much this hot lunch would cost) and wished him a good day and cried my way to the office (clearly first days of school are hard on me). I tried to work that morning but was mostly thinking nonstop of my brave 1st grader, and gave up any hope of accomplishing anything just before noon and went to get my own lunch with John. As I headed in to his office, I chatted with the administrative assistant in his department, Bev. She asked how I was doing (I think the red-rimmed eyes gave me away) and asked if Jack was excited, if he liked his teacher, and if he had a new backpack and a new lunchbox.

A new backpack yes, I told her. But Jack was going to have hot lunch.

Bev looked confused. Doesn't Jack go to Agnes Davidson, she asked? Yes, I said -- just like your boys did, right? Right, she said. And there is NO hot lunch at Agnes Davidson.

Oh no. (What I actually said was not family-friendly -- but you get the idea.)

I ran (yes ran) down two flights of stairs to the food court at the university, where I picked up two pieces of bread, a package of peanut butter and a package of jelly, a piece of fruit, a bottle of juice, and some chips. I shelled out NINE dollars for this feast while John ran to get the car and we tried not to speed too much during the 13 minute drive to his school.

John's cell phone rang on the way...it was the school letting us know we would find Jack waiting in the principal's office -- since he had no lunch.

John dropped the lunch with Jack (who seemed only a little traumatized--I was quite traumatized in the car) and asked the secretary what, exactly, the school meant by having a lunch program. Oh, she said. It means that students do not have to pay to have supervision while they eat their lunches at their desks (which students at the neighborhood schools must do). Ecole Agnes Davidson was very proud of its "lunch program."

Well, all of this is a very roundabout way to getting to Jack's "lunch program" in France. He has gone to the cantine three times now and loves it. And why shouldn't he? Instead of scarfing down a sandwich at his desk in record time before racing outside for a truncated recess, students at Jack's school are given a break of 1 hour and 45 minutes to be driven by bus to the cantine, where they sit at a table and enjoy a THREE COURSE meal.

Really.

They also then have time to play when they are done. Scarfing food down just doesn't happen.

And the food they are eating is INCREDIBLE. For appetizers, this month students will have green salad with tomato vinaigrette, taboule house salad, cheese crepes, red pesto pasta salad, tomato salad with mustard vinagrette, rice salad with vegetables and mint, lentil salad, tomato salad with fresh mozzarella and basil... and more.

For the main course, the students this month are eating roasted chicken with thyme, salmon with lemon and spieces, beef bourguignon, roasted pork with the juice of onions, turkey curry, omlette of the house, spaghetti with bolognaise sauce, chicken and couscous, and more. These main courses are served with side dishes, including spinach in a bechamel sauce, cauliflower with cheese, vichy carrots, ratatouille, rice, lentils, and more. The students get a piece of fresh baguette with the appetizer and another piece with the main course (the lunch lady told me many of them would fill up on the bread otherwise... but that students can have as much of the other food as they wish).

Next comes the cheese and dessert course. This ranges from emmenthal, camembert, laughing cow, edam, natural yogurt, brie (and more) for the cheese, and fruit most days for dessert but also caramel flan, chocolate mousse and some kind of pear-banana dessert.

It's the best 5 euros we spend twice a week, I tell you.

Oh -- and to top it off -- the lunch menu comes with suggestions du soir, which is a wonderful menu suggesting what meals could be prepared in the evening to balance out whatever delicious food the kids had for lunch. We are holding on to the menus just for the good ideas!

I think it could be a challenge (for all of us) to go back to cold lunches after this. While I will no longer forget to send my child to school with his lunch box -- it will be hard to forget these amazing school lunches in France.