Wow how things have changed.
In my first school aged 5-8 we had proper meals, mash potato, pie, veg, roast beef etc.
Often followed by some sort of pudding, but I only liked the chocolate pudding with the
pink custard!
Middle school aged 9 - 12 I went home for lunch
High school aged 13 - 16 (or in my case 18 as I stayed on a what was called 6th form college)
The school dinners were pretty awful, usually chips, mash, some sort of veg, pasta, battered fish,
beans, salad, etc All sounds good but it was awful, the mash potato was that awful flaky dried
mash that was reconstituted by adding water. The pasta dishes were thin and watery.
In 6th form we usually went out for lunch to a local cafe etc.
I don't know what school meals are like now but there has been a lot going on in the last few
years to improve them, with the focus on healthy eating. Whether or not that works out in
practice though, I don't know.