A school lunch in the 1980s with cheese pizza, corn, a soft pretzel with mustard, mixed fruit cup, and chocolate milk. (US)

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Not_a_werecat@reddit

Man, I never got a pretzel!

But it was definitely always square pizza with corn. I never understood the pizza/corn pairing.

We got a handful of lettuce "salad", of which, everyone used the ranch dressing packet on their pizza and left the lettuce.

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newsjunkie721@reddit

Just coming in to say that, I wish we got soft pretzels! Everything else looks familiar lol

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john_the_quain@reddit

Right with you. That pretzel is a goddamn lie!

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LangdonAlg3r@reddit

Must be in the Midwest or something. Never ever had pretzels either. The thing I find interesting is that it’s vegetarian.

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Ok_Percentage5157@reddit

I grew up in the Midwest, we never had a pretzel with this. And my school did not have chocolate milk.

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LangdonAlg3r@reddit

We did have chocolate milk. I was guessing Midwest because of the big German population there.

Now I need to know where in the U.S. people had pretzels in their school lunches!

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LangdonAlg3r@reddit

The milk actually gives us a clue! 🕵️‍♂️ Pennsylvania/Maryland. Now I know what I missed out on by not growing up in the middle of PA.

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I grew up in Washington (State), and we had the chocolate milk, too. I never drank any milk at school, though, because we had whole milk at home, and both skim and the 1% (why 1%? I never saw that in the grocery store, only at school) were completely revolting to me. Ron Swanson said it best: skim milk is water that's lying about being milk.

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SigX1@reddit

Look at Mr moneybags with his chocolate milk. This all we got

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LangdonAlg3r@reddit

Also, I hate chocolate milk. I used to get school breakfast and the saddest day was when I had to have chocolate milk on Apple Jacks because they were out of everything else. Most hated milk with most hated cereal. But it was all worth it in the grand scheme of things because Thursday was donut day at breakfast.

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LangdonAlg3r@reddit

How else are you going to get enough vitamin R?

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PhillyRush@reddit

Went to grade school in Philly. Never had a soft pretzel served with lunch.

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LangdonAlg3r@reddit

Well, the dairy in question was in Johnstown, PA until 1984 when they opened a new facility in Cumberland, MD. I was thinking it was probably more central PA more towards Pittsburgh because that’s closer—that’s why I said the middle of PA. If you’re not familiar with Galliker’s milk then you probably didn’t have pretzel’s either. Could have been MD or Ohio or WV too maybe. It’s more that region around Pittsburgh-ish. I think Philly is more probably part of the NJ and Delaware supply chain.

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LangdonAlg3r@reddit

Ok. This picture has been around online since at least 2011. It’s been identified as being from the 1970’s, 80’s, 90’s, and 2000’s. It’s not from the 70’s. It’s post 1984. It could still be the 90’s or the 2000’s.

But I found a FB group from a public school in Morgantown, WV that posted this picture and discussed school lunches and no one questioned the presence of the pretzel, so I think that greater Pittsburgh area around a 100 or so mile radius is where we’re going to find our school lunch pretzels.

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DanishWonder@reddit

Grew up in Midwest. Never had a pretzel either. We did have chocolate milk.

In high school (mid/late 90s) on pizza day it was the rectangle pizza. A chocolate milk. A juice box and French fries or tater tots.

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CorgiMonsoon@reddit

I know NE Ohio is that “is it or is not the Midwest?” in some circles, but we definitely never had anything as fancy as a soft pretzel. And our fruit cocktail wasn’t in neat little cups, it was spooned right into our trays alongside the vegetables

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BigConstruction4247@reddit

What do you call a sweet, fizzy beverage?

The answer determines if it's Midwest or not.

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CorgiMonsoon@reddit

Grew up calling it pop. Now am pretty good at code switching depending on where I am, lol

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BigConstruction4247@reddit

For whatever reason, this is some hot-button issue to some people.

I grew up near Pittsburgh, where everyone calls it pop. My freshman college roommate was from New Jersey. I said pop once, and he looked at me like I had seven heads.

I've lived in eastern Pennsylvania for my adult life, and I called it soda to a childhood friend, and he about blew a gasket.

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bigcolors@reddit

Midwesterner here. Never had a pretzel; came here to share in the disappointment.

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kelzbeano@reddit

We were cheated out of pretzels. Just corn that I left on the tray.

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Spamberguesa@reddit

I actually normally like corn, and I could never figure out why the corn we got with lunch was so much worse than what I ate at home. Turned out my mom always bought sweet corn.

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Liggidy@reddit

We got green beans that I never ate. Would’ve killed for some corn.

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-kindness-@reddit

Same! We would get a roll.

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cheesydoofus3026@reddit

When people look back at school lunches in the 1980s (like cheese pizza, canned corn, a soft pretzel with mustard, a mixed fruit cup, and chocolate milk) some think it was just normal harmless food. But history, science and global comparisons show why meals like these planted the seeds of obesity and chronic diseases that are now the leading killers in the US and many other countries.

Right after World War II nations faced food shortages. The priority was to feed as many people as cheaply as possible. In the US that meant relying on processed wheat, corn, sugar and dairy. These are ingredients that were abundant due to government subsidies and industrial farming. These ingredients ended up in school meals: pizza crust from refined flour, canned corn high in starch, fruit cups preserved in sugary syrup and chocolate milk filled with added sugar. At the time this was seen as progress: fast, filling and affordable food for millions of kids. But it ignored long-term health.

Compare this to post-war Japan or parts of Europe. Japan rebuilt its school lunch program around rice, fresh vegetables, fish and miso soup: simple but nutrient-rich foods. Europe invested in milk but paired it with whole grains, fresh produce and strict portion controls. These choices helped Japan and many European nations avoid the obesity epidemic that hit the US by the 1980s and 1990s. By the early 2000s the US adult obesity rate had soared past 30%, while Japan’s stayed below 5%.

Think of your body like a car. If you fill it daily with cheap fuel full of sugar and low-quality oil it will run but the engine will clog and break down faster. That’s what diets high in refined carbs, added sugars and processed fats did to Americans over decades. By 2020 the top causes of death in the US (heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and stroke) were all linked to diet and lifestyle.

It wasn’t just about calories but food quality. A slice of 1980s school pizza and a pretzel might add up to 700 calories (mostly from refined starch and fat) but with little to no fiber, vitamins or even minerals. Over time children grew up on these foods, formed habits and carried them into adulthood. This is why overweight and obesity became the “new normal” in the US while countries that stuck to fresh, whole, and balanced post-war diets saw far fewer NCDs.

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muhredditone@reddit

I knew by the time I finished the first paragraph you wouldn't use the word "exercise" even once.

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cheesydoofus3026@reddit

I get why you noticed the word “exercise” wasn’t in my first post but the photo I was reacting to was of a 1980s school lunch: pizza, canned corn, pretzel, fruit cup and chocolate milk. That’s the whole point food like that, served daily, is what pushed the US (and other countries that copied it) into today’s obesity and NCD epidemic. There’s a saying: “You can't out-exercise a bad diet.” That’s why I focused on the tray of food rather than gym time.

History backs this up. After WWII the US leaned on subsidized wheat, corn, sugar, and dairy for cheap calories and these ended up in schools. By contrast Japan rebuilt its school lunches around rice, vegetables and fish. Decades later Japan’s obesity rate stayed under 5% while the US shot above 30%. The difference wasn’t playground activity: it was the diet foundation.

That said I’ve proven to myself it’s not just about avoiding pizza and chocolate milk but about combining better food choices with lifestyle changes. I switched to a whole-food plant-based diet (WFPB), added fasting, started sleeping earlier and longer, and traded hours I used to waste on video games, streaming, social media and TV/movies for active calories through CrossFit (8 hrs/week), pickleball (14 hrs/week), and yoga (1 hr/week).

The results: I dropped from a BMI of ~41 with ~50% body fat (at 281 lbs in 2016) to a BMI of 24.7 with 15% body fat today (<74 kg). My blood chemistry flipped: LDL cholesterol fell from 133 mg/dL (2018) to 55 mg/dL (2024), triglycerides from 127 to 48, uric acid from 7.8 to 4.8, and HbA1c is 5.7. Even fasting blood sugar, which had been creeping up, stabilized. I also went from taking 3 pills a day (for blood pressure, sugar, and cholesterol) to zero medications cleared with both my HMO's cardio & personal cardio.

Exercise matters but diet is the foundation. You can’t undo daily trays of refined carbs, sugar and processed fats with a jog or gym session. The real turnaround comes when diet, fasting, sleep and activity all align. That’s how I reversed my numbers and why I stayed on-topic with the photo in the first place.

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muhredditone@reddit

I hear you but it isn't just playground activity. Look at the 'Twinkie Diet', for example. People have been doing less and less over the last 30 years. People are sitting or standing in place all day at work now, while computers do all the leg work. Then sitting and laying at home all evening. Laying around on the weekends playing video games and scrolling. From childhood on. The food stuff is important but is it even half the problem if simply being more active would not only give us less time to think about snacking but it would burn calories? A calorie-deficient day seems like a pipe dream for most people. People are sloths, dude. We just came out of a ten year period where people were actually encouraged to lay around and gain weight. I have naturally thin daughters and let me tell you, dude, it was open season on them at school for ten years. Shamed and shit talked openly. I guess you actually did mention exercise in your first post, because you did mention 'lifestyle'. I'm not an expert, by any stretch, but I can observe, and I personally think the lifestyle is even more important than the diet. (With exceptions, but overall...)

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cheesydoofus3026@reddit

You’re right that lifestyle today is way more sedentary than it was even 30 years ago. Office jobs, computers, endless scrolling, weekends on the couch… all that adds up. But the thing is food and movement aren’t 50/50 partners: food is the foundation. Exercise can only burn so much. To give an everyday example: one slice of school-lunch pizza with chocolate milk is ~700 calories. To burn that off, you’d need to run about 6–7 km or play two hours of pickleball. Most people don’t have the time or energy to do that consistently especially when the average American diet is thousands of “extra” calories per week from sugar and refined carbs.

That’s why the saying goes: you can’t out-exercise a bad diet. Even pro athletes struggle with weight if they eat the wrong stuff. And that “Twinkie Diet” story? It worked short-term only because it was still calorie-restricted. But long-term, ultra-processed foods wreck blood sugar, hormones, and heart health regardless of calorie count.

I get where you’re coming from about lifestyle and I totally agree screens have replaced natural activity. That’s exactly why I traded streaming, social media, and TV hours for active calories. My weekly routine is 8 hrs CrossFit, 14 hrs pickleball, and 1 hr yoga but that only worked once I paired it with a whole-food plant-based diet, fasting and better sleep.

The proof is in my results. I went from a BMI of ~41 with ~50% body fat to a BMI of 24.7 and 15% body fat. My bloodwork flipped: LDL from 133 → 55, triglycerides 127 → 48, uric acid 7.8 → 4.8, HbA1c down to 5.7. I was on 3 meds for blood sugar, cholesterol, and BP & now I take none. If I had only exercised but still ate like that 1980s school lunch tray I wouldn’t have gotten here.

Lifestyle matters but it’s not “diet OR exercise”. It’s diet first then lifestyle second. Think of it like building a house: the food is the foundation & the activity is the frame. Without the foundation the whole thing collapses.

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tarabuki@reddit

Same. I got the exact same lunch minus the pretzel.

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Entropy907@reddit

Farmers producing too much corn and too much cheese. Government buys it to keep farmers from going broke and it turns into school lunch.

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Not_a_werecat@reddit

Ah yes, the three most important food groups- carbs, fat, and salt!

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kyel566@reddit

Remember that food pyramid as a kid? Seems like it was created by farmers to sell dairy lol

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lousypompano@reddit

Where are the TUUURTLES!?!?

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Loveroffinerthings@reddit

Excuse me, I have an announcement to make. We seem to be missing a box of chocolate turtles with pecans. We will not be leaving the premises until we obtain them. HAND OVER THE TURTLES NOW.

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Entropy907@reddit

Only when I’m drunk.

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616n8y3ree@reddit

I’m sober these days….I don’t have much left, please leave me with my fat, carbs and salt it’s all I got man

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ludixst@reddit

too much cheese

Bite your tongue

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MelkorTheMighty@reddit

Have you ever read about the cheese just stored in caves? They’re in Missouri. Billions of pounds

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Entropy907@reddit

We will all probably be forced to eat it soon. With the current trajectory.

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BigConstruction4247@reddit

They have this cheese. It's the best cheese. I like it on my hamberders.

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Pure-Shoe-4065@reddit

No the cave cheese causes "autisms"

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bdjohns1@reddit

I've been in the caves under Springfield MO on several occasions. Know what a cave full of aging cheese smells like?

Crayons.

Because the cheese is normally stored in waxed wooden boxes called 640s (they used to weigh 640 lbs. Now more like 700.)

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fluffychonkycat@reddit

The Wendigoon video? It's wild

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cerealkilla718@reddit

Do you know how far the "cheese caves" rabbit hole goes?

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CorgiMonsoon@reddit

Excuse me, that is not a square. It is very clearly a rectangle

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Bass_MN@reddit

Thats the first thing I said too! Im an elder millineal though, maybe pretzels weren't a thing in my school lunches yet. 😆

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Critical_Seat_1907@reddit

Man, I never got a pretzel!

Yeah, a pretzel sounds like a private school kid.

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IAm5toned@reddit

Pretzels were an "extra item" you paid like 45¢ for at my jr high. They also had a three pack of cookies for a quarter, homemade potato chips that were actually pretty decent was also 45¢, and an ice cream cup that was a quarter that came with a wooden spoon.

The extra items were definitely a luxury because most of us had free lunch tags and didn't get lunch money from our parents, so we scrounged change from couch cushions and turned in cans and did other miscellaneous things like shoveling snow or stealing candy from the store and selling it to the "rich" kids 😆

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JudgeJuryEx78@reddit

I never got a pretzel either!

Until high school, where they had a soft pretzel rack separate from the lunch line. I lived on those for a couple of years while pocketing the rest of my lunch money.

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EggsceIlent@reddit

Yeah we didn't get pretzels, got "salad".

But I can taste this picture.

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Hope-I-Die-Today@reddit

I remember in elementary school we had like 3 or 4 dressings in cylinders like fancy buffets had with the little ladles…. Italian, ranch, and French at least… nobody ever used the French 😂 🤢 but we used ranch on everything but the salad as well lol

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KlutzyBlueDuck@reddit

Tasting History with Max Miller has the recipe for the pizza.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=40MvjFaTVzE

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KlutzyBlueDuck@reddit

https://www.tastinghistory.com/episodes/schoollunchcheesepizza

This link has the video and the link for the recipe

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OffThread@reddit

https://archive.org/details/CAT92970475/

The full text if anyone wants to try some other favorites.

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runningskirtsnmanis@reddit

I was about to post this!

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KlutzyBlueDuck@reddit

Have you made it? I haven't yet? I've been wanting to for ages.

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hamburgler26@reddit

Thanks, my sister sent me the recipe a while back and this reminded me I need to try it.

I imagine that stuff is gross, but it was the best day of the week at school. And really, when I think about it, how much worse could it be than like a Tostinos pizza?

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photogypsy@reddit

There’s a restaurant supply near me that has a cash and carry storefront. One day I stopped in because I remembered seeing their trucks outside the school lunchroom. I now stop in a few times a year and get a case of both the Fiesta (aka stop sign) pizzas and the regular. I split the case with my SIL who keeps them for my nephews (it’s easy for them to toss in the toaster oven, and keeps them from eating a whole Totinos party pizza in one sitting). I also get a case of Ken’s Ranch cups for work lunches.

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roseandfrenchfries@reddit

I think about that pizza and corn at least once a week. Man, pizza day was huge.

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orangepaperlantern@reddit

The Aquabats even had a song about it!

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bookofgray@reddit

Best day of the week!

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wabawanga@reddit

Says Michael Jackson of Encino, California.

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brayonthescene@reddit

Friday is still pizza day for my son who’s in third grade

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Hope-I-Die-Today@reddit

My kids school it’s Thursday. Last year they had pizza twice a week which was kinda bullshit since my kids don’t eat it anyways lol

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brayonthescene@reddit

They don’t eat pizza?

gif

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Hope-I-Die-Today@reddit

Not our school pizza. They love all other kinds of pizza

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brayonthescene@reddit

Awww, that makes more sense. I’m pretty sure if we allowed it my boy would only eat pizza.

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Hope-I-Die-Today@reddit

Me too lol. I love most kinds of it lol.

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Hope-I-Die-Today@reddit

My fave was the “Mexican” pizza we had. Some called it stop sign pizza but I’m not sure what it’s called today as Mexican wouldn’t be PC these days lol.

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tjdux@reddit

called today as Mexican wouldn’t be PC these days lol.

Still call it this at my kids school.

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WishieWashie12@reddit

Tasting history with Max Miller did the pizzas one episode. https://www.tastinghistory.com/recipes/schoollunchcheesepizza

It's actually pretty easy to scale up if you need to feed a small army.

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ElfLordSpoon@reddit

You can get the pizza, the closest I have found is the Ellio’s pizza rectangles.

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defiancy@reddit

When I was in high school we had pizza day on Wednesdays then my senior year they setup a pizza only line everyday. I ate the shit out of that rectangle pizza

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GonnaTry2BeNice@reddit

The corn had such a specific buttery taste

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Bub697@reddit

We had breakfast pizza too, which was just regular pizza served in the morning. In high school we could buy whatever we wanted, so I lived on soft pretzels, Herrs nacho cheese chips, and cartons of iced tea. It’s still my go to feel good snacks.

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Mission-Ocelot-4511@reddit

Anyone have a district that did bagged milk?

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misterlakatos@reddit

I was just telling my family a few weeks ago that the aroma from the school cafeteria from my first grade school (we are talking early '90s) has not left my memory bank. I can still imagining walking in and catching the amalgamation of cleaning supplies, processed food and that weird scent that every school cafeteria had.

Anyway, it will never be forgotten. Additionally, my children will never eat this kind of garbage at school.

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616n8y3ree@reddit

That weird scent in my opinion was dirty water, the mop aroma but specifically the rags they “cleaned” the tables with. If you were lucky your arms would stick to the wetness and you’d smell it on your forearms next period lol.

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BrilliantTop5012@reddit

Oh man I found this smell so incredibly gross lol. The worst were days they had something with ketchup on the side and those sliced peaches in syrup. The smell out of the cleaning area of hot water, hot ketchup and hot peaches was something I still can get nauseous over.

Did anyone else get to help in the kitchen? In the older grades we could volunteer for lunch duty - help scoop things onto trays, put clean trays and silverware away, and help with the dishwasher. That was always the coolest.

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Hot_Frosty0807@reddit

We used to get 25¢ per day for being cafeteria helpers. I always used my money to buy a second chocolate milk. This was in roughly 1988, so feel free to adjust for inflation.

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photogypsy@reddit

Senior year I didn’t need to take a math or science (had done them through dual enrollment in a community college over the summer) so first period while everyone was in physics; I was a lunchroom aide. I went in and wiped down breakfast tables and folded them up while another girl swept. After that they’d feed us while the lunchroom staff worked on lunch. We got an easy 100, they got the manual labor taken care of. It was a small K-12 school so they started lunches early. (K-2 came at 10:30 10-12 came at 1:30). When everyone else was in math, I went to assist a kindergarten teacher (again another easy 100).

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616n8y3ree@reddit

Man I thought it was just me lol. Ketchup, peaches and milk….the smell is literal vomit. We used to add our remnants together and see how bad we could make it.

Let’s not forget the garbage cans we spanked our trays against, painting the sides with the horrors.

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misterlakatos@reddit

Yes you are right - it smelled the same every year.

Also, you can relate to this being a few years older than me, but there was no escaping those aromas back then. Cleaning supplies were strong yet food was fairly bland circa 1990-91.

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616n8y3ree@reddit

Shit yes, you could taste the subtle (not so subtle) lemon and ammonia in air…which the food’s blandness only helped to point out. I distinctly remember some lunches just tasting like Pledge, Pine Sol or whatever the fuck 😂

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photogypsy@reddit

Ours used bleach. The lunchroom always smelled like a mix of indoor pool and that soup smell that permeates every corner of a nursing home or retirement community.

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Sanchastayswoke@reddit

Yesss mop water, spilled milk, and old lettuce

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Village_Particular@reddit

Garbage? This is heresy!

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Entire-Double-862@reddit

Stories like these make me wish we could record smell for later playback like we could sight and sound.

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AlwaysDaydreaming2@reddit

They had this school lunch in the 90s too and I loved that pizza! 😋

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LocutusOfBeard@reddit

Me too. It's where I learned the glory of pizza dipped in ranch. Also that pizza dipped in honey mustard is incredible.

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Hot_Frosty0807@reddit

At some point after I turned about 30, I discovered Italian dressing for pizza and never looked back. It's like ranch for when you want to feel like a grown up.

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Jokierre@reddit

Burger pizza was yuck to me. Fiestada, on the other hand…

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_gonesurfing_@reddit

We called it octagon pizza.

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phoenixrose2@reddit

Right? I miss that pizza. My mouth started watering when I saw this photo. I blame school lunches for developing my unhealthy palate!

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Ok_Researcher_9796@reddit

This is about 700x better than what they serve now

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UntilTheSilence@reddit

What uppity school is this giving out pretzels? We were lucky to get Chocolate Milk that wasn't curdled

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Fear_Punk_Planet@reddit

Replace the corn with french fries and the milk with a coke. That would be a 90's lunch.

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Universe_Man@reddit

Hey, wheat's for lunch?

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Im_Ashe_Man@reddit

I loved pizza day!

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Rare_Will2071@reddit

Back when bread was the food pyramid foundation lol

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DontYuckMyYum@reddit

never understood the milk with pizza. but damn if it didn't hit the spot I til high school when I could switch the milk for a coke or surge.

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MirthRock@reddit

Just curious...I don't have kids. Can anybody show a comparison of school lunches today?

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After_Preference_885@reddit

It'll depend on where you go to school.

Minnesota:

https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1196862589113409&vanity=MPS.TrueFood&slug=join-us-for-the-next-mnthurs-this-week-on-april-10-mps-purchases-foods-from-doze

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1021746369958366&set=a.443285957804413

Looks like Wisconsin doesn't have it as good though:

https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2022/04/02/student-activists-demand-lunch-justice-in-milwaukee-schools/

Kentucky:

https://www.reddit.com/r/shittyfoodporn/comments/ym253j/my_school_lunch_in_kentucky/

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MirthRock@reddit

Those actually look way better than I was anticipating lol

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nerdylegofam@reddit

This is the local elementary school menu for August, we're in California.

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InfinitelyRepeating@reddit

It was delicious The best corn you ever had Add one cup sugar

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Neolamprologus99@reddit

I remember middle school 1989 we got a slice of pizza half the size of the trey.

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Kugelfischer_47@reddit

Damn, that's a great day to get a school lunch. Never got the soft pretzel.

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Sw4nR0ns0n@reddit

I never got a pretzel or corn… I did get tots and a hunk of chocolate cake though

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SilentJoe27@reddit

I feel like I was the only one that hated that pizza

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PineappleFit317@reddit

So many carbs

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midazolamjesus@reddit

Shit. We still ate this in the 90s as well. Rectangle pizza stayed around until the early 00s.

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Thunderfoot2112@reddit

No pretzel in the Midwest. We had 'salad' (lettuce with vinegar dressing) or coleslaw on pizza day.

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Adrasteia-One@reddit

Yup, it was always a side of corn with the pizza.

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Haunting-Spirit-6906@reddit

That's why I made my kids' lunches. That crap looks absolutely disgusting.

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anjowoq@reddit

Memory: 💯

Nutrition: 0️⃣

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Jaded-Project-852@reddit

still

serving

this

TODAY

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Unlucky-Pomegranate3@reddit

We only got chocolate milk on Fridays and it was considered a special occasion when the pizza had a singular pepperoni in the middle.

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lachamuca@reddit

We only had chocolate milk on Wednesdays! I took Quik powder with me on the other days because white milk is gross.

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1PapaJaxx@reddit

This take me back, that square pizza was usually the highlight of the week when it came to school lunch

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underdeterminate@reddit

I unironically loved lunch room pizza. I mean, I was like 10 years old and kind of an idiot, but still

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RedMonk01@reddit

Who gave out metal flatware? Be lucky if they gave you a spork that didn't shattered trying to take it out of the bag.

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MLDaffy@reddit

We never had Cheese pizza only Pepperoni or Sausage with breakfast. No pretzel either. Pizza came with corn....like ok who eats corn with pizza?

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Dimness@reddit

Got this all for a dollar

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Sharpshooter188@reddit

Still remember when kids would trg to trade me their apple for my fruit roll ups. Lol fuck outta here with that bad deal.

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SerpentineSorceror@reddit

Gods, I can smell this picture. If your slice was white like in the picture, then the cheese was still gooey and thick. They kept the milk cold in a metal fridge that you'd reach into at the end. You could get either white milk or chocolate milk, and if you have a quarter you can spend it to buy an extra milk or an orange drink. Our corn was always well seasoned by our lunch ladies.

Makes me miss primary school.

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kellyk311@reddit

I immediately inhaled when I saw the picture!

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Rivas-al-Yehuda@reddit

I lived in California through most of the 80's, and I never saw meals like this. I see them posted in this sub all the time. Are there any Californians in here that have had this kind of food?

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SookieCat26@reddit

Mine would have had a chocolate chip cookie instead of the pretzel

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jreashville@reddit

We never got a soft pretzel.

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RetiredFF27@reddit

That was the one dollar special at my HS on Fridays back in 83.

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Pure-Shoe-4065@reddit

Slaps, but yeah where is my pretzel!!

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Kryptin206@reddit

There would have just been the pizza, corn and milk at my school.

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NinjaBilly55@reddit

We often had pizza and green beans.. Never seemed like a good fit..

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mynameisbobsky@reddit

Gross. Glad I went home for lunch where my mom made me grilled cheese 😋

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Appropriate-Food1757@reddit

Hey I never got a pretzel. Watery bland corn? Yes

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Life_Ad_1522@reddit

A ketchup packet, oe 2 on that pizza was my jam!!!

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EvenLettuce6638@reddit

Looks like what I had in Western Iowa. We never had pretzels, but we did have cinnamon rolls on chili day.

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Loveroffinerthings@reddit

Where is the ranch dressing?!?!?

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MeowKat85@reddit

Y’all got soft pretzels?!

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StephInTheLaw@reddit

You guys got pretzels?

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RealityOk9823@reddit

and now you know why I brown bagged it all the way from elementary to high school.

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cbz3000@reddit

Other than the pretzel, I ate this exact meal SO MANY TIMES

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Embarrassed-Sky-4567@reddit

I still remember the taste of that pizza. It tasted like barf!

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USMCamp0811@reddit

I had this less the pretzel.. add a peanut-butter & honey sandwich.. in like 1998 at a Lutheran School..

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Soma2710@reddit

False. Lunch pizza is served in odd trapezoid shapes that make no sense, and nowhere near approaching rectangular.

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RevolutionaryBit990@reddit

Wow I can taste it almost

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PetMonsterGuy@reddit

Who doesn’t love a warm breadtangle of pizza

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booxterhooey@reddit

No pretzel, we got "sopapias" (fried biscuit dough dipped in cinnamon sugar) or wacky cake (chocolate on chocolate)

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AdAcrobatic7381@reddit

I can still taste the pizza

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Orson_Gravity_Welles@reddit

80's??

Pfffft....that was my HS in 1994.

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fuzzimus@reddit

Carb, sugar, carb, carb & carb with fat.

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New_Stats@reddit

Vegetables AND fruit cocktail? Oh la la lookit Mr and or Ms fancy pants over here. There was never a vegetable in my school lunches, only fruit was a banana or an orange. We did have chickpea salad tho, that was pretty damn good and healthy

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secretsnowdream@reddit

At my school the pretzels were big with cheese but part of a program called ala carte that had to be paid for daily with cash. My parents were poor so we usually got reduced lunches and a punch card for regular lunch like this the whole week.

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martapap@reddit

never seen a pretzel. But looking at this picture makes me want to gag.

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MutantSquirrel23@reddit

And it only cost $1

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sureal42@reddit

I just got very hungry...

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tvmediaguy@reddit

Served at 10:30 am.

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probablyatargaryen@reddit

Mannn, my kids’ school tried to start 1st lunch at 9:45 a few years ago. School started at 8:15. Parents had to throw a fit to stop them.

That 10:30 wasn’t so bad when school started at 7:30, but still too early

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photogypsy@reddit

My school is still first lunch at 10:30 but it’s also a k-12 school. Last lunch is 1:30. The staff arrive at 6:00 to start breakfast prep.

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Warhammer517@reddit

The closest thing that I can get to school pizza is the pizza from Speedway.

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kookyz@reddit

I remember you could easily pinch the top of that pizza and remove the entire layer of meat and cheese in one piece. Then I'd fold the crust in half and eat it like a tomato sauce sandwich after which I'd roll up the cheese layer and eat it like a cheesy meat taquito. It took so little to amuse 7 year old me.

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Justinotherguy@reddit

Chocolate milk AND pizza? Must be a friday.

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Spiritual_Fig185@reddit

That fruit cup was terrible

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yodamastertampa@reddit

Getting that mustard just right on that pretzel and hoping the salt doesn't fall off.

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stabsomebody@reddit

Shows how they basically said carbs were supposed to be your main source of nutrition back then, basically up until the early 2000’s when Atkinson got popular.

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dpch@reddit

I feel like Pavlov’s dog seeing that pizza.

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sticky_applesauce07@reddit

Not much has changed.

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0le_Hickory@reddit

We usually had French fries instead of the pretzel. Got to use all those potatoes somewhere.

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photogypsy@reddit

Ours was pizza, corn, “side salad” which was just lettuce and carrots, a hash brown patty or tater tots and cornflake candy (peanut butter and cornflake fudge type thing). It was always on Monday and there was always a huge napping problem after carb loading like that.

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UnluckyCardiologist9@reddit

I hated pizza for the longest time because of this.

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PilotC150@reddit

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again (and deal with the downvotes): That pizza was disgusting.

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burf@reddit

Whenever I see these I wonder how standardized the suppliers were. Like, was the same supplier providing pizza in New York as Arizona? Because I could easily see significant variation in quality if not.

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Sanchastayswoke@reddit

Omg same here. So nasty w its sweet sauce reminiscent of ketchup & the floppy “crust”

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misterlakatos@reddit

Yeah it was bad. The school corn was always gross, too.

I remember enjoying the whipped potatoes, rolls and potato triangle, though.

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ashre9@reddit

Agreed! Those whipped potatos that perfectly held the shape of the ice cream scoop.

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misterlakatos@reddit

Haha they really did. When I learned they were basically instant, I liked them a lot less, sadly (my dad always made homemade mashed potatoes so it was hard to go back after that).

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sorrymizzjackson@reddit

It was. I can FW a totinos with extra cheese and burnt appropriately. This was just a soggy mess.

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Commies-Fan@reddit

I microwave my Totinos. And fold it in half. 🤷🏻‍♂️

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ResurgentClusterfuck@reddit

So does my partner.

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sorrymizzjackson@reddit

gif

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redit01@reddit

How many schools had metal silverware??

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sorrymizzjackson@reddit

We did. You picked them up out of a bucket with holes in it still wet.

Columbine didn’t happen until I was like in 8th grade.

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mrwynd@reddit

Same experience but I was a senior when Columbine happened.

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616n8y3ree@reddit

The worst crime Totino’s ever committed was discontinuing their bacon cheeseburger version. It was almost like they knew it was too good for them 😂

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ResurgentClusterfuck@reddit

I won't downvote you but I disagree, I loved that stuff

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folksongcat@reddit

It was always spongy lol. I still ate it but didn’t really like it.

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Shirkaday@reddit

Good to know! I personally never ate a school lunch, ever.

Such privilege!

My mom totally enabled that though. Was crazy looking back. She made my lunch every damn day for the entirety of my schooling, I think even into high school. At that point there were 4 of us in school, and I guess it was just the routine. I don't recall going anywhere for lunch or eating the school lunch in high school, so she must have made it because I don't think I made it myself.

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Top-Wolverine-8684@reddit

You're not the only one. I think I maybe had school lunch once ever, because I begged her to try a Taco Boat. Otherwise, it was a packed lunch that she made every single day from elementary school until sometime in high school when I convinced her I could make my own (and then almost never ate). It was usually a disgusting smushed turkey and mayo sandwich on white bread (I haven't eaten deli turkey since... Even the smell makes me gag), and almost always an apple that I never, ever ate. I don't remember her ever once asking what we would actually like to eat.

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salsanacho@reddit

Yeah agreed, although at one point my school upgraded to a round 6" single serving pizza, that was much better than the rectangle ones.

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roseandfrenchfries@reddit

100 percent. I think I somehow knew it was gross but it was still exciting. We never got takeout at home (except Wawa hoagies on occasion) so it was my only exposure to pizza for awhile and I knew pizza was a "cool" food so I thought it was awesome.

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King_of_Lunch223@reddit

That's because it's not really pizza. No restaurant (except for maybe Sbarro's) would be caught dead serving that.

But if you lower your expectations, and lie to yourself... You will understand how amazing school cafeteria pizza actually was. And on top of that, the entire tray cost you something like 50 cents back then.

Adequate. Carby. Economical.

The hero we deserved, whether we wanted it or not.

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DirtyBirdDawg@reddit

As a kid in the 80s, pizza day at school was the only time that I didn't inhale pizza as soon as I saw it. Our school pizza didn't even have sauce on it until I was in middle school. And it was STILL bad.

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Room234@reddit

Aw shit you guys got pretzels?!

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Letsbeclear1987@reddit

The subsidy plate

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IAm5toned@reddit

also 90s

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KinderPup@reddit

Maaaan, we never got pretzels but the breadtangle of pizza was a weekly staple

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Itchy-Noise341@reddit

So much sugar lol.

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ComfortFairy@reddit

I recall the sauce on the pizza was super sweet, too.

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Sanchastayswoke@reddit

Ugh I hated it so much. Still don’t like ketchup either…syrupy tomatoes 🤮

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Itchy-Noise341@reddit

For sure. "cheap" pasta sauce has like the same amount of sugar as a few doughnuts or something crazy.

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rialucia@reddit

I loved pizza day as much as the next kid, but looking back at that I’m like “Damn, is a little more protein and fiber too much to ask for?” This meal is mostly sugar and carbs—which I don’t demonize, but it’s just not very balanced. No wonder we were crashing an hour after lunch.

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Sanchastayswoke@reddit

This is the only day I skipped lunch. That pizza was so disgusting with its too-soft crust & sweet ketchup like sauce 🤮

Unpopular opinion I know. Give me a chalupa or piroshki any day (so cal kids know what I’m talkin about)

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Thamnophis660@reddit

I can smell this picture

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atomicgirl78@reddit

Can confirm this is a good example of lunch in the 80’s.

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ResurgentClusterfuck@reddit

Rectangle pizza was food of the gods

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geekgirlwww@reddit

Oh man the luxury of high school and I was able to hit the salad bar every day for the same price as hot lunch. We actually had decent toppings and my neighbor worked it so I knew it was clean or she would’ve warned me lol.

No more milk and pizza, chicken fries, French toast sticks were banging though.

Yes I grew up in a bougie town.

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alphabetikalmarmoset@reddit

I distinctly remember this exactly meal cost 85 cents in the late 80s.

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Unit_79@reddit

I’m Canadian. Instead of this, my parents just y’know… made money and fed me.

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MlsterFlster@reddit

This is like 15 dollars now.

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IsisArtemii@reddit

Still better than the stuff my oldest was forced to eat.

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folksongcat@reddit

I am lactose intolerant and just remembered I still always had chocolate milk at lunch lol. No wonder my stomach was always upset.

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Cunning-Linguist2@reddit

Who the F was getting a pretzel and mustard? Look at Scrooge McDuck over here swimming in pretzels. We just had extra carrots and peas in that corn but definitely no pretzels!

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thatcoolkidsmom@reddit

Was my school district the only one that never had trays? We got a hot dish in a disposable tin (e.g. pizza), and a cold dish in a thin plastic box (e.g. salad). Grab one of each and a milk, then sit down. I started school in ‘86

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Ninja_Conspicuousi@reddit

Same here. Food cooked offsite, trucked in, kept hot/warm in big metal thing, and served “pre-packaged” without trays. Same packaging style as you mentioned.

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OnlyGuestsMusic@reddit

NYC got the pizza and milk. Nothing else.

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Smart-Vermicelli4069@reddit

Pretzel? How fancy! I never got those but all the rest was banging. I can smell this picture!

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Meatloaf_Mondai@reddit

No pretzels here either. We either got pale fries or tater tots. Lots of Ranch dressing though. Only way to eat the pizzas and fries.

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AytumnRain@reddit

I always got the pepperoni with the cubed pepperoni. And we never got a pretzel. We got jello or a piece of fruit. Apples, bananas, oranges, ect.

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BlacqanSilverSun@reddit

gif

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zerok_nyc@reddit

Fat on carbs on carbs on carbs on carbs on carbs on fat

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Caseington@reddit

Carbs on carbs on carbs. I miss the metabolism of my youth.

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genxshera@reddit

We never got a pretzel, that would have been fancy af at my small town rural public school. We had this exact lunch with a handful of iceberg lettuce instead of pretzel. Honestly it was pretty decent all things considered

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Southside_john@reddit

This represents in one picture what the boomers thought of their kids then and how they still treat millennials now

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cartoonchris1@reddit

Swap pretzel for salad. And that’s what we had every week.

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PokerbushPA@reddit

This looks nothing like my lunches. Yall had silverware?

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Drslappybags@reddit

Mister fancy pants with your pretzel.

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FledglingNonCon@reddit

Ah yes, plastic in card board with ketchup in between!

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stillinhere@reddit

Why we're now on GLP-1 meds.

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t3hwookiee@reddit

Free lunch kids never got the pretzel or other desserts. It sucked!!

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RitchieViolence@reddit

I miss these days. Eat up. Go play tag or dodgeball.

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616n8y3ree@reddit

It’s wild how much I think about recess. Even when I think about individuals from back when it’s always with the background setting of recess. That’s where it all went down, I miss it.

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SnooGoats7476@reddit

This definitely looks very familiar

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JKnott1@reddit

Them kids don't need no damn protein.

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RandyAKASmokey@reddit

Soft pretzel? Look at Mr. Fancy Pants going to private school.

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zestfullybe@reddit

Also school lunch in the 90s. Wednesday was our pizza day.

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missgnomer2772@reddit

Pure carbs plus cheese. Amazing.

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ONROSREPUS@reddit

We never got soft pretzels ever. I seen someone one time post the recipe for that pizza, I should have saved it.

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After_Preference_885@reddit

https://www.reddit.com/r/Xennials/comments/1n1rlen/comment/nb0hk10/

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ONROSREPUS@reddit

I knew someone would find it. Thank you.

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misterlakatos@reddit

Yeah same. I only remember whipped potatoes, potato wedges and potato triangles as far as starch goes.

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ONROSREPUS@reddit

I remember the wedges with the pizza, the mash/whipped were on chicken days if I remember correctly.

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misterlakatos@reddit

Yeah that's how I remember it, too.

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LastCallKillIt@reddit

That rectangle pizza with the pepperoni on it went HAM. My only regret is that I refused to eat it for the longest time as a kid and when I finally did I was damn near out of elementary or may have been in middle/ HS and was like WHAT HAVE I BEEN MISSING OUT ON. For some reason as a little kid I thought it looked gross.

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