AIBU to be concerned about my daughter's school lunch menu?

That’s very poor, I’d be annoyed too.

Ours is similar.

lots of the kids have packed lunch too.

It should be even better for a private school!

Sounds like the kind of thing they used to serve at my comprehensive school in the 1980s. The food was one of the few good things about it. Their hot dogs with onions, ravioli, and burgers in gravy were amazing; also cake with pink icing for pudding, and cans of Panda Pop (including shandy and ginger beer)😊

This was of course the 80s so it didn't make anyone fat 😂

Wait until she goes to secondary. It’s all baked goods and no sign of fruit and veg

It does sound like a lot of pork products and very unimaginative.

It does make a difference if they are not required to adhere to school food regulations. From your description there is no way that the school menu would be permitted in a state funded school. Which home country are you in? You can access the UK school food regulations for the home countries easily enough online, you could also ask the school about their food policy or health and wellbeing policy.

The World Health Organization classifies processed meat as a Group 1 carcinogen, meaning there is strong evidence it can cause bowel cancer.

Was a sample menu not available at open events?

The picture attached is the next three weeks of meals at our sons previous uk primary school.

This weeks menu at his current school for vegetarians
monday stuffed tortellini with green leaf sauce and a tomato salad
tuesday falaffel with couscous and a greek salad
wednesday nachos with mixed beans and sweet potato wedges
today baked tofu and veg in a creamy curry sauce with rice and naan
tomorrow ‘meatballs’ mash, peas and gravy

Everyday they have soup to start, tomorrow spinach and egg, they also have unlimited salad bar everyday.

My youngest started school last year and we did try school lunches for a while for ease but the menu's got even worse this year so I'm reluctantly doing packed lunches.
Pizza with chocolate mousse, macaroni cheese with cookies, sausage and mash with chocolate cake, fish fingers and chips with jelly and ice cream.
There's a 'roast' on Wednesday which is marginally better but it's still a 'loaded yorkshire pudding' rather than a proper roast.
Every week is pizza, pasta, sausages, fish fingers.

I don’t think you are being precious…I would be annoyed about this too ESPECIALLY in an independent school! (Presume independent means you’re paying school fees?). One of the main benefits to sending children private is much better nutrition imo. Request a menu for the half term (they will have one) and then book a meeting with the school to raise it as a problem if it is as bad as your daughter is saying. I’m sure other parents would be thinking the same thing and will support you. In my cousins private school they had proper cooked dishes like chicken in sauce with rice, stir fry, and a big salad cart that looked like those ones at the Harvester restaurants, I was so jealous!

My kids (state) school meals aren’t great but they are fussy and so only have them two days a week. And generally choose pasta with veg sauce or jacket potato with cheese. Making a packed lunch is such a faff and my youngest is picky and won’t eat sandwiches or wraps etc so it takes ages to make his lunch. I wish school meals were better then I’d put mine on them five days a week but I’m not having them eat that much crap currently

I would be furious really. I assume you’re paying substantial fees. My son is at an independent school in year one. They have a salad bar but there is no meat. Three courses which include daily homemade bread and soup, dessert is a selection of fruit with a more traditional sweet pudding on Fridays. Chips are once a week and served with chicken or fish. No processed meat at all. I highly doubt the menu they are serving your daughter would be allowed in a state school. I would certainly raise it and question their choices around meats which as you’ve rightly said have been proven to be cancer causing

Increases your risk of cancer.

my sons in secondary school (state). There’s sausage rolls or bacon sarnies at break. Lunch is pasta with sauce, sandwich, pizza or the main choice which this week has been burger, curry, meatballs. Pudding is cake, brownie, cookie. It doesn’t seem massively healthy to me.

I’m the same, spent the first 5 years of my child’s life making everything from scratch and then they get to school and it’s nothing but processed crap everyday - yes it’s free but it’s paid for by the tax payer so not really free as I’m sure there’s an opportunity cost to it. I know people will say I’m being precious but ultra processed food is so bad for kids compared to fresh meat and vegetables, maybe it’s just my son but he’s so much brighter and more energy after a proper meal… it’s disgraceful those are the only options

Has it really got that bad? I am sure someone could make a fortune setting up a restaurant that did 1960s/70s school dinners.
https://observer.co.uk/food/recipes/article/school-dinners-looking-back-on-60-years-of-the-meals-you-loved-to-loathe

Mine are at an independent school and the meals are nothing like that. All meat is supplied by a local butchers and they only have a processed/junk option on a Friday (pizza etc). How much are you paying for the lunches?

Packed lunches weren’t an option at our primary or secondary. Every child has school meals. However, the meals were/are good. Parents should be complaining if the quality is poor!

Ours was nothing like that. It was freshly prepared very good meals, often locally sourced ingredients. Things like roast dinners etc. They definitely didn’t have red meat 4 days on the run. At secondary, it’s still good. Not dissimilar to the menus posted above. A real variety - things like spag bol, pasta, roast dinners, chicken curry etc. I’m surprised parents haven’t fed back their thoughts to school.

You must be really lucky to have a good caterer at both. Our school is horrendous, they changed the caterer 2 years ago and everyone went into uproar. The meals are ridiculously processed and when questioned throw their hands in the air with "give us suggestions". Our at the time year 2 parents group put together a sample 3 weekly cycle of alternative meals options and the company just ignored every single option. The menu is exactly the same as last Summer Term.

No, that’s weird. Parents should know what the meals are - either on the website, or on an app for choice as pp’s have said.

The food sounds foul, but you need an actual menu as there may well be other choices available.

If I was paying school fees I’d have selected a school that served organic and whole foods only, but then I am often shocked by what parents are happy for their kids to be eating and drinking. Middle class kids around me have multiple pints of coke in a couple of hours…

My kids go to a state school and as both are p6 and under the lunch is free. this is a snapshot of the menu.

I'm surprised with a menu like that there aren't others on packed lunches.

I would expect more from an independent school. My kids are at different one and they both have a really healthy menu, all created by nutritionists. We also have the full menu and it’s in a 3 week rotation so the kids are getting something different every week. We have things like lasagne, stew, cottage pie , curries and all is made as a vegetarian version too.

I really would expect more from a private school.

Tbh if I was paying £££ i would expect better but if it was free sounds OK enough as food like that is cheaper amd easy to heat/make etc

How much are you paying to have lunch included? if it wasnt included would the fee stay much the same etc