“Food Minority” in Japan’s “ Simultaneous Communitarianism” School Lunches: Food Allergy Response at the Sites that Provide School Lunches

In this article, we conducted an interview survey of diet and nutrition teachers, dietitians (school dietitians), teachers and administrative staff at sites involved in the preparation and cooking of school lunch menus, such as school lunch centers, schools, and boards of education, to discuss the response to food allergy at the school lunches. The results showed that sites providing school lunches are taking various measures to ensure safety as their top priority, depending on their own conditions, such as differences in implementation methods (e.g., whether they use a kitchen of school lunch centers or an individual school kitchen), facilities, size, and staffing. Moreover, in some cases, they strive toward making the same menu items available to everyone, regardless of whether they have food allergies. These cases have the potential for inclusive school lunches where “food minorities” are not excluded but rather, given recognition and enabled to coexist with the “food majority.” This is because “food minorities” who cannot eat certain foods due to food allergies or religious reasons tend to be “excluded” in Japan’s “simultaneous communitarianism” school lunches, where everyone eats the same menu simultaneously. Furthermore, it is important that the existence of “food minority” children and their eating styles, which differ from those of the “food majority,” be accepted, and in some cases, this was attempted.