School Lunch: Unpacking Our Shared Stories

Bought or brought? Revisit the nostalgia of the school cafeteria with this collection of interviews, vivid portraits, and elaborately reimagined food photos.

Food often unites us in unexpected ways—especially on Taco Salad Day. Drawing on material from more than seventy voices, these stories capture all walks of life—from celebrities and chefs to a circus family, new immigrants, a creative dad whose illustrated lunch bags went viral, plenty of unlikely cultural mashups, and one genuine cafeteria lady. Their experiences are compelling, familiar, and foreign at the same time, forming a cultural time capsule. School Lunch celebrates our diversity and our shared experience.

In their words:

School lunch is one of the core reasons I became a chef. —Marcus Sammuelson My mom, God rest her soul, was not exactly Mom-of-the-Year on this kind of stuff. She worked full-time, that woman was not about to peel and slice fruit for me. —Natalie Webster I ate the same damn thing every day for six years. —Micaela Walker On the days when I didn't have enough food there was always a reason to start or finish a fight. —George Foreman We were definitely a crusts-on family. —Daphne Oz I used to hate that feeling of walking into the lunchroom for the first time and not knowing where to sit. —Chinae Alexander Every kid had some good item to trade and I had f****** applesauce. —Sam Kass