For perspective: I come from a country where “cafeteria” food at school is good and affordable (most is less than the equivalent of 5-10 USD max and it’s not slop, it’s actual food), but it’s not an obligation for everyone since it’s up to the student if they want to buy something or bring their own lunch.
The “cafeteria” in my school isn’t a typical American one, rather it’s closer to a canteen where they sell food you can purchase from cup noodles, fried stuff, sandwiches, baked goods, etc. also appliances like a kettle or microwave are available in the dining hall for students to heat up left overs if they wanted.
The thing I tend to notice from American schools (according to US movies, there’s bias whether it’s true or false) is that they tend to depict kids always heading for the cafeteria for recess or lunch picking up whats available instead of bringing their own food from home (left overs from dinner), why is that the case?
In my school about half the kids packed their own lunch and the other half would get a lunch from the school. The school lunches were made hot and you had a rotating menu with 3 options and a salad bar each day, they called it hot lunch. Some kids (most of the ones who got hot lunch) received it at a free or reduced price. A little over 2 dollars normally but 75 cents reduced or free like I got mine. Some schools did have a canteen rather than a lunch menu. American culture is not anywhere near as homogeneous as it appears in our media.