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

If you are that concerned send her with a packed lunch then you have 100% control over what is in it. Clearly you don't think the lunch is healthy enough, if you pack the lunch you will then know the problems they face with providing a lunch for about 50p a head- you still don't have complete control over what she actually eats though.Either put in the efoort or relax and stop complaining.

Private schools often don’t offer a packed lunch option. It’s compulsory for children to have school lunches. Independent schools are not limited to 50p budgets so there is no excuse for poor food. I assume the school is trying to cut costs (as with most others), but parents can feedback their thoughts and request better.

Private schools generally don’t allow packed lunches.

Many private schools allow a packed lunch option- I have never come across one where school lunch is compulsory- if it is compulsory then you feedback directly to the school demanding healthier food.

Why are you assuming 50p per head? I would certainly expect a private (or indeed state) school to budget more than that for ingredients.

I've just looked up the 3 nearest private schools to me and they all include lunch in the fees up to Year 11 and there is no option of bringing packed lunch. I assume therefore this is pretty common? (Mine went to state schools so no personal experience.)

Yes that doesn’t sound especially well designed. I’d send the school a few links that show processed pork has been found to be a carcinogen and ask why the meals served are not whole grain as per Eatwell guidelines. Ask them to show how their menu fits with NHS and nutritional school meal standards.

Not relevant as OP later said it is a private school- total cost is quoted at £2.61 but most of it will be wages and transport and power, might be £1,for ingredients, might not.

What do they do about special diets, and religious dietary restrictions?- I went to a private school everyone with special doietary needs took a packed lunch.

They cater for them - or mine certainly did anyway.

Assuming she has 3 meals a day it’s only 5 meals out of 21 in a whole week if it makes you feel better.

Sounds pretty typical to me except the daily ham at the salad bar.

My son has a limited diet due to medical reasons and eats a ham sandwich every day in his packed lunch so he'd love daily ham at the salad bar.

It feels like (as PPs have pointed out) your child is reporting what's been eaten rather than what's actually on offer. So you definitely need to see the menus, which are likely to be much better.

Learned something new today

I ate sausage, beans and chips at school everyday for 5 years!

My kids are in a state school and I’m pleasantly surprised by their menu. They have curries, jacket potatoes, chilli, spaghetti bolognaise etc. they can always have a sandwich if they don’t fancy any of that. Followed my fruit or yoghurt. Once a week they can have cake. For an independent school, that menu is shocking. Ask them if you can have a menu. If it is that bad I’d be having a word with them.

how old is your DD?

It's a known carcinogenic.

They have probably found that that's what the children will eat. I know at dd's school the menu sounds good and healthy and is all low sugar/salt versions of everything etc. In reality, this means a lot of food gets wasted as the children just eat the bits they like (generally the less healthy bits) and leave the rest. At home, dd will eat most things, including veg, but has moved to packed lunches now because the food is just tasteless.

I completely agree with you. I don’t allow my kids to eat ham, it’s so freaking bad for you. And all of those foods you list are pretty much just processed red meats. I’d be really annoyed by that. My kids school changed supplier and I asked for a full breakdown of the ingredients of each meal. As an example the meatballs and pasta meal had 8 E numbers in it! How hard is it to make a meatball! My kids have packed lunches. I’d be fuming if I didn’t have that option.

They’re usually such small portions that I couldn’t get upset about it.

How old is your DD and is it definitely ham on the salad bar? You are taking her word on this, as that menu looks fairly reasonable.
Working in the hall at lunchtimes I can tell you that a lot of food is wasted. The veggie sides are often not eaten, kids don't like the taste of the school version even though parents insist they eat these foods at home, the salad bar has to be managed which is where I am sure kids go home and complain they weren't allowed it when the reality is the younger ones will take a bowl and fill with all the cucumber which means no one else can then have any, and then they also leave it which means it has to be binned as we don't know if they have touched it, therefore as staff we will assist the child in choosing salad and telling them to return if they want more.

Oofff. It goes totally against what we know is a healthy diet. I’d be very unhappy about that. I’m guessing the school has people preparing the food who only have very basic training. It sounds like they are buying in a lot of frozen and long life stuff and heating it up. No actual ‘chef work’.

Me neither....I've been making my DD ham and cheese sandwiches to take to school for years on wholemeal bread...... thinking I was doing a good job on the protein and fibre front ....but I'm v worried now!! 😱