My 5-year old daughter started kindergarten two weeks ago. She also has 25 minutes for lunch and it's not enough time for her. First she stands in line to get a milk (I pack juice for her but she always wants a milk) and then she has to sit down and open up her lunchbox. There are already 2 other classes in the lunch room when her class goes in and then 2 more classes come in while they're in there (and the first two leave at some point). I think they must have a class coming in every 10 minutes or so. Obviously, there's a lot of commotion and I think she's probably pretty distracted and has a hard time focusing on eating.
We tried school lunches the first week and that didn't go over so well (she's a very picky eater). I started packing her lunch for her last week and I let her help choose what foods she wants. Last week she was asking for bread, a slice of cheese, ham, pudding, fruit and a juice box - all packaged separately. Yes, she likes all the fixings of a ham sandwich, J. not in a sandwich form. Anyway, I checked her lunchbox one day last week and noticed that all she had for lunch was a slice of cheese and her juice box. When I asked her why she didn't eat anything else, she said it was because lunch was over and she had to put her food away and line up.
She goes into the afterschool program when school gets out and I pick her up from there when I get off work. She often has meltdowns and tantrums at some point on the way home because she is so hungry (and tired). I've even tried bringing a healthy snack for her to eat in the car but by that time she is usually beyond hungry and not able to cooperate or comprehend much. It even takes a good little while to get her to sit down to eat something when we get home but when she does she is completely different person. Once she's had something to eat she is able to listen and concentrate again.
Good luck Jen F.! Here's hoping that our kids get into their new routines and get things figured out quickly so they don't go hungry.