This week's episode of The Sporkful podcast is up! Listen through the player or iTunes/Podcasts app. (And please subscribe!)

So many things happen to us at school lunch that we never forget -- for better or worse.

“If you were friends with all the popular kids…or you have a new boyfriend, the lunch room’s a great place," says Kelly from Wisconsin, a Sporkful listener who called in to share her middle school cafeteria memories.

"But if you had a bad week…or you’re in a fight with your friends," Kelly adds, "then the lunch room can be a pretty miserable and lonesome place."

This week on The Sporkful, we head to an elementary school cafeteria to find out what kids there are eating, how they’re eating it, and what they’re going to do with the rest of their lives.

"We sometimes talk about life " says Danya, a fifth grader at PS 216 in Brooklyn. "Like what are you going to do in the future, what middle school do you want to go to?"

These fifth graders in Brooklyn are talking about everything from romance to future careers to how to save the world at lunch. (Kids out there, right on! Clearly we need your help.)

And later in the episode, we hand the mic to you! We asked for your lunch room memories, and you responded with triumphant tales of cafeteria food dares conquered, friendships forged, and favorite meals savored.

But some of you also had some pretty traumatic experiences at school lunch back in the day:

"It was probably five or six girls and they just kinda held me down at the lunch table and all took turns smearing the butter around [my face]," says Kelly from Wisconsin, "It pretty much felt like I was helpless."

Listen in to hear more of those school lunch stories from Sporkful listeners.

Plus, why are school districts around the country phasing our beloved spork out of their cafeterias?

The man leading the cause in New York tells us why millions of hardworking sporks will be out of work next fall.

This week's episode of The Sporkful podcast is up! Listen through the player or iTunes/Podcasts app. (And please subscribe!)

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Interstitial music in this episode by Black Label Music:

- "Morning Blues" by James Thomas Bates

- "Mellophone" by James Thomas Bates

- "Legend" by Erick Anderson

Photos: FlickrCC/US Department of Agriculture; FlickrCC/Marcia Furman; FlickrCC/Laura Taylor; FlickrCC/UGA College of Ag & Environmental Sciences; FlickrCC/Truman Tigers