In my country, there’s no US style cafeteria (instead it’s a canteen where it’s up to the student if they want to buy anything) some bring their own lunches (home or leftovers) to school, so why do American kids rely on cafeteria food instead of bringing their own?
I mean, is cafeteria food across American schools that bad? It depends on where one resides or if they attend a public or private school. In my case I went to a private (Catholic) high school and the food there is actually good (& cheap when converted to USD).
Nostalgia kids would have you believe that it was always good. However, I would say it was maybe 15% of the time that it was good. But stretch that 15% across the entirety of time you are in school for and then you’ll see the real results. It wasn’t like you had a plethora of options as to what to eat. Some of the options did suck for the week and that was all you get, too bad if you are wanting something else.
In High School, it was slightly better with the access of vending machines and the ability to sometimes buy food but then again, that involved money. Whatever provided to you, was marginally better, but still the same odds at the end of the day.