School Meals v Packed Lunch

metro_gnome

Becles wrote:

Mine two are 6 and 8. I always do a healthy packed lunch with one treat item like crisps or a wrapped chocolate biscuit. The rule is if they bring the healthy food home, they don't get the treat item the next day. The normally eat all of it now.

Having worked as a dinner lady in the past, (now known as Midday School Supervisory Assistants - what a mouthful!) I have seen children throw much of their packed lunches away! They weren't allowed to do this in the Dining hall, but would sneak stuff into the playground bins. It's not always easy to guarantee children eat what they are given unless you are there watching them.

I feel like starting a 'Give Jamie Oliver a Knighthood' campaign. He has single handedly pinpointed one of the biggest causes of difficult behaviour and ill-health in our children. So much of this has been known for ages. The Government has done nothing to stop children being targetted and exploited by big businesses who are happy to profit from feeding our kids rubbish. (I'll get down off my high horse now!)

Becles

They're pretty strict at our school about food. I get fruit peel/cores back in their lunchboxes, so they must eat them.

jellyhead

our school started sending kids home with their rubbish this year, apparently mums wanted to know what their kids were and weren't eating from the sandwich boxes so they don't collect any rubbish at school now. sandwich boxes are left in the cloakroom so they can't sneak food into the playground bins. i've recently realised my son doesn't eat his crusts - he does at home, the excuse for school is that they take too long to chew lol! it'a nasty when he has a banana though and brings home a lunchbox covered in black slime from the banana skin!

sorry if i offend anyone but i find it very odd when a child won't drink water - why not? there's a girl we know who drinks coke at home, she was astonished that i didn't have any when she came round to play, she thought everybody bought it with their weekly shopping! i offered water, milk, ribena or orange juice - all refused. she'd have coke or sunny D, nothing else. no wonder she's obese.

Becles

My little boy (age 6) came in from school tonight and asked if he could have decent food in his lunchbox. I was quite shocked by this, so have just questioned both of them about it over tea.

Apparantly school now has a 'lunchbox police' who analyze each childs lunchbox. They get a point for each healthy food and notes are made on a piece of paper. My son only got 1 point today for an apple.

However, his lunchbox contained a round of cheese sandwiches, a chicken leg, an apple and a 2 finger kit kat. I've always sent them with a similar balanced meal, plus a 'treat' item.

I'm at a loss why a chicken leg (oven roasted so no fat added) and a cheese sandwich (home made wholemeal bread and cheddar cheese not processed) is not healthy

Overall their diet consists of mainly home cooked foods made with fresh ingredients. We have few processed or junk foods. Neither child is overweight and they are both in good health and rarely catch the usual bugs that go round.

I'm just so cross that someone is mointoring what I feed them and giving my children what I consider to be bad advice. I'm tempted to write to the headmaster and complain as I feel it's none of their business.

Ironically I refuse to send them for school dinners as the menu mainly consists of chicken nuggets fish shapes, potato shapes, chips and the infamous turkey twizzlers :mad:

Spendless

Becles why don't you check with the school about how they award the points? For example you might only get a point for fruit or veg.

At sons school they have won a healthy eating award for their school dinners but had to send out a letter recently asking parents not to include sweets in the packed lunch.

Lucie_2

Becles wrote:

Ironically I refuse to send them for school dinners as the menu mainly consists of chicken nuggets fish shapes, potato shapes, chips and the infamous turkey twizzlers :mad:

Talk about double standards! Perhaps you & a few other parents should go in at lunchtime with a clipboard & give their school lunches marks out of ten for "healthiness"!!??

If you son only got one point for a healthy balance between protein, carbohydrates & vitamins, I dread to think what some of the others got? Do they do minus points for dairylea lunchables, crisps & coke?

I would write to the head & maybe ask what nutritional qualifications these "lunchbox police" have?

Bossyboots

I am not surprised you are cross.

I understand why schools say no sweets, but other than that what business of theirs is it what you feed your child. This is appalling double standards and personally I would not leave it at this.

I would not let my children have school meals because of the rubbish they were given. As well as the dreaded mentions in the opening post, my bug bears were them serving spaghetti as a vegetable and crisps instead of chips on Thursdays because they weren't allowed to do chips every day.

elona

Bossyboots

The school sounds awful!!

I would certainly want to ask how "points" are awarded and how home made ingredients do not count as "healthy"!

Possibly they are trying to "encourage" or rather "blackmail" kids into school lunches - I use the term loosely as they would get more nutrition from a paper plate!

I cannot wait till my youngest goes to grammar school in September as I know the food is decent there!

catznine

My first thought on reading this was don't they have more important things to do with their time? It is nothing to do with the school as to what is in your childs lunchbox! There is nothing anti-social in there, nothing that would hurt others!

It beggars belief that they feel they can do this to anyone, let alone a Mum who sends her child into school with sandwiches made from home made bread and yet they can still feed kids the absolute rubbish they call school dinners! I work in a school and feel I can make fair comment here.

If it was me I would write a lengthy letter regarding this and let the head know exactly how you feel. Maybe a petition if other Mums feel the same!

Jay-Jay_4

Ohhhh grrrrr indeed! I'd be down at that school at 9am in the morning demanding to see someone.

Homemade wholemeal bread, freshly prepared fat-free meat, fruit and a small piece of chocolate....unhealthy? Are they serious?

I send my daughter with a very similar lunch, ok I don't make my bread but I buy wholemeal organic for her sandwiches. I send a carton of fresh juice, an apple or carrot sticks, a yoghurt and either a penguin or a chocolate biscuit. I think that a little treat is important when they're working hard all day.

I consider my daughters lunch to be reasonably healthy and tasty, what's more she looks forward to it and eats every scrap. Compare that to the single chicken nugget, 3 chips and a piece of cake she was eating last term and there's no comparison.

I would be having words with the people responsible for sending the message to your children that their meals aren't healthy.