Can a nursery not allow packed lunches?

Marmite27

Could it be that one child has a severe life threatening allergy, and nursery wants to supply all food to avoid any inadvertant supply, through packed lunches into nursery of the trigger for said child?

Or it could be that its only viable cost wise to provide for all children, rather than at the behest of parents, and there are some children in nursery that NEED a cooked lunch whilst there?

Not sure of the legality, however if its a healthy balanced meal which is not expensive I personally don't see an issue.

DCFC79

The cooked food should be optional for those who wnat it, i hope the cooked food is of a healthy nature and not burgers and chips

montymud

spike7451 wrote: »

It's probably the NAAFI that is running the crech canteen now,they seem to be very draconian when it comes to a non-NAAFI service providing services.They forced the 'Chicken Inn' & the Malcombe Club' at RAF Bruggen/Javalin Bks to close as well as other establishments on other camps.

Nail hit firmly on head with regard to the suppliers! Its flippin Aramark. Whoever sold them the contract needs thier head testing!

Marmite27 - I absaloutely agree that there are some children that do NEED a warm meal. I have no problems with the meals at all. There is just a lot of chatter about 'choice' I think.

DCFC79 - All healthy stuff, no burgers and chips. Really nice actually, stew and dumplings, roast dinner etc

Some parents aren't happy though so I thought I would ask on here to see where they stand.

Thank you for all the replies! :beer:

FATBALLZ

fluffnutter wrote: »

I'd hazard a guess that the T&Cs don't state "We will provide a hot meal for your child. Parents are not to provide their children with lunch boxes". In which case, the nursery would have difficulty in legally enforcing this. However, practically speaking, it might prove difficult to circumvent the hot lunch policy. It's obvious why they're doing this; a hot lunch is no doubt better for the children than two Club biscuits and a can of coke. This is their way of controlling what the children eat. However, what a child consumes in terms of calories is of huge importance and I can quite easily see how a parent might not like their child to have two cooked 'main' meals a day.

As it happens my child's nursery does actually have something in the T&Cs along those lines, we aren't allowed to provide food ourselves. They said it was something to do with allergies/contamination/H&S rubbish.

vikingaero

DCFC79 wrote: »

The cooked food should be optional for those who wnat it, i hope the cooked food is of a healthy nature and not burgers and chips

I think you might be a little out of touch with what cooked food is supplied at nurseries and primary schools these days. The emphasis is very much on healthy balanced cooked food. Even at primary school The Vikingettes only ever get chips on Fridays.

Of course at secondary school it's different and you could choose to lard yourself up on chips every day.

DCFC79

vikingaero wrote: »

I think you might be a little out of touch with what cooked food is supplied at nurseries and primary schools these days. The emphasis is very much on healthy balanced cooked food. Even at primary school The Vikingettes only ever get chips on Fridays.

Of course at secondary school it's different and you could choose to lard yourself up on chips every day.

im out of touch for a reason, i dont have any kids but thanks for the response

SUESMITH_2

vikingaero wrote: »

I think you might be a little out of touch with what cooked food is supplied at nurseries and primary schools these days. The emphasis is very much on healthy balanced cooked food. Even at primary school The Vikingettes only ever get chips on Fridays.

Of course at secondary school it's different and you could choose to lard yourself up on chips every day.

err. no you can't - there are standards that have to be adhered to. chips are on once or twice a week if that, or they are where i work

vikingaero

SUESMITH wrote: »

err. no you can't - there are standards that have to be adhered to. chips are on once or twice a week if that, or they are where i work

What about secondary schools that allow their children out for lunch? You don't have to buy on school premises.

GM43

The nursery my child was a 3 years ago tried to do the same thing. They told me that it was in the legislation laid down by the government that ALL nurseries had to provide a hot meal for the children in the middle of the day and that they were not allowed to let any child have a packed lunch. They claimed that it was to ensure that the children got at least one proper cooked meal a day.

The meal was to cost £2/day, which was just a little more than school dinners were at the time in this area - when I queried it, it turned out that it was a government recommendation because of findings that children who spent all day in nursery were more likely to get a sandwich when they got home due to how late it was etc. Basically they lied to force me to agree to the cooked meal, which I didn't want to do because I did and still do give him a cooked meal at night and we all sit down and eat it together and I didn't want him to have two cooked meals in a day. They also tried to say that I couldn't provide a packed lunch for less than £2/day - which is quite easy if you are just using the fruit and bread etc that you normally buy. They allowed me to continue to send a packed lunch. I would recommend the parents ask to see where it is that it says they are not allowed to provide a packed lunch and what the rule is based on.

Also I know people seem to be in favour of the cooked meal in the middle of the day but my son isn't used to it and won't eat a cooked meal in the middle of the day, just wants sandwiches (bit of a pain sometimes tbh)!

Also there is nothing wrong with packed lunches, they aren't all chocolate and crisps as the stereotype seems to be - he has a ham sandwich, 2 pieces of fruit, cheese and a drink and for a treat on Fridays - a bag of crisps.

Kirri

And are they going to cater if a parents wants their child to eat organically? What sort of meal would they supply to a vegetarian? or vegan? You don't get great choice even in paying restaurants let alone what a nursery would supply probably.. I doubt the quality is always going to be better than what some parents give either, I'd be very unhappy with this ruling. I never ate school dinners and even as an adult I never fancy a cooked meal at lunch.

So much enforced control in this world...