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AIBU?

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Original poster

Are school meals really so bad?

106 replies

cheeseallthroughthebitch · 14/03/2025 07:34

My child attends a private school and the meals are predictably made in the school kitchen from scratch and very good. I don’t remember my own primary school dinners as I always took a packed lunch (that probably speaks for itself!)

There’s a thread running at the moment about bringing snacks for children at home time that has descended into a 4 Yorkshiremen sketch of whose children have the worst school dinners. Lots of descriptions of beige plates, rolls with cheese spread, single teaspoon-sized portions of veg, and minuscule servings of everything. So much so the kids are absolutely fainting with hunger by home time.

Is this representative of school dinners? Do any parents complain?

YABU- not at my kid’s school
YANBU- yes, they really are like that

OP posts:
twistyizzy · 14/03/2025 07:42

@cheeseallthroughthebitch parent with child at indy secondary school and their school dinners are good by all accounts (from DD) with ability to get 2nds etc.
Her primary state school meals were so bad she ended up on packed lunch.

You have to remember most independent schools have a larger budget to provide decent meals than state schools. Not really hard to understand surely?

Comedycook · 14/03/2025 07:41

At primary school my dc said the portions were small...they both took packed lunch.

They are in secondary now...the food is apparently great but they still take their own lunch because they say the queues are too long.

Original poster
cheeseallthroughthebitch · 14/03/2025 07:41

IamnotSethRogan · 14/03/2025 07:39

My son loves his school meals. They have a pretty varied menu and he comes home every day saying what he had and how much he liked it. It's a small state school.

This is nice to hear. My friend’s children attend her village school. It’s tiny and she said the meals are very good, so perhaps the smaller the school the more they can stretch their budget for food. I am completely ignorant as to the ins and outs of funding for school meals.

OP posts:
IamnotSethRogan · 14/03/2025 07:39

My son loves his school meals. They have a pretty varied menu and he comes home every day saying what he had and how much he liked it. It's a small state school.

Original poster
cheeseallthroughthebitch · 14/03/2025 07:39

DustyLee123 · 14/03/2025 07:37

I once went into school at lunch time to pick one of mine up, and for some reason I was taken through the hall. I was shocked at how small the portions were.

That cannot be good for their ability to focus in lessons and take in new information.

OP posts:
DustyLee123 · 14/03/2025 07:37

I once went into school at lunch time to pick one of mine up, and for some reason I was taken through the hall. I was shocked at how small the portions were.