Lunch lady facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Lunch lady

A lunch lady serves a young student.
Occupation
Synonyms	cafeteria lady, dinner lady
vocation
Description
Competencies	food preparation
Related jobs	cook

A lunch lady is a person who works in a school cafeteria. In countries like Canada and the United States, this term is commonly used. Their main job is to cook and serve food to students during lunch breaks. In the United Kingdom, they are often called a dinner lady. Sometimes, a lunch lady also helps supervise students on the playground to make sure everyone is safe and behaving well.

Lunch Ladies in Popular Culture

Lunch ladies are often seen in TV shows, movies, and books. They are sometimes funny characters or play important roles in stories. Here are some examples:

• The British TV show dinnerladies was about people working in a factory canteen. It aired on BBC1.
• Miss Beazley is a lunch lady character in the popular Archie Comics.
• In The Muppet Show, Gladys was the cafeteria lady for the Muppet Theater. Later, Winny took over her role.
• Lunchlady Doris is the lunch lady at Springfield Elementary School in The Simpsons.
• Adam Sandler performed a song called "Lunch Lady Land" on Saturday Night Live. He also did a skit with Chris Farley dressed as a lunch lady.
• In an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer called "Earshot", the school lunch lady is important to the story.
• Rosa Petitjean is a made-up lunch lady at Kadic Junior High School in the French cartoon series Code Lyoko.
• Edna is a lunch lady in the video game Bully. She is known for not being very clean when preparing food.
• The band The Darkness has a song called "Dinner Lady Arms" on their album One Way Ticket to Hell... And Back.
• In the Nickelodeon TV show Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, Lunch Lady Rose (played by Loni Love) is a psychic. She can see the future by looking at beans, peas, and corn.
• Mrs. Sara MacGrady is the lunch lady for Lakewood Elementary School in the TV show Arthur.
• In the Nickelodeon cartoon series Danny Phantom, the first bad guy is the Lunch Lady Ghost. She doesn't like changes to the cafeteria's meat-based menu. She can even control food and turn into a giant meat monster!
• In the Nickelodeon series All That, Miss Piddlin (played by Kenan Thompson) is a lunch lady who gets angry if students don't like peas. She often sings funny songs about peas.
• In the show Johnny Test, one of Johnny's enemies is a lunch lady. She has greenish skin and a German accent. She can be mean if students don't eat her strange food.
• Jarrett J. Krosoczka wrote and drew a series of children's graphic novels called Lunch Lady. The first book was Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute in 2009. There are plans for a movie based on the series, with Amy Poehler possibly playing the main role.