to feel almost bullied by schools/packed lunches?

[SufferingSaffy]

Generally I'm quite supportive of schools trying to get childrens' lunch boxes in a healthier shape.
My DSs usually contain something like:
wholemeal cheese or ham sandwich
yoghurt
fruit
bread sticks/crackers.

(I used to send a cake bar instead of crackers but it got sent back home so many times for being chocolate)

The school are on yet another healthy lunches mission. This time they want to see all packed lunches contain 2 pieces of fruit/vegetable. They are also encouraging children to eat something other than sandwiches and will award children with an alternative to sandwiches with a certificate for healthy eating.

I personally find my DCs 1 piece of fruit enough. We like sandwiches in this house so why should they discourage it?

*and don't get me started on the ice cream/ cakes they dish up with school dinners.

AIBU? Go on, I can take it probably

I hate those dipper 'meals' as well! I'm trying to think of 4 alternatives to sandwiches - pasta? er... roll? um... not easy! Have they come up with suggestions?

I don't actually see the problem with a chocolate spread sandwich if it's part of a lunch, with fruit, a drink etc. If that's all they've got, it's not great I guess.

or a whole coconut to eat alongside with a note telling them it needs to be opened

Nanny state meddling. YANBU.

Have always wanted to type that but I'm usually too apathetic to be massively bothered one way or t'other

They have made suggestions for alternatives to sandwiches as potato salad/ cous cous salad, and noodles.
My eldest DS would seriously not be interested in any of those. He would eat noodles with his dinner as would I. But, as I say, lunch for us means sandwiches. I know that may seem dull to some but we're happy with it.

A child at my friends school opened his lunch box to reveal: An Easter Egg. That was it!

I suppose that you could use pitta or flour tortillas instead of sliced bread - but that is just a sandwich in disguise!

rice or pasta salad?

Wouldn't like to see the state of the school toilets with children eating too much fruit!

cake bars weren't sent back home

My DS has sandwiches, fruit, crisps and cake bar. He's 7yo.

sorry were sent back home!

tbh i'd think large quantities of potato salad would be worse than a sandwich

I wouldn't mind this if they were correct in their nutrional policing and consistent. My daughter's school took her homemade scone off her but allowed the kid sat next her to keep his shop bought flapjack.

Sounds like a wonderful lunch to me, YADNBU. If you really want to replace sandwiches (ridiculous idea though) maybe go down the pasta salad / quiche route?

we have had many a battle with the school's idea of healthy pack lunch food, as they are quick to point out what they see as an infringement on their code, such as a homemade flapjack, yet serve the basic bread (may contain nuts, according to packaging pulled out of the bin by me to show head)from the supermarket ,toasted and cold at break with basic jam on it, 25p for half a slice, but they still maintain that they don't have nut ingredients in any school food, yet we are all expected to run nut free kitchens at home,

the food in school is grim, my children who will eat anything, complain it's cold small portions and horrid, even when we have been in for a parents

but we found(best friend did and we copied) a solution, now quite a few people are using them and it made a huge difference to the menu options,

www.gooutdoors.co.uk/aladdin-bento-lunch-box-950ml-p146744

blue or pink, paid for themselves over and over again,

put anything hot into one half of them and fill the other half with other bits, we do pasta, rice, soups, casseroles, hot pots, sausage and veg mash, when one of us is making anything, that we know will suit,

we make extra, shove it in the freezer, grab a container in the morning heat through shove in container, and it far quicker than making sandwiches, cold fruit salads in bottom, jelly, the children are very good at coming up with suggestions, and they eat it all up,

even pesto pasta and veg takes seconds in the morning, but children will really enjoy it for lunch,

since they kicked off in this area, the popularity has lasted.

YABU being disrespectful about school puddings. Didnt you know that school custard has magical properties making everything it cloaks smothers healthy?

YANBU - its all out of context so they can't really make any judgement on the lunch unless they also take account of the breakfast, home-time snack, dinner etc. The world's gorn mad (again).

Yanbu, our school doesn't police the lunches but the reason my dd is having packed lunch is that I got fed up of hearing about the two and three portions she was getting of chocolate puds or biscuits with chocolate custard, the final straw was when she told me she was also having two slices of bread and butter as well as her lunch everyday!
(my dd has a large appetite and at 7 does not have much restraint and is on the large side)

My dcs lunch boxes would probably meet your school standards, even with the pasta salad etc..

But this doesn't mean they are actually eating the 2 fruit and veg! Nor does it say they are eating the veg from the salad!
Very nice intentions but might get children to eat said fruit and veg.

I actually think that these 'rules' are more about trying to give a strong message to the parents ie it is important for your dcs to have some fruit and veg.
ds (Y3) has done some 'healthy eating' in class. Part of that was to record what they were eating for a week. Some children had a chocolate bar at lunch, a pizza in the evening and some biscuits at breakfast (with a packet of crisps!). Not one fruit or veg in sight...

This irks me too. My dd takes packed lunch as when she has a school dinner, although she makes healthier choices from what's on offer, she's starving hungry at 3:15 instead of being able to last until dinner time.
I think what you put in sounds fine.

Are you serious? The teachers sent back a chocolate cake bar?? And the children will get rewarded for the more psuedo middle class their mumm is by her not sending?? Teachers or lunch assistants really have got up themselves a but much have they not?

Make a tortilla with some bacon bits and yellow and red peppers in and cut a few chunks up for the next day. That can be really tasty and only takes about 20 minutes to make a large tortilla for the whole family the night before and some for the next day.

Is there a benefit to the school in having more kids on school lunches? It seems the only explanation. Do they have pressure from the suppliers or something?

"Stick with what you've got, but put in a whole, raw aubergine. Just for a laff, like."

Hahaha this made me laugh out loud! I would add a raw onion too for good measure!

also wraps /tortilla type things may seem less bulky but have far more refined sugar in them than wholemeal bread. When I was checking my sugars when pregnant (GD) they would send it shooting up for hours. I really don't get the differing standards between lunches and school dinners (DCs are both pre-school so I have all this to come).

Carrot cake
Fruit and Nut chocolate
Job done!

Schools can now be held accountable by Ofsted for not promoting healthy lifestyles. This will be published as part of an inspection report. Is the school due an inspection??

One enterprising child has just started blogging her school dinners, I'm so glad I never have to eat another school meal again.

neverseconds.blogspot.co.uk/

ask them what is more nutritional than wholemeal bread. white pasta? salty crackers?

After years of teaching dd to stop eating when she is full, school are no encouraging them to eat all theoir dinner... against government guidelines...

what is the size of the fruit? an apple would be 2 portion sizes for a child. they are clearly idiots misinformed