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Original poster

Junk food at school

107 replies

Letsgetdrunkontheminibar · 05/01/2026 13:44

I thankfully send my 7 yo with a packed lunch which he asks for but am getting really pissed off with special days at school like today for example we have an email titled ‘Nugget day’ and it’s a menu for a weeks time when they’ll have chicken nuggets, chips and beans and chocolate cake for dessert. WTF? Friday’s are already fish fingers and chips day so why do they do this? Surely a day of promoting different foods from around the world or new fruit and veg they may not have tried. What is this teaching our kids? My husband wants to email the school!

OP posts:
ItsameLuigi · 05/01/2026 14:55

lazyarse123 · 05/01/2026 14:21

The daftest thing really is that they police lunch boxes but the school lunch kids get fed shite. I say that with authority as i used to be a school dinner lady. Albeit about 8 years ago. I loved Turkey Twizzlers.

My kids menu for this week is tomato pasta, chicken fajitas wrap with couscous, roast chicken vegetables Yorkshire's gravy and roasties, cheese and potato pie with veg, and salmon fishcakes with chipped potatoes. Fancier than what I had 20 years ago lmao

Totowild · 05/01/2026 14:52

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Original poster
Letsgetdrunkontheminibar · 05/01/2026 14:50

muggart · 05/01/2026 14:47

i mean, the op has also said that on other days next week the kids will be given chocolate biscuits and ice cream so it sounds like a general issue at the school.

if schools have so little money why don’t they eliminate pudding entirely? instead of normalising pudding as a habit.

even if they have half the sugar of a regular pudding as a PP said that’s still unnecessary and way too much for any child if they are having it every single day.

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I agree! I was surprised they had a pudding but I’m not sure how big the lunch is!

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Totowild · 05/01/2026 14:49

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Original poster
Letsgetdrunkontheminibar · 05/01/2026 14:49

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He used to be school dinners and asked not to be! He’s a wilful child so I couldn’t force him either way trust me!

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Totowild · 05/01/2026 14:48

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Letsgetdrunkontheminibar · 05/01/2026 14:48

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Hmm no it’s ok I’m happy to carry on feeling how I do about it! I’m not blaming the school, I wanted to know why they thought it was a good idea and just because of the census bollocks, doesn’t mean I now think it’s a good idea!

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muggart · 05/01/2026 14:47

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i mean, the op has also said that on other days next week the kids will be given chocolate biscuits and ice cream so it sounds like a general issue at the school.

if schools have so little money why don’t they eliminate pudding entirely? instead of normalising pudding as a habit.

even if they have half the sugar of a regular pudding as a PP said that’s still unnecessary and way too much for any child if they are having it every single day.

SugarCoatSandwich · 05/01/2026 14:46

Did you then get the obligatory email about teaching Healthy Eating in schools?

It's the same bollocks about smart devices - they give kids tablet homework, put them on Facebook, and update parents by email and apps and then they have the gall to bang on about online safety and using devices less, as though it wouldn't have been safer to just not give them device-based activities, further put parents heads into their phones and put their school photos online in the first place.

OoooopsUpsideYourHead · 05/01/2026 14:42

Your husband's going to look a complete twonk if he emails the school to complain about something that doesn't affect his child one jot! 🤣🤣

Totowild · 05/01/2026 14:39

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Moonnstarz · 05/01/2026 14:39

Kirbert2 · 05/01/2026 14:25

Depends on the school.

My son's school doesn't have strict packed lunch rules.

No fizzy drinks, no glass bottles, no nuts & no sweets. That's all.

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Same as mine...though some do take in sweets and generally nothing is really done about this (speaking as someone who does lunchtimes).

Apacketofbiscuitsaday · 05/01/2026 14:35

Seriously, for every parent who moans about nuggets being on the menu there will be another parent who is moaning about the healthier stuff. Most of it ends up in the bin. So many kids will not touch the carrots, peas, broccoli etc and they don't like the school roast potatoes either.

Original poster
Letsgetdrunkontheminibar · 05/01/2026 14:35

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Well now I’ve told him why they probably do it! I had no idea and just thought it was a bit weird as they call it a fun menu sometimes but it’s always this and always a day before fish fingers, chips and beans day!

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Totowild · 05/01/2026 14:33

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Original poster
Letsgetdrunkontheminibar · 05/01/2026 14:32

VikaOlson · 05/01/2026 14:31

They serve nuggets because that's what the majority of children and parents want. More school dinners are ordered that day.

They can't cater just to your preferences.

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Isn’t it sad!

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Totowild · 05/01/2026 14:32

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Letsgetdrunkontheminibar · 05/01/2026 14:31

somanychristmaslights · 05/01/2026 14:27

So much of it will be funding. The schools really struggle with how much they get vs food prices and what they can provide. I wouldn’t go all gunning for the school.

I can see now this must be the reason and not the schools fault. Sad really!

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VikaOlson · 05/01/2026 14:31

Letsgetdrunkontheminibar · 05/01/2026 14:26

Yeah I just want to kick up a fuss for nothing!

I am allowed to not agree with something and given it’s about children’s health, I don’t see what the issue is!

Now I know the probable census reason which is really bloody sad, I can blame the government!

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They serve nuggets because that's what the majority of children and parents want. More school dinners are ordered that day.

They can't cater just to your preferences.

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 05/01/2026 14:29

I’d ask for the recipes (or see if they are online). When my dc were at primary school, the cakes, biscuits and custard had less than half the sugar I’d put in and there was lots of hidden veg (courgette chocolate cake etc). Any “red” sauce had hidden veg, and there was grated carrot in the pizza dough! The chicken nuggets were coated in wholemeal breadcrumbs and oven baked, and served with oven baked wedges. DD only left 3 years ago, so this isn’t harking back to olden times.

somanychristmaslights · 05/01/2026 14:27

So much of it will be funding. The schools really struggle with how much they get vs food prices and what they can provide. I wouldn’t go all gunning for the school.

Original poster
Letsgetdrunkontheminibar · 05/01/2026 14:26

VikaOlson · 05/01/2026 14:23

Sounds like you just want to kick up a fuss for the sake of it.
School needs to balance providing healthy food with meals that children will actually eat and therefore parents will actually order.
They can't design their menu around you thinking other people's children should be trying new foods from around the world.

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Yeah I just want to kick up a fuss for nothing!

I am allowed to not agree with something and given it’s about children’s health, I don’t see what the issue is!

Now I know the probable census reason which is really bloody sad, I can blame the government!

OP posts:
Kirbert2 · 05/01/2026 14:25

ImSweetEnough · 05/01/2026 14:18

So they have chocolate cake day but will remove a chocolate biscuit from a child's packed lunch quicker than you can say 'Penguin Bar'.

Depends on the school.

My son's school doesn't have strict packed lunch rules.

No fizzy drinks, no glass bottles, no nuts & no sweets. That's all.

PoliteSquid · 05/01/2026 14:24

VikaOlson · 05/01/2026 13:51

I wonder if it's a headcount day that sets their funding, so they need as many children as possible picking school dinners that day.

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It’ll be this! Our primary school used to be upfront about it and send messages saying “the number of children having school dinners affects our funding so let’s have pizza/burger/nuggets….” Or something similar.

It’s one small meal on one day. Really not worth fretting over!

ItalianChineseIndianMexican · 05/01/2026 14:24

muggart · 05/01/2026 13:58

re the “i’ve survived” point: actually society has been made very sick from previous attitudes to food and nutrition. Rates of autoimmune disease, obesity, allergies, mental illness, cancers have all gone crazy and are all linked to poor gut health and nutrition.

now we have some awareness of this it makes sense for past practices of feeding children crap food all the time to change.

we can look back and say that our parents generation didn’t know any better but the children of today will have no reason to be so forgiving!

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I agree with this.