DS wasted packed lunch fruit and veg

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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 give DS a mini cucumber, as they're hardier than peeled, sliced cucumber and are more likely to survive unbattered until lunch time. He also gets sliced appled berries/grapes. Despite loving fruit, my DS often leaves what I put in his lunch box uneaten. If it still looks ok, he gets it after dinner. If it's looking mushy, I blend it with sparkling water to make him his version of a 'smoothie', so he gets a 'treat' and I don't have to waste food.

@SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius

I got my first ever mention in the Mumsnet Roundup, when I suggested putting plastic fruit in my dses’ lunchboxes, because I was sick of buying fruit and sending it into school, to come back uneaten.

This is years ago - the boys are all in their 20s now, and the lunch box police weren’t as strict as they are now - crisps and chocolate biscuits were allowed - but we were expected to send them in with fruit too.

I did wipe the rejected fruit and resend it the next day - a firm apple could do three days, and a just ripe banana might do the full week - but eventually they got too battered and had to be chucked out - hence the suggestion of using plastic fruit - it would satisfy a cursory inspection, and wouldn’t get too battered.

Yes, mine are in their 20s now, so school packed lunches in early 00s. As well as the lunchbox apple, mine took jam sandwiches.

I don't know how they ever grew up to be healthy adults

my 8 year old is the same. he loves raspberries so used to give him him then but would come back uneaten. he also eats clementines at home and I give him on everyday which he does t eat. I know he won't eat it but I just put it in anyway so I'm seen as at least trying 😂 he does eat fruit at home though so I'm not worried.

My eldest two are fit, healthy adults in their 20s too - I don’t think either of them touched a bit of fruit during their entire later primary/secondary school years. DD had grated cheese sandwiches, a yoghurt and a packet of crisps every day for years - literally. DS1 was more adventurous so would tolerate some salad in his sandwiches.
I gave up pretending to care in the end and stopped sending in their weekly Mr Apple and Mrs Orange.

I stopped putting in anything except a tangerine or whole mini cucumber/whole mini pepper. As a pp said most fruit/veg either is less than appetising when bashed around in a warm lunch box half the day or takes too long to eat. Those things i mentioned, if not eaten can be reused at home too. Like you dc eat plenty at home so I'm not concerned and I hated the waste. Dried mango/strawberries etc are another option.

Mine kids are the same. The school insists on a snack of fruit and veg to be eaten during playtime but they always prioritise playing and don’t touch it. I just give it back to them after school, seems to keep ok usually.

Packed lunch goes into school including regulation fruit & veg. Non-fruit-and-veg elements get eaten at school. At home time packed lunch box is usually opened on the way home, or shortly after getting in, and the fruit and veg are the only available post-school snack. Other nicer post-school snacks exist in the larder at home but are only brought out on days when all the lunch got eaten at lunch time. (Rare)

@ItWearsTheBatteriesOut top tip!!

Carrot batons are awful after a couple of hours - dry and rubbery. Even with a cool pack.

Nothing wrong with sugar and sweets in moderation but let's be really clear here that dried fruit is just concentrated sugar with a fairly meaningless amount of fibre. You literally might as well give them haribo.

Never change, Mumsnet, never change.

@AtomicBlondeRose

Nothing wrong with sugar and sweets in moderation but let's be really clear here that dried fruit is just concentrated sugar with a fairly meaningless amount of fibre. You literally might as well give them haribo.

Never change, Mumsnet, never change.

@SirChenjins

My eldest two are fit, healthy adults in their 20s too - I don’t think either of them touched a bit of fruit during their entire later primary/secondary school years. DD had grated cheese sandwiches, a yoghurt and a packet of crisps every day for years - literally. DS1 was more adventurous so would tolerate some salad in his sandwiches. I gave up pretending to care in the end and stopped sending in their weekly Mr Apple and Mrs Orange.

Mine are secondary aged and rarely knowingly eat fruit. Sliced apple if you are lucky.

I was so relieved when the youngest started secondary and I could do away with all of that lunchbox police nonsense.

Poor DS1 really didn't like fruit and so at one point he was taking cold baked beans in for snack as it was the only cold 'vegetable' he would eat.

TBH I think I totally gave up when DS2 was in year 4 and it was clear that I was wasting my time and money. He just stopped having snack and that solved 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.

Did this for DSs entire primary school career I think

I don’t worry about nutrition at any one meal, it’s about balance over the day or even week. I got tired very quickly of wasting food in packed lunches so I only pack what will actually get eaten at school.

I’m so glad it’s not just mine FunnysInLaJardin This thread has been quite cathartic - a bit like I imagine the confession box to be. DC3 is 14 and rarely consuming fruit - he will only (reluctantly) eat some when I tell him I’m not extending his screen time until he’s eaten a bit. It’s ridiculous really - but I know his elder siblings went through this phase and came out the other side to join the other fruit-eating grown ups, so I’m assuming/hoping he’ll be the same.
I’m too tired/old for all this nonsense.

Mine have a bit of salad in their sandwich and a piece of fruit ( chopped melon, grapes, an apple or satsuma). They also have a snack of some kind, either a small biscuit or crisps etc. If the fruit continually doesn't get eaten then I tell them I'll remove the snack. I have followed through so they know I mean it. Usually does the trick!

All well and good school insisting there is fruit/veg in the box but are they also going to force feed it to our kids? Just becuase kids don’t eat it at lunch doesn’t mean they never eat fruit. My 10 year old eats certain things for his lunch. He eats fruit at home a lot. I refuse to put things in for them to be wasted and binned so unless school are happy to pay for binned food then they can stop dictating what we feed our kids, my sons lunch is fine. Not unhealthy at all.

My DS7 has raisins for his snack. I buy a big bag and then just pour some into a small plastic pot for him to take in. He loves them!

I used to send my DS to school with a small apple.

It came back home with him so often, I named it David and set a place at the dinner table for it.

If they have a carton drink or capri sun or something in their lunchbox, freeze it and it acts as a cool pack through the morning to keep everything else cool and is defrosted by lunchtime

DS, who is well known for being an excellent eater who will happily sit down to a salad for dinner, enthusiastically tuck into something traditionally polish that he's never seen before (and is bright pink/red from beetroot juice) made by his BF's grandmother etc and generally eats pretty much anything and everything.... does not eat vegetables that go into his lunch box (with the exception of sometimes I'll put a "salad" of lettuce, cucumber and feta cheese). So I just don't bother outside of the odd bit of avocado or cucumber on a sandwich. His diet is more varied than many adults, never mind most 10 year olds.

On the other hand, DD's bestie is a pain who eats very little but for reasons no one can explain, will happily chomp down his carrot and cucumber sticks at packed lunch time, so his mum is religious about adding them.

I think if the overall balance of food is good and there's nothing hideously unhealthy in the lunch box, it really doesn't matter.

With my older two I stopped bothering. They didn’t eat it - and they’re fine with both fruit and veg at home.

Youngest does have cherry tomatoes and sometimes will actually request a salad for lunch, but even he is known to not eat it. For him though it’s more that he’s a slow eater and doesn’t have time.

Personally I’d leave it out and just offer it after school.

@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.

We're currently on day 6 of Mr Satsuma. I want to see how long we can keep it going. DD has ADHD medication so basically never eats until lunchtime. The school will insist that they all have a non-sugary snack though, so they're not distracted by hunger in the class. DD has never been distracted by hunger in her life. She doesn't even know she's hungry until she starts kicking off like Joan Collins in the Snickers advert

Ready seperated tangerines in a box are often eaten here. Or chopped melon but they need a fork so more of a lunchbox thing rather than break?

Just put in the same apple every day then at least you've tried. They're fairly robust.