On Japan's school lunch menu: A healthy meal, made from scratch NEW

In Japan,school lunch means a regular meal, not one that harms your health. The food is grown locally and almost never frozen. There's no mystery in front of the meat. From time to time, parents even call up with an unusual question: Can they get the recipes?

Japan takes seriously both its food and its health and, as a result, its school lunches are a point of national pride - not a source of dismay. As other countries, including the United States, struggle to design school meals that are healthy, tasty and affordable, Japan has all but solved the puzzle, using a system that officials here describe as utterly common sense. Mealtime is a scene of communal duty: In both elementary and middle schools, students don white coats and caps and serve their classmates. Children eat in their classrooms. They get identical meals, and if they leave food untouched, they are out of luck: Their schools have no vending machines. Barring dietary restrictions, children in most districts can't bring food to school, either, until they reach high school.