Since I grew up in America, my answer is going to be centered on American school lunches.I think that they can be improved in two ways: Being more nutritionally dense, and having children be more involved with the school lunch process.A lot of current American school lunches while being filling, lack vital nutrients, and are instead very sodium laden.A 2008 analysis of school lunches by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) concluded that American kids consume very few fruits and vegetables in their cafeterias—with potatoes accounting for a third of all vegetables consumed. IOM also found that kids were eating many refined grains and too much saturated fat and sodium. How to Improve American School LunchesI would say this is a pretty accurate representation of a good to excellent American school lunch.Here's how school lunch in the US stacks up against what's served in the rest of the worldFrom my honest recollection, usually what would be served up regularly was square (never, circular, or triangular, mind you, this is very important, I can not emphasize this enough), square pizza. Some type of different dish, and chicken nuggets. Well actually, my memory is starting to fail me now, so I will link to what the current menu this month for my old elementary school is.Not too bad, but there could be room for improvement, a lot of pizza, chicken nuggets, which is all well and good, but these, these ghastly things.Okay, I am aware this is kind of a weird video, but it is an authentic representation of what I, and many other kids, ate in middle school and high school.Now, recently, I saw a video on the school lunch system Kyushoku in Japan.I thought the differences in nutrition were staggering. The Japanese lunch had rice, vegetables, and even fresh fish, which are very nutritionally dense.In addition, many of the ingredients are fresh, and students are more involved in the process of making the school lunch.8th grade students visiting a domestic farm where their school orders some of their produce from. For their work experience, they are separating edamame for tomorrow’s kyushoku.Which brings me to my next point; I believe we can improve American school lunches by having the children be more involved in the process of making their own lunches.Here, the students all take turns serving each other lunch. I think this is a very respectful and polite thing to do for others.In addition, these students are also required to clean up after themselves, and tidy up the area after they are done eating. I think this is a great lesson in discipline, responsibility, but also Home Economics. Learning how to properly clean a kitchen or living area is an often overlooked, yet fundamental skill that kids should learn early on.Another thing I appreciate is how varied the school lunches are. This school tries not to offer the same dish twice in a month. Although, kids being kids, often would request their favorites over and over again, in this case being curry. I don’t know if all schools in Japan offer such a diversity in options, but I think this is also a beneficial gift to the students in developing their taste palates, and helping to keep their bodies strong and healthy.The importance placed on school lunches comes from the view that school lunches are a part of the curriculum themselves.Japan's standpoint is that school lunches are a part of education, Masahiro Oji, a government director of school health education, told the Washington Post in 2013, not a break from it.Japan's mouthwatering school lunch program is a model for the rest of the worldI can’t help agree, because eating healthy helps increase your learning skills, as well as mood. Fully integrating healthy meals can help with all other aspects of school life, including concentration, happiness levels, and even socialization.The average cost of these lunches are about 2 dollars a meal. With the school covering staff and kitchen costs, and parents covering ingredients. If the parents are low-income and cannot afford the everyday costs, they must apply for social welfare meal plans at the school. The child will still receive the exact same meals as other kids. The screenshots from the previous video is actually of an average public school, not an exceptionally rich one either. In fact, this school is in the poorest of Tokyo’s wards.From this, we can assume the lunches shown above are of the bare minimum requirements for a proper kyushoku, as more well-to-do families often have more time and money to spend on improving their children’s schooling experiences.All-in-all, without spending more money, we can still improve our school lunches in America bya) Including more fresh, domestically grown produce and poultry into every meal.b) Including our students more in the lunchtime process, from farm to lunch table.What’s also ironic is that the Kyushoku system got official after 1946, when G.H.Q recommended systematic health education, and the school lunch program in Japanese schools.The Japanese government took note, and starting providing school lunch to 250,000 children in the Tokyo metropolitan area. This later expanded to all over Japan.Much funding at the time came from relief aid provided by foreign governments and charities. When Japan later regained full independence in 1951, the funding stopped. The Minister of Finance wanted to get terminate school lunch subsidies. However, this was strongly opposed by many people in Japan, and in 1954, school lunch law was enacted, with school lunch being a part of the school curriculum.So I think it’s very cool that Japan once took America’s advice and greatly improved their school lunches. And now America can take advice from our friends over in Japan, and we can all improve our school lunches together!Thank you. :)Anmitsu at Hatsune (初音) - Kantaro: The Sweet Tooth Salaryman Episode 1Now please enjoy this refreshing photo of Anmitsu.