Kids' Activities 04-1

International School Lunches

	Students at Kobari Middle School eat bouillon de pommes, a dish from Cameroon. (Niigata Nippo)

In Niigata, Yamagata Middle School and Kobari Middle School are serving food from countries that will play their first-round matches in Niigata Stadium. These schools added the cuisine of countries like Cameroon to their lunch menus in May, and the workers who prepare the food gathered at City Hall in April to try making it for city employees first.

The four national teams that will play in Niigata in the first round are Cameroon, Mexico, Ireland, and Croatia. But not enough information on Croatian cuisine could be obtained, so the schools will instead serve food from Belgium, one of Japan's opponents in the first round. Food from one of the four countries is being served for lunch every Tuesday beginning May 7.

The workers prepared samples of seven different dishes, including bouillon de pommes, a Cameroonian food made with boiled potatoes and vegetables, and carbonnade, a Belgian dish prepared by boiling chicken in beer. Food service worker Shigeru Tamura, who had never before prepared any of the dishes that were offered at City Hall, said, "As these foods are not well-known in Japan, it's good that we had a chance to try making them first."

A spokesperson for the city's Health and School Lunch Section said, "We want the children to develop an interest in the cultures of other countries through school lunches." The section is also calling on elementary schools to serve the cuisine of countries that are participating in the World Cup. (Niigata Nippo)