Bbc 8pm

dolly_day_dream

The problem is that this ready meal attitude 'I can buy it all prepared for me' has reached down to the packed lunches. I have noticed a big increase this year in the number of children who do not have ANYTHING in the lunch box that was made at home. :eek: By that I mean a sandwich, or roll, a piece of cake or even a drink!!! They are buying prepared bottles of drink for goodness sake:mad: By that I mean sugary drinks not cartons of juice.

If they can't be prepared to put a packed lunch together I am guessing that cooking a family meal is out of the question as well. These children do not stand a chance:o They may not live as long but they are going to cost the health service a lot whilst they are alive.

Lyndsay_21

I have noticed a big increase this year in the number of children who do not have ANYTHING in the lunch box that was made at home.

my friends DD has packed lunches like this sometimes she has a white jam/ham sandwhich but its often lunchable/hot dog lunchable thing with a packet of crisps, i walk her to school in the morning and i check her lunchbox as sometimes her drinks bottle his FIZZY in it!!! I know i shouldn't but i tip it out and put water in it and she doesn't say anything!!

mah_jong

One point stuck in my mind....re the traffic light warnings.

Tesco are not using the system saying that thier own guide was clear enough.... however i have to say that seeing both types packaging on the TV that the traffic lights make the highsalt/fat/etc so much easier to see. They did add that as it was more obvious then maybe people would not buy them so they would then be left with them, so maybe not in Tescos interest to change!!!

Glad to see in hear that I am not alone in refusing to buy this prepackaged pap!
I must admit to buying a curry once as it was reduced to 10p but I thought even then that mine was better. And the portion was not a 'man size', though after watching prob it was probably filled with calories!

thriftlady_2

Did the programme mention the environmental impact of all that packaging these meals involve. Those individual packed lunch items are particularly wasteful.

laughing_cow

dolly_day_dream wrote:

The problem is that this ready meal attitude 'I can buy it all prepared for me' has reached down to the packed lunches. I have noticed a big increase this year in the number of children who do not have ANYTHING in the lunch box that was made at home. :eek: By that I mean a sandwich, or roll, a piece of cake or even a drink!!! They are buying prepared bottles of drink for goodness sake:mad: By that I mean sugary drinks not cartons of juice.

If they can't be prepared to put a packed lunch together I am guessing that cooking a family meal is out of the question as well. These children do not stand a chance:o They may not live as long but they are going to cost the health service a lot whilst they are alive.

Jamie Oliver agrees with you - he had a bit of a rant about lunchboxes this week.

From The Independent:
"The television chef Jamie Oliver has fiercely criticised parents who feed their children "junk", describing some youngsters' diets as a crime.

He said 70 per cent of packed lunches given to schoolchildren were "disgraceful" and he would like to see them banned......

......"I've spent two years being PC about parents, now is the time to say, 'If you're giving your young children fizzy drinks you're an ar$ehole, you're a to$$er. If you give them bags of crisps you're an idiot. If you aren't cooking them a hot meal, sort it out.' If they truly care they've got to take control."

Have to say I agree with him.

Full story:
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article1372011.ece

dolly_day_dream

What I don't get is that these parents are the ones who complain that they have no money. They go out to work to get more money and then spend it on this junk!! If they only realised that cooking from scratch is so much cheaper and doesn't really take that more time if you are just a little organised. I was working and studying when my children were little but I would have been mortified to think that I was feeding them this rubbish.:o

I realise how little contact children have with 'real' food when I do cooking with them in class. It is obvious to spot those who have never been near a raw vegetable before. :eek: I try to cook with them at least once or twice a term but (apart from making some sandwiches) cooking is not a part of the National Curriculum for KS2. If the parents are not going to cook with them or feed them proper food how are these children to know any different? :mad: Tony Blair is talking about teaching all secondary aged children cooking but it should never have been removed from the curriculum at all in my opinion.

Sorry to go on so:o but this is a real hobby horse of mine. Me a perfect housewife - not really I am disorganised, messy and embarrassed to have people over during term time but we all eat home cooked food. Prepared with love and we talk to each other whilst we eat it.

thriftmonster

I try and cook with the Beavers once a term - and not just biscuits:D - last term we did wheaten bread (soda bread) from scratch and most of them love it. Last year we also did a blind sampling of exotic fresh fruit and most of them tried stuff that was new.

When we do science withe the Cubs and Beavers I always take in bread dough and a demi john of wine in the first stages of fermenting and most of the have never seen dough before - but they're fascinated. Kids love all this cookery stuff if (and it's a big if) they're given chance - but most of them don't seem to

Sorry - rant over:eek:

laughing_cow

I agree. I'm 37 so I did my O + A Levels a long while ago. The O Level which has proved the most useful to me is Home Economics! People laugh at it being a 'Mickey Mouse' subject, but learning about nutrition and how to wire a plug has been invaluable - far more use in my life than periodic tables or Richard II.

scrimperjan

When my daughter was younger I was a canteen 'dinner lady' at her school. I wouldn't let her stay for school dinners; I could see how rubbish they were (this was before Jamie Oliver Saved the World). Alarmingly, one of the other dinner ladies insisted that her daughter stayed for school dinners, because 'then I know she's had a balanced meal, so I can just give her a Pot Noodle for tea'. This from someone who deep fried turkey twizzlers, cheap burgers and chips every day. Just amazing. How can you hope to educate children about healthy eating when the parents haven't a clue?

linzi1978

I actually work in a ready meal factory! and i agree with everything being said although i did miss the programme. If anyone would like to ask any questions about the prossess of making ready meals i will do my best to answer them!

linzi