Niigata City Board of Education Unifies School Lunch System for Junior High Students

The Niigata City Board of Education has announced that beginning in the 2025 academic year, all students at municipal junior high schools will be served lunch as part of a new unified system. Previously, schools operated under different lunch protocols, where certain institutions offered common lunch menus while others required students to either bring their own packed meals or apply in advance for school lunches. To streamline this process, the board is implementing a system that delivers meals prepared at school lunch centers in thermal containers, ensuring that students receive hot and appetizing dishes.

The initiative started on April 9 at Nigorikawa Junior High School in the Kita Ward of Niigata City. On the first day, students were treated to a well-balanced meal consisting of soup made with wakame seaweed and bamboo shoots, stewed hamburger steak, bean salad, and cooked rice. After serving the food delivered from the lunch center, the students expressed their gratitude by saying "itadakimasu," a customary phrase used before meals in Japan.

Previously, among the 57 municipal junior high schools, 29 offered freshly cooked meals on-site or received them from catering services, while the remaining 28 followed a system that required students to either bring their own lunches or pre-order meals, which led to challenges, such as students missing out on lunch due to forgetting to register. Based on recommendations from an expert panel, the education board opted for a school-wide lunch provision for all students, and Nigorikawa, along with four other junior high schools, has taken a leading role in implementing this change, with the remaining 23 schools set to adopt the system after the summer break.

Atsuhiro Ebina, who heads the public health and school lunch division of the education board, stated that this new system enables the serving of hot lunches to all students while fostering dietary education through a shared menu. This approach not only enhances the eating experience for students but also supports their nutritional needs during school hours.