School Lunches in France: Nursery-School Gourmets

Forget soggy pizza and fattening nachos. French schools instill good eating habits in children at an early age. Even lunches at nursery schools are leisurely, gourmet meals

Charles Platiau / Reuters

Children gather in the playground of a school in Vincennes, near Paris, in March 2009

When the public school office of the 6th district of Paris summoned me to a meeting late last year, the tone of urgency in the letter sent me running down the block, into the 19th century courtyard of the town hall and up the narrow stairs to the top floor.

"What does your son eat for lunch?" the woman asked after I ran in breathless. I had no idea what to say. When my son started nursery school last September at the age of 3, I had registered him for the school lunch program. But when he failed...

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