In my country, there’s no US style cafeteria (instead it’s a canteen where it’s up to the student if they want to buy anything) some bring their own lunches (home or leftovers) to school, so why do American kids rely on cafeteria food instead of bringing their own?
I mean, is cafeteria food across American schools that bad? It depends on where one resides or if they attend a public or private school. In my case I went to a private (Catholic) high school and the food there is actually good (& cheap when converted to USD).
US schools do not always have cafeterias and many students don’t use them. They cost money and bringing a lunch is cheaper. I know there are movies/tv with kids bringing their lunch and trading items as well as buying things from the cafeteria. Sometimes its setup were the parents paid for them to get a meal every day with a kind of pass or another style where its kinda billed to an account. So im guessing you have seen media that made you think kids always use a cafeteria but man you someone avoided the ones showing kids bringing lunch. Anyway some kids use when there is one and some don’t.