Free fruit and veg in Reception - unpeeled carrots!!

[Bluehedgehog]

My DD has just started reception and when I dropped her off, I noticed a bowl of manky unpeeled carrots for their free snack.
Apparently the teacher does not have time to peel them but they do kindly break the tops off and wash them but they are not scrubbed and still have the black lines in the peel (i.e. dirt). AIBU to think it is quite shocking to give young children carrots that look like they are ready to be fed to farmyard animals?! What about bacteria? pesticides? .
I am undecided about whether I should bring this up as an issue with the teacher or just provide DD with her own fruit and let them get on with it.

[exoticfruits]

I am rather laughing at the idea that the teacher with the huge work load should be spending time peeling carrots! When? They arrive in the classroom between 9am and break time. Perhaps the teacher should leave them to look at books while she does 30+ carrots!
They can always bring their own fruit from home-they are not forced to have the school one.

[DownbytheRiverside]

No dips KF, pure fruit and veg.
Although some of them do come cut into little shapes, with peel removed and a little plastic spoon to avoid the child using their fingers.

[Wallace]

This has just reminded me that last year when I was pregnant one of my cravings was carrots from the garden.

But it wasn't really the carrots was after it was the lovely crunchy dirt

[DownbytheRiverside]

We also try and ban reception teachers from discussing the body fluids and personal hygiene needs of their classes in the staffroom. Especially when us delicate KS2 teachers are trying to eat.

[youarekidding]

LMAO @ agent and madhatter

My DS always eays carrots unpeeled and unwashed. He has the constitution of an ox. I have carrots in my fruit bowl as he just eats them.

[Iactuallylikeabigmac]

A gp told me to always peel apples, pears and carrots that were not organic, washing wasn't enough.

[spookshowangellovesit]

hahahaha a gp once told me to take 4 paracetamol at once for a bad back i told this to another gp and they wanted their name and practice because apparently you should never suggest that you take more than the recommended dose of drugs. so dont believe everything gps tell you.

[KittyFane]

Wellies :o @ 'runny bottoms' !!!

[TashHag]

How much pesticide gets to the outside of a carrot grown underground? Some will leach down through the soil, but I'd have thought that what gets on the carrot's outside would be pretty minimal compared to what's actually inside - not like an apple, which gets the pesticide directly on its surface when the tree is sprayed.

[breatheslowly]

I would expect washing to include getting the dirt off. It really isn't the teacher's decision as to whether you are happy for your child to eat dirt.

[DownbytheRiverside]

It isn't the teachers' decision at all.
If the issue bothers you, then raise it with the head or governors.

[StealthPolarBear]

"LaBag Sun 18-Sep-11 05:58:25
Quite at those who think that boiling dirty veggies in water removes pesticides and bacteria."

No idea about pesticides but boiling is a method of sterilisation so yes, I would imagine it will get rid of bacteria. Or is this something people should take into account when sterilising baby bottles?

[pigletmania]

YABU and precious. I often give my dd un peeled washed fruit and veg, I believe leaving the skin on its got vitamins and nutrients in. My mum gave my un peeled fruit and veg and I am fit and alive to tell the tale.

[festi]

what does a GP know about agriculture that you or I dont know

A GP once told me I had had an alergic reaction to an insect bite because I was morbidly obese. I was 10 stone, not too slim but morbidly obese I was not .

[Iactuallylikeabigmac]

Because of pesticides not dirt.

[trixymalixy]

OP have you never seen the bags of "no need to peel" carrots in the supermarket? Or the poncy baby ones that you don't need to peel? You just "shock horror" wash them before eating them.

And as for pesticides, do you peel apples etc? If you just wash them and eat them and don't peel them then YABVVU as they will be miles worse for pesticides.

[GrendelsMum]

I don't think you're unreasonable to worry about this, actually, although I can't see who's going to peel the carrots. A friend who is the son of a farmer and a botanist himself tells me that carrots are one of the commercially grown veg that it is well worth either buying organic or peeling carefully before eating. He's on the cautious side, but on the whole I'd trust his judgement on this. (He also tells me that commercially grown strawberries are rather dodgy and you should stick to organic, but I'm ignoring that :) )

[MrsVoltar]

Absolutely GrendelsMum, amazed at attitudes here .

Yes, a lot of the 'goodness' at fruit & veg is in the skin but carrots are one of the worst for having huge amounts of pesticides etc in the skin. I always peel them & would be not happy at all if my DS was given unpeeled carrots to eat when he was younger.

Obviously no problem if they are organic, no worries with 'dirt' its chemicals that are the problem.

[GypsyMoth]

I think the next ten years of school are going to be difficult for you if you are grumbling about this already!!

Plenty to come...

[MrsVoltar]

Meant to say YANBU, unless they are organic

[hocuspontas]

Carrots come into our school in bags and get rinsed with water by the class TA. Children eat them by breaking them in half and eating down to the ends. The few children who have never seen an unpeeled carrot look at others scoffing them down and just follow suit. No illnesses yet.

[hocuspontas]

And agree with tash, is the earth really that toxic?

[MrsVoltar]

Yes, unless they are organic. Huge amounts of pesticides when in ground, carrots absorb all of it into skin.

[LoveInAColdClimate]

Hmmm, I might not be thrilled if the carrots aren't organic, actually. I only buy organic carrots after that scare over pesticides used in carrots a while ago, which I don't peel, but I would peel non-organic carrots if I somehow ended up with them in the house.