anyone else having problems with school dinners?

Bubby

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Is this any different from eating a meal at home that they don't much like?

I don't cook something that I know they wouldn't like, that said I have yet to come across something they really detest. I started with school dinners for my eldest who came hungry because they were looking forward to eating say spag bol and all that was left was chips (which they do not have at home). I spoke to the school who gave the usual bla bla children need a choice etc etc so I stopped the school dinners and problem solved.


Life is far far too short to spend it doing things we don't want to or don't like, I also involve my children in choosing what they eat for tea why would I want to just put something on a plate they wouldn't enjoy?

jinky67

My DS often said the same thing happened to him
In the end I just gave him a packed lunch

DD has never had that problem

Its all about budgets though as ever

half and half, and if one meal is more popular if you werent near the front half of the queue you were stuffed if you didnt like what was left

westcountrymaid_2

julie03 wrote: »

my DS school give you a menu in advance and you have to say what you want so they order the correct amount of meals and there is not as much waste, when he did have them we used to just remind him what he had picked.

the good thing with this is you know in advance if there is a day that there is something they will not eat so you can deal with it and send in a packed lunch, when my son had free school meals as long as you told them what days they were fine with it

and i dont think you are over reacting,

This is what happened in the infant school I was a mealtime assistant in and worked much better than the class rota system we had before. I would definitely mention it to the head.

nuttywoman

I`m surprised at some of the nasty comments on here !!!
There`s no need to be insulting to someone whose child gets free school meals - i had to claim them when my hubby came off work due to heart problems and believe me i would have prefered hubby to be healthy !!
The op was only saying about the lack of food at mealtimes.I used to work in school kitchens and know the potions are controlled and yes, some kids are hungrier than others.
As i`m writing this i`m seeing Forum Etiquette about being nice to people !!!
What a laugh.

blabberwort

Some of the comments are pathetic, just because it's free school meals does not mean children should have no rights.

If you were paying for school meals and were in the OP's situation (without having free school meals) I bet you'd be flipping moaning about it and rightly so too. The catering company get paid for that childs meal so should make an effort to provide it.

To all the posters basically saying eat up and tough it's ignorant and ridiculous. I bet no one forces you to eat things you dont like so why should the children?

Sounds to me like they need to sort their catering staff out, why they dont provide a menu at the begining of each term with a tick list is beyond me.

blabberwort

Eton_Rifle wrote: »

I'm sure the taxpayer will be happy to pay extra for an additional meal choice so a child doesn't have to suffer human rights abuses by being forced to eat free cheese.

Im sure the tax payer will be happy to know they are paying for meals not being eaten because the caterers cant come up with an adequate system*end sarcasm

Becles

Our school has the choice of a meat/fish dish, a veggie dish or a sandwich, plus veggies or salad. The classes are on a rota, so they all get a turn of going in first with a decent pick and being last and having to eat whatever is left.

My three all love scampi and think it's a special treat My youngest has just turned three and she loves dipping it into tartar sauce.

sock-knitter

at both of my sons schools, there is no real choice, its either whats on the menu, or a jacket potato.
i accept some children dont like some things, (one of mine hates sprouts)
but i also think some parents allow children to be fussy
at one of my sons schools, the primary school next door cooks the meals, as one of my sons school has no kitchen and the portions are rather small.
i have twin 15 year olds, at seperate schools btw

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

You don't believe that the menu represents reality for the kids, do you? In 14 years, neither of my girls have seen the mythical salad or jacket potato that is alluded to on menus.

The vegetarian option is only available to the first 10 children that ask for it - if the vegetarians don't come in until after that point, then they get to eat a plate of peas/1 tblsp plain dry rice/whatever and watch the non vegetarian kids eat their food. My DDs weren't veggie, but I still thought it was wrong to hear that they gave so and so some of their food because someone had already taken all the veggie meals.

On the day parents were invited in to try the 'healthy' menu, I had to return the apple juice because it had blue specks floating on the service - the entire machine was covered in a film of blue mould on the inside of the clear liquid container part. The leftover food is taken off the plates and recycled - as per the bite marks found in cakes in later sittings. The sandwiches are all taken up by the staff.

At the high school, they sold tetra pack products that were 6 months out of date and the rolls were those part bake ones, but they didn't bake them, so the kids were eating partially raw dough.

It's a profit making private company. Of course the food is rubbish.

And the instances of suspected appendicitis due to severe constipation are beyond a joke at the local A&E - the process is to ask if they get school dinners and if the answer is yes, the nurse gives a suppository straight away.


Make packed lunches. They're cheaper, contain real food, nutrients and won't have been through the dining room three times before being reluctantly thrown away.

And my mum was a dinner lady for years, so I know exactly what goes on with and into school dinners.

Curlywurli

The school where I work have just implemented a scheme and it works really well (think it might be the whole council). The menu is on a three week rota and all food is colour coded. Every morning the children go through the menu and choose what they want then wear a colour coded wrist band until lunchtime. It works really well and the increase in dinners has been massive. Children were late to lessons one day last week because over a third of the school wanted dinners. It does help that we've now got a cook who does actually cook what's on the menu.