DS wasted packed lunch fruit and veg

[hufffflufff]

Hi all

I'm in a quanduary about whether or not I should include fruit and veg in my son's (8) lunchbox.

Every day I put in carrot sticks, cucumber sticks, fruit (banana / apple) or some other form of fruit and veg.

19 times out of 20 it will come back uneaten.

DS will eat fruit / veg at home no problem.

I just wonder should I give in and not put it in and therefore not waste it (cucumber (and most fruit /veg) for example will need to be binned as been out of fridge whole day and bashed around in lunchbox) or keep putting it in as a nudge towards healthy eating?

Does anyone else have this issue and have any suggestions?

Seems a monumental waste of food to do it every day and 99% of the time come home and go in the bin. But I also feel a moral obligation to include it.

I always think carrot and cucumber goes a bit manky quite quickly in packed lunches. It's either too wet looking or it goes a bit dry once it's cut up and put in a container.

Apples take too long to eat for many kids...too much work. Bananas get a bit of a smell about them when packed up.

I'd be including a small bunch of grapes...fruit isn't vital for lunch though. If he has a few pieces in the morning or evening then it's fine not to add it.

Tricky one! Very common I think. Possibly tell him if he doesn’t eat it he’ll have to eat (fresh pieces?) when he gets hone every day? Unless he might work out he can simply throw the fruit and veg away at school!

I take the attitude that I provide a balanced diet, they choose whether or not to eat it. I make sandwiches the night before, and ensure that there are some chopped veg sticks in pots in the fridge and fruit available.

the DC then pack their own lunches in the morning - mostly DC1 only takes a single piece of fruit, DC2 usually has some veg and two fruit portions. There's less waste if it doesn't leave the house (someone else will take it the next day), but I still feel like morally I've provided the healthy stuff.

My Dc used to be the same - apparently cucumber and carrot are not as crunchy when they have been in a lunchbox all morning.

We have compromised with continuing to include fruit in the lunchbox, and having Dc eat (freshly prepared ) cucumber and carrot sticks at 3.30 when they get in from school instead of at lunchtime.

They are hungry when they get in anyway, so it works quite well.

You've reminded me of a mate whose child never ate her sandwich so he began putting in a packet of crisps plus a yogurt, slice of cheese and some fruit...she'd eat it all but never the sandwich. So he said the crisps were her carbs lol. Nobody complained! Kid was happy and she was always a skinny little thing so a pack of crisps a day didn't harm her.

Dried fruit worked for a while with mine.

@WhatHappenedToTheLego

My Dc used to be the same - apparently cucumber and carrot are not as crunchy when they have been in a lunchbox all morning.

We have compromised with continuing to include fruit in the lunchbox, and having Dc eat (freshly prepared ) cucumber and carrot sticks at 3.30 when they get in from school instead of at lunchtime.

They are hungry when they get in anyway, so it works quite well.

Exactly. They go manky quite quickly.

I always joke that the same apple went to and from school with my son for 7 years. He was never going to eat it but we kept up appearances.

Mine liked grapes, or a segmented satsuma or some strawberries in a little pot. They seemed to be easier for them to eat.

It's probably gone warm. I always put in a small ice pack to keep the fruit and veg cold. Proper containers and it's not dried up

I'd just see it as time to overhaul what you put in there. Perhaps he just needs less generally or he wants to get outside to play so doesn't eat it for time saving reasons.

My kids eat cucumber and carrot and at home but they wont in a packed lunch because they just dont really travel that well.

They have halved cherry tomatoes and watermelon and sweetcorn.

Will he eat the cucumber and carrot sticks if he has a small pot of humous to dip them into?

I used to hate banana in a pack up. It made everything else taste of banana.

Leave the sandwich out and see what happens

You need to make friends with mr Apple and Mrs orange. Pop in the lunch box on a Monday and keep recycling them till Friday and then Chuck in the bin. That way you feel like you are doing the right thing but not spending £ on fruit that nobody eats . The alternative is a pack of dried fruit which you can then recycle for much longer.

The only fruit I put in a packed lunch are bananas and grapes, sliced fruit goes manky, veg doesn't get eaten.

Mine don’t like cucumber and carrot sticks, but will eat the mini/baby cucumbers from Sainsbury’s/Aldi because they’re whole they don’t get ‘wet’ which was apparently what the issue was. Chantenay carrots also solved the carrot issue.

You need to make friends with mr Apple and Mrs orange. Pop in the lunch box on a Monday and keep recycling them till Friday and then Chuck in the bin. That way you feel like you are doing the right thing but not spending £ on fruit that nobody eats . The alternative is a pack of dried fruit which you can then recycle for much longer

Brilliant!!

some great ideas here thank you.

Do others have the same issue with their kids not eating any of the veg!? I seem to remember I was the same as a kid.

My dd was the same. I managed to get a bit of salad into a wrap or roll but my lovingly chopped fruit and veg went uneaten. Not enough time I think.

As long as his diet is good overall I wouldn't worry about him missing fruit and veg for 5 lunches a week, 39 weeks a year. A piece of fruit at breakfast and healthy snack after school will make up for it.

@vestastilly

You need to make friends with mr Apple and Mrs orange. Pop in the lunch box on a Monday and keep recycling them till Friday and then Chuck in the bin. That way you feel like you are doing the right thing but not spending £ on fruit that nobody eats . The alternative is a pack of dried fruit which you can then recycle for much longer.

Voice of reason, although to extend lunchbox time wrap them in tin foil, I can get a good month out of Mr Apple and Mrs Orange.

That seems rather a lot to be providing for one lunch. Why not just put in one piece of fruit and either carrots, cucumber or peppers?

If he's eating fruit and veg at home, there's no need to try and get all of his five a day into his packed lunch as well.

Dds primary insisted that fruit must be in the lunchbox. This was early 2000s.
I invested in a perfect wax replica apple (might have been from John Lewis?) And she carted that to and fro for several years.

If they have a snack when they come out of school/get home make it the veg & fruit which you would have included in the lunch box.