school lunch rip off

PolishBigSpender

tinkerbell84 wrote: »

i expect it harks back to the war, when rations were scarse and waste was not tolerated. of course, the amount of food was far less, so clearing your plate would not have resulted in overeating.

that trend seems to have continued when food became abundant and people had less time to prepare fresh food.............. and obesity levels rocketed.

coincidence?

I don't think it is. You can see the same effects in Poland - if you look at photographs from the 1970's and 1980's, even the 1990's - there are barely any fat people around. But nowadays, you can start to see more and more fat people - okay, much less than in the West - but still, it's starting to happen. I see fat children now, whereas there wasn't any fat children in my primary school class.

But strangely, although there was food rationing as late as the mid 1980's in Poland - with many things simply unavailable until the fall of communism, we haven't got the same 'clear your plate or else' expectation.

I think it's just completely unacceptable to force a child to eat if it doesn't want to. One of the reasons I didn't want to have children in the UK was simply out of fear of how the school would interfere - again, here, food is a parental issue. If the child doesn't eat, it goes hungry - and everyone accepts this.

Anyway, surely it would be better for a child to be outside playing than sat inside eating?

It's such a shame that the UK has such backwards views and attitudes towards the consumption of food in schools - you have such a wonderful, varied food selection compared to Poland, and this could be used to make children really enjoy food as a pleasure, not as something to be eaten constantly.

Aspiring

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

I don't think it is. -- - - - --

I think it's just completely unacceptable to force a child to eat if it doesn't want to. One of the reasons I didn't want to have children in the UK was simply out of fear of how the school would interfere - again, here, food is a parental issue. If the child doesn't eat, it goes hungry - and everyone accepts this.

- - - - -
It's such a shame that the UK has such backwards views and attitudes towards the consumption of food in schools - you have such a wonderful, varied food selection compared to Poland, and this could be used to make children really enjoy food as a pleasure, not as something to be eaten constantly.

Having been brought up by a mother who was raised during the Depression and brought up children during WWII - I can certainly relate to the ethos "eat it or starve".

I do take offence at your comment "the UK has such backward views and attitudes".

If you do not like the attitudes of the UK - why do you spend so much time posting on here? If Poland were such a great example of attitudes and views - - -- - - why would you even have considered the options of bringing up a child here? It would have been a no-brainer. Clearly you have a choice - many in the UK do not feel they have that same choice (ie why move to a Country with a history of communism, and leave a Country founded on democracy?)

amersall

bride_on_a_budget wrote: »

Hi,

my son has school dinners and they ocst £1.70, lately he has been coming home saying he had a jacket potato and beans/chicken for lunch , which i thought was ok until he showed me how much he gets. half a potato and one measley scoop of beans.
i went into the school and they said this is a normal size lunch for a 10 year old.

am i being stupid or ripped off! i mean £1.70 witha small cup of water and a small choc biscuit.

bride

i was a midday supervisor at my local primary, and i would not reccomend school dinners, the portions are really small and if your the last class in you end up with a sandwich that is only one slice of bread.! on the odd occasion when there has been no food left i have seen frozen fish fingers cooked and served up in record time!.what beggers belief is the cook gets the dinner numbers after registers are taken so how does she not know how many portions of food to do? and why cant she do a few extra portions just in case? the teachers who have lunch get decent portions and they pay a reduced meal price! as a midday supervisor we were entitled as were kitchen staff to a free lunch when dinner time was over we had the same menu as the children there was allways plenty of food left for us even when children had no choice as there was supposedly no food left.. this canteen is run by the local council. packed lunches are really the best option in my opinion

jayII

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

I don't think it is. You can see the same effects in Poland - if you look at photographs from the 1970's and 1980's, even the 1990's - there are barely any fat people around. But nowadays, you can start to see more and more fat people - okay, much less than in the West - but still, it's starting to happen. I see fat children now, whereas there wasn't any fat children in my primary school class.

But strangely, although there was food rationing as late as the mid 1980's in Poland - with many things simply unavailable until the fall of communism, we haven't got the same 'clear your plate or else' expectation.

I think it's just completely unacceptable to force a child to eat if it doesn't want to. One of the reasons I didn't want to have children in the UK was simply out of fear of how the school would interfere - again, here, food is a parental issue. If the child doesn't eat, it goes hungry - and everyone accepts this.

Anyway, surely it would be better for a child to be outside playing than sat inside eating?

It's such a shame that the UK has such backwards views and attitudes towards the consumption of food in schools - you have such a wonderful, varied food selection compared to Poland, and this could be used to make children really enjoy food as a pleasure, not as something to be eaten constantly.

The lack of 'clear your plate mentality' is the same in Germany, but then I know few people in the UK who say this to their children, most (like us), simply give small portions, thus limiting waste if the child isn't hungry. They can always have a second helping if necessary.

I think the main problem these days is the way many parents panic when a child isn't hungry/doesn't eat. My children went through phases of eating nothing, followed by 'hungry phases', nobody stressed about it, and life went on. We have never coerced them to eat, and I'm sure we can't be that unusual

PolishBigSpender

Aspiring wrote: »

Having been brought up by a mother who was raised during the Depression and brought up children during WWII - I can certainly relate to the ethos "eat it or starve".

You might certainly relate - but what relevance does it have in the UK of today, where food is plentiful? I appreciate that food prices are horribly high in the UK compared to mainland Europe (chicken breasts : 2 pounds 50 a kilogram here!) - but it still is no excuse for maintaining such outdated, barbaric views.

I do take offence at your comment "the UK has such backward views and attitudes".

It does have backwards views and attitudes in some respects. The 'clear your plate' mentality is just one example. As is the misguided 'NO BISCUITS' approach in schools when it can be clearly demonstrated that they are far better for a child than some of the junk mentioned.

But of course, the UK is also far, far ahead of most of Europe when it comes to multi-cultural relations. Swings and roundabouts, as they say.

If you do not like the attitudes of the UK - why do you spend so much time posting on here? If Poland were such a great example of attitudes and views - - -- - - why would you even have considered the options of bringing up a child here?

You have to consider the monetary factor. The UK is a logical choice if you focus on money alone - lower taxes and higher wages. So of course I considered the UK - but as Poland offers better opportunities for a child, I moved back.

It would have been a no-brainer. Clearly you have a choice - many in the UK do not feel they have that same choice (ie why move to a Country with a history of communism, and leave a Country founded on democracy?)

I refer you to the CCTV issue for a start. I can go days here without noticing CCTV - yet in the UK, cameras are everywhere. Likewise, our history of communism lends well to the freedoms of the individual - people here simply will not tolerate State intervention in their private lives, unlike in the UK.

Let me add that children here have much more freedom than in the UK. It's quite normal here for a 7 year old child to walk to school by himself, for instance.

jayII wrote:

The lack of 'clear your plate mentality' is the same in Germany, but then I know few people in the UK who say this to their children, most (like us), simply give small portions, thus limiting waste if the child isn't hungry. They can always have a second helping if necessary.

I can imagine the Germans having such an attitude, given their love of rules and regulations

The small portions mentality is the most sensible one - there's certainly no harm in it

fernliebee

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

.

I think it's just completely unacceptable to force a child to eat if it doesn't want to. One of the reasons I didn't want to have children in the UK was simply out of fear of how the school would interfere - again, here, food is a parental issue. If the child doesn't eat, it goes hungry - and everyone accepts this.

Anyway, surely it would be better for a child to be outside playing than sat inside eating?

It's such a shame that the UK has such backwards views and attitudes towards the consumption of food in schools - you have such a wonderful, varied food selection compared to Poland, and this could be used to make children really enjoy food as a pleasure, not as something to be eaten constantly.

I did a short stint as a lunch time supervisor (1 of 3 job's I did at the same time as doing my f/t degree!) and we never made children eat. If they weren't hungry why try and force them? I'm the same with DD, if she is hungry she will eat. Most days she eats lot's (of very healthy food) some days she will eat next to nothing, I know she won't starve! I do agree with you that the pleasure is taken away from food in this country. At the school I worked at they had garden club, where the children grew vegetables then did cooking with them. The kid's loved this and would eat every scrap!

SWMBO

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

One of the reasons I didn't want to have children in the UK was simply out of fear of how the school would interfere - again, here, food is a parental issue.

Education is a parental issue too. If you don't like schools' approach, don't send them to school. Your legal duty as a parent is to ensure they receive an education, not to send them to school.

grem_2

Aspiring wrote: »

Or, as other children have done, they'll swap bits of their lunch with other children in the playground

Been there, done that :rotfl: :rotfl:

Money_maker

The school dinner contract for our area was put out to tender with several companies bidding on it. They had to show to be providing fresh, cooked meals using raw materials and covering all the necessary food groups.

Therefore, the budget does not affect the school in any way - staff are employed by the successful 'bidder' and materials/profits are taken by this company.

lolababy

I think Ill ask the school if parents can come in at dinner time to see what the food is like. Iv seen the food at the breakfast club and its quiet good. The school are always asking for suggestions for involving parents.
I remember a letter being sent home from dd school asking for parents to apply for free school meals even if the child was not going to have them. They said this determines the food budget.