AFTER MATHS, MISO SOUP
日本的学校午餐
By Kimiko Barber
Friday, July 06, 2007
Shhhh... how can I say?” Mr Kurata of the Japan School Lunch Research and Reform Association sucked the air through his teeth as he began to explain, with mild embarrassment, that anyone working in, or even visiting, a school kitchen in Japan must by law take a stool test every other month to prove that they are completely free of any disease. I'm not sure whether to giggle like a schoolgirl or be impressed by the rigorous health standards of this great Japanese cultural institution. Imagine Jamie Oliver, who exposed the shocking standards of British school lunches a couple of years ago, being put through such an ordeal.
“嘶···让我怎么说呢？”日本学校午餐研究与改革协会的仓田先生一边从牙缝里吸着气，一边略显尴尬地解释说，按照日本法律，任何在日本学校厨房工作甚至参观厨房的人每隔一个月都要接受一次大便检查，以证明其完全没有任何疾病。我不知道是应该像女学生那样咯咯发笑，还是应当被这个伟大的日本文化机构的严格健康标准所打动。电视厨师Jamie Oliver两年前曾曝光了英国学校午餐令人震惊的卫生标准，现在试想他接受这种严酷的考验会如何吧。
Today, any Japanese schoolchild will tell you that kyushoku (school lunch) is the best part of their education. However, those Japanese like myself, born before the 1970s, would agree that kyushokuwas not always the stuff of fond childhood memories.
如今，任何日本学生都会告诉你，学校午餐是其教育的最佳组成部分之一。然而，像我这样出生在上世纪70年代之前的日本人都会认为，学校午餐并不总是美好的儿时回忆。
The inter-war generation, which had suffered severe food shortages, was determined that its children would not go hungry. Nutritional values and economic pragmatism took priority over anything pleasurable. Children dressed in white coats with face masks and headscarves would bring food from the school kitchens to their classrooms, where they served and cleared up afterwards. Teachers ate the same food, served in utilitarian aluminium dishes and eaten with sporks (a spoon with prongs) – hideous pieces of cutlery designed to make children eat fast.
经历过二战的人曾经饱受严重的粮食危机折磨，他们决心，不能让他们的下一代挨饿。当时，营养价值和经济实用主义优先于任何令人高兴的事情。穿着白色外衣、戴着面罩和头巾的学生会把食物从学校厨房拿到教室，分发给学生，然后在饭后打扫干净。教师吃的食物相同，这些食物盛在实用的铝器皿内，需要用前头带分叉的调羹——一种旨在加快学生吃饭速度的恐怖餐具——食用。
There was no sign of traditional Japanese rice, seasonal vegetables, fish or miso soup. Instead, a typical lunch comprised a bowl of tepid reconstituted powdered milk (Japan relied on food aid from America), over-boiled unidentifiable ingredients (often whale meat for its cheapness) and a white bread roll (also thanks to the US). Everything had to be eaten in hushed silence.
食物里丝毫看不见传统日本米饭、时令蔬菜、鱼或者味噌汤的踪影。相反，一份典型的学校午餐包括一碗微温的还原奶粉（当时日本依赖美国的食品援助）、煮得无法辨认的原料（由于价格便宜，通常是鲸鱼肉）和一份白面包卷（也要感谢美国）。学生必须悄无声息地迅速吃完所有食物。
Happily, times have changed. Chiyoda Junior School is a typical average-size state school in central Tokyo, a stone's throw from the corporate headquarters and government ministries of Japan Inc. There is no graffiti, no discarded sweet wrappers and, above all, no vending machine of any kind. It is a noisy but seemingly happy midweek lunchtime for some 300 pupils, aged between six and 12. A small group of children in whites is on duty to collect and serve the food sent up from the kitchen. The rest of their classmates form an orderly queue and take their trays of food back to their desks, which are pushed together. Their eyes are focused on the food and some are already asking if there's any more. I see no overweight children. They put their hands together and say itadakimasu (a Japanese form of grace) before picking up their chopsticks to eat.
幸运的是，时代已经变了。千代小学是东京市中心一所典型的中等规模国立学校，距日本各大企业总部和政府部门所在地仅一步之遥。学校里没有涂鸦，没有被丢弃的糖果包装纸，最重要的是没有任何形式的自动贩卖机。对于300名左右6岁至12岁的小学生而言，这似乎是一段嘈杂但看上去颇为快乐的星期三午餐时间。一小群穿着白色衣服的学生负责从厨房领取并端送食物，其余同学有秩序地排成一列，将盛食物的拖盘拿回拼在一起的桌子上。他们的眼睛盯着食物，一些学生已经在问着是否还有食物。我没有看到发胖的学生。他们拍着手说itadakimasu（日本人表达感恩的一种方式），然后拿起筷子开始吃饭。
The menu is miso soup with deep-fried tofu and seaweed, grilled chicken with a six-vegetable stir-fry accompanied by a bowl of rice, a carton of milk and fresh kiwi fruit. Gone are the ugly aluminium bowls; the food is served in attractive, strengthened ceramic dishes. It is cooked in a spotless, well-equipped kitchen by a team of five dinner ladies who are, as we know, completely disease and parasite-free.
今天的菜单是味噌汤、炸透的豆腐、海带、烤鸡肉、六种蔬菜的炒菜，以及一碗米饭、一盒牛奶和新鲜的奇异果。丑陋的铝碗已经不复存在，食物盛在漂亮的强化陶瓷餐具内。学校的厨房一尘不染，装备齐全，午餐由五位厨师烹制。据我们所知，她们完全不携带任何疾病和寄生虫。
A monthly menu is prepared in advance by the school's qualified nutritionist, Miss Yoshida, and sent home with every child. The same menu pinned on the school notice board shows a largely Japanese flavour: rice with a wide variety of soups, meat or fish, with at least five seasonal vegetables for each meal and always fresh milk. The children are taught to flatten the empty milk cartons and recycle them. The menu shows all the ingredients, grouped into protein, energy or vitamin sources. It also lists total calories and protein.
通过资格认证的学校营养师吉田小姐负责制作每个月的菜单，然后由每位学生带回家。学校的告示板上也贴着一份相同的菜单，基本是日本大众口味：米饭、多种汤、肉或鱼、每顿午餐至少5种时令蔬菜、每餐都有鲜牛奶。学校教育学生将空牛奶盒展平，然后将其回收。菜单上显示了全部营养成分，并按照蛋白质、能量或者维生素来源进行分类，还列出卡路里和蛋白质含量。
Like its political and economic systems, Japan modelled its school lunch on European systems when it reopened its door to the west and began modernising in the late 19th century. The first school meal was served in 1889 at a small private school in Yamagata Prefecture for the poor. It consisted of two rice balls, salted fish and pickled vegetables. Schools in Tokyo began subsidising lunches in 1914.
就像其政治经济体制一样，在日本于19世纪末重新向西方敞开国门并开始现代化进程的时候，它也按照欧洲体系模仿了学校午餐。首份校园餐是1889年在山形县一所小型私立学校为穷困孩子提供的。包括两个饭团、咸鱼和泡菜。东京的学校于1914年开始实行午餐补贴。
But the real history of the Japanese school lunch began in 1946, after the second world war, when Tokyo and two neighbouring prefectures started serving lunches to undernourished schoolchildren. The rest of the country followed suit in 1947. In 1960, the Japan School Lunch Research and Reform Association was founded to “research, improve and assist school meals across the country, to advance the health of school children and to promote nutritional knowledge”, according to a 1962 government charter.
但日本学校午餐的真正历史始于二战后的1946年，当时东京和两个临近辖区开始为营养不良的学生提供午餐。日本其它地区则于1947年开始实行。1960年，日本学校午餐研究与改革协会成立，以便达到1962年政府宪章规定的“研究、改善和协助提供全国的学校饮食，从而促进学生的健康并宣传营养知识”
Today, all 11m children in the state education system aged between five and 12 eat lunch at school. Nearly half the 34,000 junior and junior high schools have their own properly equipped kitchens, while those too small to have their own join together to cook hot midday meals. The government's detailed guidelines state that a school lunch should provide 33 per cent of daily calories, 50 per cent of the recommended daily intake of calcium and 40 per cent of the recommended daily intake of protein, vitamins and minerals. The guidelines even set the salt content at less than 3g – or half a teaspoon – per lunch.
今天，在国家教育体系中全部5至12岁的1100万孩子都在学校吃午餐。在3.4万所小学和初中中，近一半的学校有自己配置适当的厨房，不过它们太小了，无法让所有人集合起来做顿热午餐。日本政府的详细指导方针表明，一份学校午餐应提供每日所需卡路里的33%，推荐每日摄入钙量的50%，以及推荐每日蛋白质、维他命和矿物质摄入量的40%。该指导方针甚至还设定每顿午餐的含盐量要少于3克——或半茶匙。
There is one nutritionist for every three schools and the ratio is increasing. Some 12,000 nutritionists enjoy full teaching status. But the most significant figure is the national average cost of the ingredients is ?260 (£1.93) per lunch, paid by nearly all parents. The government and local authorities share the cost of lighting, heating, equipment and labour. Foods are locally sourced whenever possible so that the children can learn the culinary culture of their region. Teachers eat with children and manners, such as the correct use of chopsticks, are emphasised.
每3所学校配备1名营养学家，这个比例还在上升。约有1.2万名营养学家是全职的。但最有意义的数字是，全国每份午餐用料的平均成本为260日元，几乎所有的家长都支付这笔费用。日本政府和地方当局分担照明、取暖、设备和劳务成本。食物来源尽可能在当地取材，这样孩子们可以了解本地区的烹饪文化。教师和孩子们一起用餐，同时重点强调正确使用筷子等礼仪。
However, there are worrying trends on the horizon. Twenty years ago, less than 8 per cent of 12-year-olds were overweight compared with one in 10 today – still enviably low by British standards but the trend is rising. Japanese children are getting bigger and eating more fast food. Most older children, especially in large cities, attend after-school crammers and tend to eat out or late at night. Working mothers are cooking less at home and relying more on ready-made food. Kurata of the School Lunch Association says that all these trends put more pressure on maintaining high standards to safeguard the health and welfare of the country's future generations. Jamie Oliver, I think, would heartily approve.
然而，也存在令人担忧的趋势。20年前，12岁儿童中的超重人数比例低于8%，而今天这个比例为10%——按英国标准衡量，这个数字仍然较低，但有上升趋势。日本儿童的体形呈上升趋势，同时他们还吃更多的快餐。特别在大型城市，大多数年纪稍大的儿童要参加课后补习班，并倾向到餐厅吃饭，或在夜晚吃东西。职业母亲在家做饭的机会较少，更多地依赖现成的食物。学校午餐协会的仓田表示，所有这些趋势都对维持高标准以确保日本未来几代人的健康和福利造成了更大的压力。我认为，Jamie Oliver会由衷的表示赞成。 |
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