be that as it may, I think there are several reasons why things in the US are the way they are.

First I believe the three countries you mentioned tend to have stronger roles in education. In France, Paris can tell the little school in Lyon what they can have for lunch and do it. And they heavily subsidized the food which means the average Frenchman pays higher taxes for little Jean to eat such a good lunch.

Here in America, schools are locally controlled and subject to the whims of politicians. More often than not, they have to make do with what money they have, which means that when it comes to school lunches they have to get the cheapest food out there that meets some minimal nutrional requirements. They might want better food, but that would mean asking people to raise income taxes at the local or state level or in the case of the school lunch program, nationally. It costs more to eat healthy and to do so means raising revenue.

Add to that, that we in America want things done on the cheap, and you see the results.

I think there is something to be said about making sure kids are healthy, but it comes at a cost and right now, most Americans might know all this fatty food is bad for them, but they don’t want to pay for it. Until that changes, expect more chicken fingers.