How to stop the lunchbox police!

meritaten

DUTR wrote: »

Well if a balanced diet is supplied for lunch then there are no worries, look at the label on a malt loaf, not exactly a wonder food is it?

thanks DUTR - you have made me realise that my post sounds like its about the Soreen slice! it isnt about that per se, its more about the attitude that some schools have about what constitutes a 'healthy' lunchbox, and that the child in question (only 4) recieved a telling off about it!
I shall now go back and edit my OP to detail the issues!

Nicki

Mmmmmm Jamie Oliver is passionate about serving kids home made nutritious food. Can't really see him jumping to the defence of a processed sugar filled cake to be honest just because it also contains a bit of dried fruit. Would have more luck with the hummus rejected as being equivalent to a dairy lea dunk able I suspect

Dinner ladies might not get it 100% right but there are an astonishingly high number of parents who send their children to school with a lunchbox full of crap with no nutritional benefit and feed the same to them at home. So if the school can address that in some small way, they get my vote, even if they are sometimes overzealous and catch the parent who sent a decent sandwich in with a penguin bar too.

A no sweets and chocolate rule does completely stop the waste of space parents who only send in a mars bar and a packet of crisps for their child, even though it also catches the more responsible parents. My mother used to be a school meals inspector and can tell hair raising stories of what some poor kids were sent in with on a daily basis. It's a wonder some of them didn't have rickets and scurvy to be honest.

A school dinners kid will be getting a nutritional main course so a sweet pud will not do so much harm. The school can control what the school dinners kids eat more easily. The sandwich and penguin mums should target the no hopers for spoiling things for them IMO, rather than taking a pop at the school dinner planners. If everyone gave their kid a balanced meal in the first place, then all the children would be allowed their treats.

victory

http://www.soreen.com/our-products/sliced.html
it doesn't say how much sugar is in it?

Sambucus_Nigra

meritaten wrote: »

The thread about Soreen Malt Loaf - where a four year old was told off by a dinner lady for having a slice of Soreen really got my goat!:mad:

I am all for healthy eating in schools, including in lunchboxes, but, some schools just take it too far!

So, I opened my big mouth and said something should be done - and I wondered if any of you had any thoughts on how to go about this?
I was wondering whether it may be possible to get Jamie Oliver involved.........after all it was down to HIM that the schools dropped the infamous Turkey Twizler! I will do some research and try to contact him.............BUT I believe that a many pronged approach would also be successful.

Please, you people are always so full of good advice and bright ideas - what else can we do?

Jamie Oliver's work basically ended up by the setting up of the Food for Life Partnership - whose [lottery] funding is due to end in about 5 weeks. So, all the people who were getting food growing and eating in schools, local farming initiatives etc, are all looking for further funding as we speak.

Unfortunately, the government don't think it important enough to support. Jamie is still involved in trying to secure funding to further this work.

DUTR

meritaten wrote: »

thanks DUTR - you have made me realise that my post sounds like its about the Soreen slice! it isnt abut that per se, its more about the attitude that some schools have about what cosntitutes a 'healthy' lunchbox and that the child in question (only 4) recieved a telling off about it!
I shall now go back and edit my OP to detail the issues!

No, I didn't read it that way exactly, but I do believe lunch packers don't always know best. It is quite scary to learn how many pre formed foods are actually quite detrimental to health.

DUTR

HappyMJ wrote: »

What do you mean? Soreen malt loaf has 2% fat. 0.6grams per serving that isn't much. The ingredients are Wheat Flour, Raisins, Invert sugar syrup, Malt flour, Malt extract, dried whey, Vegetable fat, salt, yeast and preservative e282. None of that is too bad except maybe the e282.

Was the serving 33g though?
I suspect possibly more 100g

Cherry_Bomb

I'm always confused by the fact I can't give DS a mini muffin in his lunchbox (heaven forbid a mini muffin :eek:) yet if he as a school dinner he ALWAYS has pudding which usually consists of some sort of cake and custard (today was actually jelly and ice-cream)

I've asked about it and was told as long as the kids also have a selection of fresh fruit to choose from (if they decide they don't fancy cake :eek:) then it's fine

Yup coz that makes sense.......

**curlywurly**

DUTR wrote: »

Well if a balanced diet is supplied for lunch then there are no worries, look at the label on a malt loaf, not exactly a wonder food is it?

I am not sure, but isn't the point that it is up to the PARENTS what they give their children and IF the school has a problem with it, they should speak to the PARENT and not the child?

DUTR

**curlywurly** wrote: »

I am not sure, but isn't the point that it is up to the PARENTS what they give their children and IF the school has a problem with it, they should speak to the PARENT and not the child?

Not exactly , I suppose it is up to the parents if they have the children in the same enclosed space where the smoker is too then?

mishkanorman

If I remember rightly we were told the school receives a grant for following the healthy food guidelines and if they are found to be not adhering to them strictly they lose that money. The school provide fruit at snack time for every child and this money helps to cover that.

I have no problem with my child not having sweets and chocolate at school, i give them it as a treat at home but its clear they have once in a while not with every meal.

With regards to the malt loaf thread I would imagine the slice was mistaken as a sugary cake slice and the little girl was told it shouldnt be in her lunch due to that ~ ?