Ketchup is NOT a vegetable…

Since I work in school nutrition policy and have visited numerous lunch programs around the U.S., my friend Takako (a native Japanese lady who now lives in Missouri) offered to help organize a school visit for me in Japan. I took her up on the offer wholeheartedly, and was touched that she went to the trouble of orchestrating all of the logistics. I was really excited to see the school meals program, to compare and contrast with the American program that I know so well. However, the day came to mean so much more to me than that, as I simply fell in love with the children and had one of the most heartwarming days ever.

First of all, the school itself was simply amazing. The modern, spacious, and bright interior immediately brought sunshine into my tired day. Second, the school foodservice left me awestruck. The meal consisted of: miso soup with tofu and mushrooms; a perfectly-steamed green bean-like vegetable; a deliciously-seasoned main dish of sticky rice with fresh shrimp and salmon; white milk; and a sweet bean-paste dessert. The food was perfectly prepared and beautifully presented. There was no “cafeteria”; rather, the food was delivered in steam pans to the classrooms, where the children took on all of the preparatory cleaning and organizing, as well as the service of the food. I was with a first-grade class (still within my favorite age group—love them!), and they were amazingly orderly and cooperative throughout the entire process. The lunch service went off without even the remotest of glitches.

Apparently they rotate jobs regularly; the children that were in charge of actually handling the food that day (i.e. scooping onto the plates) wore little sanitary masks and mini chef-type coats. It was absolutely adorable, and simultaneously symbolic of the general conscientiousness of Japanese society.

In addition, the children are expected to eat all of the food that they take (the Japanese are clearly opposed to unnecessary waste of any kind). Therefore, once everyone’s plate is served, they are allowed to go back to the little serving station and return some of their food before they dig in. Similarly, children who are still hungry are welcome to help themselves to these extra portions. The system works…every single plate was clean, and all of the steam pans were empty, without any type of instigating remarks/pressure from the teacher. I was speechless at the entire process.

Oh—and they all had individual plastic chopsticks in their desk, in a little pencil-box type carrying case. :) The chopsticks allowed them to show a little bit of personality—I saw Hello Kitty chopsticks, blue glittery chopsticks, plain white chopsticks, etc. They all also had toothbrushes, and knew to brush their teeth after eating.

As fascinating as this all was for me, I was even more impressed by the children in general. Their sense of order and manners extended well-beyond the meal service. They were absolutely the sweetest children in every way. I wanted to scoop them all up and take them back to America with me! :)

The teacher had obviously assigned three of the children to be my little helpers/guides; these three were wonderful in making sure that I had everything I needed, that I knew where to sit, etc. One little boy, especially, very shyly took me under his wing, and motioned that I should come & help them work on an art project before the meal was ready. He walked me through every step of the origami project (without speaking—only with big smiles). Afterward, he led me to the sink where I was to clean the glue off of my hands. After I washed my hands, I realized that there were no paper towels (which is more common that not in Japan—again, a conservation effort). Upon sensing my moment of bewilderment with dripping wet hands, he went to his desk and retrieved his little personal towel for me to use…and presented it to me with a little bow. :)

Before we ate, the children also had an opportunity to raise their hands and ask me questions. The first was “Where are you from?” I responded, “The United States,” and received a room full of blank stares from the six-year olds. After a brief pause, one little boy quizzically shouted, “The United States of America???” then there was a lot of “Oh! America!” echoing around the room with obvious recognition. :) They also asked how old I am (and gasped when I told them…haha), and when my birthday is. Gotta love first-graders.

I ate with the children, who were very amused at my remedial use of chop sticks. The food was absolutely delicious and the company was perfect.
As absolutely perfect as these children were, I was relieved to see that they were also still children. Near the end of the meal, one little boy at my table decided to make a little farting noise by blowing on his arm…and all of the others followed suit, giggling merrily (as I did, too). The whole experience was definitely one of the top highlights of my trip…thanks, Takako. :)