School lunch usually doesn't represent the best that a countries culinary scene has to offer. In America, at least, the food is usually pretty bad. This e-mail is making fun of school lunch, not of the country of origin.
I'll be the first to admit that I am no culinary expert. If the original author of this e-mail was wrong, I apologize. I mean no offense to anyone by posting it, and would personally try every item on every tray. If you know what an item is, let me know, and I will update it.
Update:
I have found some additional school lunches from other countries:
Japan (I swear the site where I found this said Thailand)
Sweden
China
Malawi
Korea: Tofu soup, a banana, some noodle stuff, broccoli?, kimchi, and rice.
Korea: Kimchi, rice, soup, some greens, and some white thingies.
Update: Mae comments: The white thingies in the Korean lunch is mandoo, kinda like potstickers.
Korea: Kimchi, a fish, some seaweed looking thing, and some colorful mystery items.
Update: valerio comments: Top right of tray is spicy squid. Top right plate is pickled radish.
Japan: Rice, some dry seaweed(?), an orange wedge, some type of coleslaw(?), tofu soup and tea.
India: Rice, curry, and sauce.
Update: rwblake comments: I can state that the "curry" in the school lunch is not a curry. Curry is not Indian, it is a UK phenomena. The yellow soup is a Dal of some kind. Which is a Lentil cooked or ground up into a soup.
Update: Ajan comments: The pic or rather the lunch looks like some truck driver's lunch or probably some cheap school out of the blue from one of the corners of India. A normal Indian lunch (...) would be consisting of 3-4 different curries (UK Phenomena), the Dal/Rasam (Soup in American Tongue) kinda thing and a sweet in some places. P.S: The brown stuff is (...) Lady's Finger curry with some Masala.
USA: A healthy lunch. Chicken, beans, milk, salad, a roll and crackers.
France: French fries, a piece of baguette, mystery meat, cake, something resembling an omelet, and a cup of something to drink.
Update: froggy commented: 1st: the "omelette stuff" looks like a typical savoury puff pastry (as a first course), with cheese and streaky bacon inside. The meat is a simple burger patty (Salisbury steak, if you prefer). Cheap and very popular for school lunch. 2nd: The scallops are in fact mussels. Cooked Mussels+fries, a typical Belgian/North of France meal. The cheesecake looks more like a lemon tart.
France: Scallops, an artichoke, grapefruit, cheesecake, baguette and fries.
USA: Tater tots, chicken nuggets, fruit, chocolate milk and ketchup.
China: A fish, something that looks like kimchi, rice, broccoli, cauliflower, and soup.
Japan: A roll (hot dog bun?), vegetable soup, orange wedge, something that looks like lasagna, milk, and some sort of vegetable salad.
USA: orange, milk, baguette, green beans and spaghetti.
USA: Broccoli, chocolate milk, chocolate cookie, marinara sauce, and what looks like pizza or cheese bread.
USA: Applesauce, chocolate milk, hash browns, and chicken nuggets.
USA: Taco salad, soda, mashed potatoes, and something that looks like it has either cheese or corn in it.
USA: A partly eaten BBQ sandwich, potato chips, baked beans, and peach cobbler. Mmmm.
Japan: rolls, a slice of pineapple, soup, milk, and some noodle stuff.
Korea: Rice, milk, kimchi, meat looking substance, noodle things, tofu soup.
Update: Mae comments: Also, in one korean lunch the little plastic container that looks like milk is actually more like a sweet yogurt drink.
Japan: Sardines, milk, rice, orange slice, and what looks like something totally foreign to me, in a bowl.
USA: an organic lunch of chicken(?), vegetables, mashed potatoes, organic milk, and a pear. A little bland as far as my taste.
USA: A roll, some salad with ranch dressing, chocolate milk, mashed potatoes, chicken nuggets and ketchup.
USA: peas, mashed potatoes, some sort of cake with sprinkles, a biscuit and what I believe is a beef pot pie.
USA: a roll, mashed potatoes, Salisbury steak, some sort of desert, and something resembling a pile of sauteed onions.
USA: Milk, fries in the shape of smiley faces, soup, crackers, ketchup and chicken nuggets.
USA: Chocolate milk, baked beans, fruit, ketchup, french fries, a corn dog and coleslaw.
USA: A soft pretzel and mustard, chocolate milk, fruit cocktail, corn and lasagna or possibly pizza.
