Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6 ··· 9 10

Original poster

packed lunch police

244 replies

AuntiePickleBottom · 08/09/2011 12:54

my son lunch today, is ham salad brown bread sandwich, yogurt, an apple with a carton of orange juice..he also take a bottle of water to have in the classroom.

due to policy no sweets, choclate and crisps are allowed.

just looked on the menu for school meals and today it is Sausages with
Mashed Potato Green Beans and Gravy with the dessert of Pineapple Up-side
Down Cake with Custard

on aibu to think that ds should be allowed to have a little treat in his packed lunch seeing as the other children has cake and custard

OP posts:

Ooopsadaisy · 08/09/2011 16:48

Thanks seeker.

RedOnion · 08/09/2011 16:50

It DOES happen seeker unless you think those of us who have experienced this first hand are blatant liars.

angelinterceptor · 08/09/2011 16:50

I never thought about the relation to the uptake on school dinners - which cost £2.20 per day at my DD primary school.
I really struggle to send her anything she will eat in any case - she doesnt like sandwiches, or yogurt, or fruit (banana or fruit salad etc) or hummus, or ANYTHING

Bearskinwoolies · 08/09/2011 16:51

My ds's primary school introduced a 'healthy' lunch/lunchbox scheme; but neglected to change the menu for the school meals.

My ds came home the first day with a note stating that a 'cake' had been found in his lunchbox, and was confiscated! The school menu that day was pizza and chips, with cake or jelly for dessert.

I sent him in the next day with a note denying them permission to check his lunchbox, that if they had a problem, to contact me.

He's now in high school - I'm still waiting for a phone call

angelinterceptor · 08/09/2011 16:54

We are not supposed to have any sweets, chocolate or crisps either. Although we are allowed something for a treat on a Friday - like small bag crisps.

I have checked the school dinner menu, they are getting:
Fruit crumble & custard
Jelly, fruit & ice-cream
Chocolate sponge
Swiss roll
Smoothies
Chocolate & pear sponge
and so on

There is chips once a week, or you can choose baked potato -but i am guessing not many U11s pick that instead of the chips.

I send in a treat, small bisuit or piece of cake regardless - it isn't taken off our DC, but I think it is commented on to them, which is a bit much.

sparklythings · 08/09/2011 16:55

I'm completely with you on this, I think it's ridiculous that you get 'told' what to put in your own child's packed lunch. I'm all for healthy eating, and mine do eat healthily - but I resent being told what to do! (I've just had a rant on my blog about this exact topic!)

5Foot5 · 08/09/2011 16:57

Many posters have highlighted the contradiction between the crap that is served for school dinners and the absurdly strict rules applied to packed lunches.

Have none of you complained in strong terms to the school and the school governers about this blatant double standard or are you just grumbling quietly about it and then sucking it up?

If it were me there would be a strongly worded letter asking how they can justify this two tier policy.

LineRunner · 08/09/2011 17:00

I do think it's unworkable to tell people what to put in lunch boxes. Advise, yes. Tell, no.

I also have to say I find comparisons of situations on various recent threads to 'the Gestapo' and 'Nazi Germany' to be difficult for me. And probably for lots of other people.

Ooopsadaisy · 08/09/2011 17:05

Ok - let me explain my use of the phrase "Nazi Germany".

As explained by my Grandfather who (fortunately) managed to get out - the Nazi's made up lots of ridiculous rules to demonstrate how powerful they were. They then pranced around and dictated their rules to the populace in a dictatorial, unreasonable way.

Yes, their rules were a bit more severe than not having a mini fudge in your lunchbox, I agree.

If you find the use of the "Nazi Germany" offensive because of the severity of their "rules" then I apologise, but I use the phrase as a descendant of my wonderful Grandfather who was Jewish.

BahHumPug · 08/09/2011 17:18

I think that describing the Nazis as 'prancing around and dictat[ing] their rules' is a bit off, as is using your grandfather's experience to make you sound more reasonable. Surely his horrific experience should teach you that you shouldn't trivialise the Holocaust by comparing to it confiscating a piece of cake.

JenaiMarrHePlaysGuitar · 08/09/2011 17:19

I don't find it offensive and I doubt seeker does either - it's just daft.

Save the Nazi Germany comparison for situations that warrant it.

Ooopsadaisy · 08/09/2011 17:23

Those were his words.

He spent the rest of his life looking over his shoulder for the next sign of what he called "Nazi prancing". He nearly had a heart attack when Thatcher crushed the unions in the miners' strike.

He spent the war years as a volunteer fireman in the Blitz in East London. He wasn't fit to fight due to a bad leg since childhood.

I'm glad he's no longer here to see the nanny state we're in.

He certainly wouldn't agree with taking food off children, or making them feel guilty for having it.

SnapesOnAPlane · 08/09/2011 17:23

My DN's in Y3, and the crisps/chocolate gets taken away when they sit down with their lunch and start to eat it. As the dinner ladies walk around they have a little nosy into their boxes when they're open. They obviously don't make them queue up or demand their food, but take it away and let them know they can have it back at the end of the day/lunch.
I don't think the 'rule' is there to stop the relatively healthily eating children to stop having their occasional cake, but for the children that are sent in everyday with 3 packets of crisp, 3 chocolate bars and little with nutritional value - and since it wouldn't be fair to treat kids differently, they take all the junk off everyone. Fair enough, imo.

GnomeDePlume · 08/09/2011 17:24

Any road up, back to the packed lunches

When I was a school governor the deputy head said that she wanted to check lunch boxes. She was shouted down by everyone with the clear comment that she would get a two word answer from us, second word 'off'. We all agreed that chocolate would be banned from lunch boxes once it was banned from the staff room.

Funnily enough it never happened!

BahHumPug · 08/09/2011 17:26

Nearly having a heart attack at Thatcher crushing the unions is legitimate. Taking cake from children is not in the same league.

I agree the policies are hypocritical with regard to the school lunches and packed lunches differing in terms of puddings, but honestly, it's not worth those kind of comparisons.

LineRunner · 08/09/2011 17:26

But Snapes, That means some kids wouldn't have a lunch at all!

Wrigglebum · 08/09/2011 17:28

What about underweight children?

I took DS (2) to the dietician a few weeks ago. I was advised to incorporate high calorie foods like cake, crisps, custard etc into his diet as his appetite isn't big enough to get sufficient calories in without these 'treats'. Honestly, the food list she gave us looks like a list of what we won't be allowed in a lunchbox!

I hate the school attitude to food, even when I was at school we had our lunchboxes checked afterwards to make sure we'd eaten enough. Sometimes kids are starving and sometimes they don't want to eat much but you never know in the morning what they'll be like. I often pack myself a lunch and then don't fancy it all, so I'm glad there's no dinner lady standing over me making me finish it!

Insomnia11 · 08/09/2011 17:32

Only chocolate (and anything with nuts) is banned at our school, on the basis that it often contains nuts and makes a mess. Other than that I've never heard of anything being confiscated. Even when I accidentally put a penguin in the dinner lady just said "Tell your mum you are not supposed to have chocolate".

Take it up at your next governor's surgery.

Ooopsadaisy · 08/09/2011 17:34

Maybe it's just because I've heard it all my life to describe situations where people extend their power by imposing rules on others in this way.

It doesn't really matter what words I use, I still think the food police in schools is awful.

Can we all be friends? My poor old Grandfather always got himself into scrapes and now he's got me into one!!!!!!

whenIgetto3 · 08/09/2011 17:34

well last year my DS (7 at the time) got his treat of a 2 finger kit kat sent home with a note on it saying it wasn't allowed. I went in and pointed out that he had a salad, coleslaw, apple, banana, home made brown bread with no sugar in which made a ham sandwich and so the kit kat was a treat. I also pointed out that as they did PE and school swimming on a Wednesday he then went straight from school to a swimming coaching session where he swam roughly 30-50 lengths on a Thursday if they wanted he to stay awake in the afternoon then they needed to let him have a treat for energy. He was suddenly allowed to take chocolate each Thursday. What made me madder was the kids next to him had a doughnut as he was school dinners

Cunningly this year DD (4) has started and after swimming last night (45 min lesson) took in a cake, which is acceptable, with chocolate chips in and coaching from me as to the fact that they were currents

BahHumPug · 08/09/2011 17:35

Oh go on, I'll be your friend if you don't nick my maltesers

Ooopsadaisy · 08/09/2011 17:39

Thanks Pug! I've got wine gums in my pencil case if you wanna share!

heather1 · 08/09/2011 17:39

I used to get so cross at DS1 school meals and pack lunch policy. No chocolate allowed for Pack lunch kids but school meals would often have on the menu choc cracknell, choc milkshake and choc pudding. Even my 6 yo DS noticed. Why not say that on fridays they are allowed choc. Its silly

Haribojoe · 08/09/2011 17:40

DS1 school has the same policy as they have healthy school status.

Once I put a chocolate biscuit in his lunch as a treat thinking just once would be okay.

When he came home that night it was in his lunch box untouched as the dinner ladies had told him he wasn't allowed to eat it.

I don't have many criticisms of his school but it does annoy me that they dictate the contents of his packed lunch as I think he should be able to have a treat once or twice a week.

knittedbreast · 08/09/2011 17:41

lunch time monitors walk arond while they eat and look at what they are eating. if its not right they take it away :(

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6 ··· 9 10