Reading this essay about the lunchbox moment is school, brought to mind my own experience with packing J's school lunch over the years. She did not like the any of the standard issue lunch options that would have been mainstream friendly. She did not enjoy cold sandwiches, wraps and such. Her criteria was specific - it had to be easy to work with, maybe something she could snack on through the day and not just eat at lunch. So a bag of baby carrots, another one with grapes, a couple of oranges or apples and some raw almonds in a container. She usually ate most of what I packed and brought the left-overs home. I have heard stories of trading dumplings and samosas during lunch with other kids who brought more interesting lunches than she did. There were those who ate only PBJ sandwiches and nothing else and those whose lunches were widely varied and possessed of a sense of adventure.
J was in neither category with her assortment of snacks that served as lunch. She always ate a big breakfast and had early dinner which was also substantial. This stuff at school was almost a wash and I learned over the years to focus on the two meals that she was interested in and did eat well. From what J described, the ethnic foods other kids brought were studied with interest by all concerned and some were more tradeable than other - the pakoras, samosas, dumplings and spring rolls for example had many takers and could score very favorable deals. Maybe her experience is not representative of the population of immigrant kids who have to confront their cultural ballast at the school cafeteria every day.
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