The Eritrean school lunch system is very similar to the U.S. system in the aspects of the timing and where food is eaten.

Their cafeteria food is served similarly to American cafeteria food, however instead of a foam plate they served food in reusable trays.“

“It’s really different how food is prepared here compared to back home, I like how it was prepared in Eritrea because it seemed more fresh” Sophomore Sesina Beyene said

Another similarity was the length of the lunch period, “We had about 30 minutes to eat but lines were much shorter in Eritrea and we got our food right away, so it felt like more time,” Beyene said.

However, the freedom of the lunch period is much more prevalent in America than it is in Eritrea, “We have a lot more freedom here, in Eritrea you couldn’t leave the lunchroom and had to sit with your class, here you aren’t restricted to staying in the lunchroom and you can sit where ever you want,” said Beyene.

In her opinion the food back home was much tastier than food here because of the variety of choices and it being the food she grew up with, “I grew up with food from Eritrea and ate it everyday so obviously I grew to like it,” said Beyene.