Where do kids eat at school canteens in Europe? What are the specific national characteristics of the school canteen models? France has a specific pattern, historically built on an egalitarian principle, which is particularly structured and standardized at national level, compared with most other European countries. Therefore in France, shool meal plays an important role in the kid’s eating socialization, probably more than elsewhere. Nevertheless, use of this public service is socially differentiated, so that it is partly selective and gives rise to very contrasting opinions. From a European comparative perspective, how nationals of different European countries would react to the same school catering offer, depending on the diversity of their own countries definition of school meal. To answer this question, we used the European component of INRAE's CORALIM participatory research project, which compares, in the case of a European school with 25 EU nationalities, the family’’s use and the opinions of children about the local school catering service.