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AIBU?

providing my own packed lunches for school

8 replies

louise98 · 27/03/2015 09:35

I am really frustrated. My children both have packed lunches. I feel their lunch is balanced they generally contain sandwich,yoghurt,cucumber&Tom's, and fruit along with either a cereal bar or cake bar. And quite often my youngest child is NOT ALLOWED to eat the cereal/cake bar as the school is applying for healthy eating status.therefore ask for no sweets or chocolate. (I admit the cake bars are chocolate as in cocoa powder and the cereal have chocolate chips) However the puddings they serve up for school dinners include chocolate crispy cakes, chocolate brownies, plus other pudding including cake and custard etc. Does the school have the right to with hold the food I provide? As I feel they are being hypocritical.

OP posts:
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MrsFlannel · 27/03/2015 09:40

I'm not sure they do have the right. I would make an appointment and ask them for a list of "acceptable" puddings for your son. It's not on imo.

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CaptainAnkles · 27/03/2015 09:42

You need clarification on what is acceptable as a dessert / treat item in their lunch boxes, and to point out the huge inconsistencies in allowing school dinner children to have cake and custard but taking away a flapjack from another child's lunchbox.

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FishWithABicycle · 27/03/2015 09:45

Your packed lunches sound perfectly healthy to me but lots of schools do this. Are these treats shop-bought? They may feel justified making the distinction as the puddings they serve in school lunches are low-sugar. If you made some home-made treats (you could make a fortnight's worth every other weekend and freeze portions) you could send it in with a label saying "homemade, low sugar high fibre" and see if that gets past the lunchbox police.

Or you could lobby the school governors (or become a governor yourself) to get the silly policy changed.

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DuchessofCuntbridge · 27/03/2015 09:55

You're opening a can of worms here. Many MNetters love threads like this so that they can berate you for daring to ever give your children a tiny amount of sugar. Get your flame proof nightie on.

FWIW I think your lunches sound better than any school dinner I've ever heard of.

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samithesausage · 27/03/2015 10:56

Could you unwrap the bars and wrap them up in your own cling film to make them look home-made? I'm glad that my kid's school aren't strict about packed lunches! (No nuts, no chocolate bars).

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NurseRoscoe · 27/03/2015 11:07

This 'healthy eating' crap is being taken to the extreme. They should be teaching kids about balanced meals. I don't see why they don't give the parents a list of food groups with examples & instructions to include an item from each one where possible (with exceptions/adaptions for allergies and things). Telling people what they CAN do is so much more positive than telling them what they can't do and this method would put a stop to people providing a big mac and pack of biscuits for lunch. There is no harm in a treat if the rest of the meal is nutritious. If I ever got caught by the lunchbox police when my children are older this is something I will be suggesting.

So no, YANBU

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FishCanFly · 27/03/2015 11:12

I'd really kick up a big stink at school if my kids were not allowed to eat their food

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Chunkymonkey79 · 27/03/2015 11:14

If school dinner kids can have a sweet, then packed lunch kids should be able to as well.

Surely common sense is key, a healthy lunch followed by a biscuit, or cake bar type thing really won't do any harm. If a kid was bringing in family sized chocolate bars, sure, remove it, but small reasonable snacks, it's just idiotic to take them away.

The dinner police do my head right in! Confused

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