School lunches have been front page news in the U.S. this fall with lots of discussion about the healthier meals.  Have you ever wondered what kids  in other countries eat for school lunch?  BuzzFeed, a social news organization, posted What School Lunches Look Like In 20 Countries Around The World about a year ago.  The lunches are random pictures but do give an idea of what kids eat in other countries.  I feel sorry for the kids in Kenya, Honduras, Ghana, and Djibouti (a tiny country in Africa).  Their lunches are very skimpy.  The U.S. lunches shown are higher in fat and have less fruits and vegetables than many of the other countries.  However, these pictures were taken before the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act became effective.

Another website I thought was very interesting was by Martha Payne, a nine-year-old from Scotland. She started the blog Never Seconds by showing her lunch each day and rating them.

Martha calls herself ‘Veg’ in the posts (look in the archives of Never Seconds to see the posts on school lunches.)  Soon kids from other countries were sending pictures of their school lunches to Martha which she posted, causing blog readership to soar. The lack of food in lunches in some countries led Martha to raise money for Mary’s Meals, a charity that sets up school feeding projects in communities where poverty and hunger prevent children from gaining an education. Although Martha’s school has now banned her lunch pictures, she is still raising money for Mary’s Meals and blogging about her trip to  Malawi to help dedicate a new school kitchen.