SEATTLE -- First lady Michelle Obama is on a mission to make American school lunches healthier by replacing greasy pizza and french fries with whole grains, low fat protein, fresh fruit and vegetables.
The Associated Press helps you compare her efforts in the United States with what kids are eating around the globe by sending photographers to see what kids in Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America ate for lunch this week.
The new American standards appear to be giving kids in the United States a taste of the good life already experienced by school children around the world. Most countries seem to put a premium on feeding school children a healthy meal at lunchtime.
At Mirror Lake Elementary, about 20 miles south of Seattle, students ate grilled cheese sandwiches, corn salad, fresh carrots, apple sauce and low-fat milk on Monday. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Palestinian children in the West Bank usually eat during recess in the schoolyard, as there are no dining rooms in schools. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
A school lunch at El Caminet del Besos kindergarten in Barcelona, Spain, is composed of cream of vegetable soup, pan-fried breast of veal with salad, a piece of bread, and fruit. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Students in Singapore are fed breakfast, lunch and sometimes even dinner. Typical lunches include spaghetti marinara, fish slices, chicken casserole, or lotus root soup. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
Kids usually bring a home-cooked meal to school in Pakistan, where school leaders check lunch boxes for junk food and admonish parents to keep things healthy. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Two lunch choices are served in London: pasta with fresh broccoli and slices of bread with fresh fruit and vegetable chili with rice, fresh broccoli and sponge cake with custard. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)
In Indonesia, not every student can bring a lunch box to school. Public school students buy their lunch at school cafeterias or food stalls on the nearby streets. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
Children receive a free mid-day meal made of sweetened rice at a government school on the outskirts of Jammu, India. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
While their mothers were at work Tuesday, children in Lambersart in northern France were served ratatouille, salmon, rice, a chunk of baguette and an orange. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler)
Ecuadorean children bring sack lunches to school, typically a sandwich, juice, yogurt, cookies and piece of fruit. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
Lunches in Old Havana, Cuba, contain rice, a chicken croquette, a piece of taro root and yellow pea soup. The children provide their own drinks. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes)