To think the plan to ban packed lunches is crazy?

[Notcontent]

Apparently one of the government's proposals to improve healthy eating is to ban packed lunches at schools. I understand the reasoning, that it's to address the problem of parents who send their child to school with a chocolate bar, a jam sandwich and a packet of crisps. And if all schools produced a varied menu of food cooked on the premises then I would be all for it but that's nom the case.

In the borough where I live in London all the schools get their food from a large catering company. The food sounds ok on paper but is really just mass produced slop. Also, while in theory there is choice, in practice there is not. My dd eats a very good range of foods but there are one or two things she doesn't eat and these ingredients seem to feature in every second school meal.

[Bonsoir]

School lunch time is a big headache everywhere. In France, we are likely to have three-hour lunch breaks as of September 2013...

[PolkadotCircus]

Oh and the year6 get the same size as rec-bonkers.Some of those boys are giants.How can a strapping great growing boy go all day in an apple at playtime then 2 friggin fishfingers(if he's lucky),6 chips(my dd once counted them) and a diet yog?

[Wheresmycaffeinedrip]

My dd used to have school dinners. She hated them. And never ate the veg. Result one tired pale little girl who's now much healthier eating packed lunches with home made fruit muffins or proper roast chicken in the sandwiches. Not only does she eat all of it she enjoys it.

I still feel guilty keeping her on the school dinners but I thought she was just being fussy then the company went bust so quality was probably shit once they hit the trouble :(

Never again!!

[JugglingFromHereToThere]

The youngest children definitely get too much as well Polka ( I've been a TA so know from experience) - surely there could at least be different portion sizes for Key Stage 1 & 2 ?

[Scholes34]

Diet yogurt? Surely the children need some sugar to give them energy. Yuk to all those artificial sweeteners.

[Dromedary]

Our primary school is constantly going on about how healthy school lunches are. In fact they are mostly red meat (EVERYONE knows it's not healthy to eat much of that, even if it's not affected by mad cow disease and isn't actually horse), plus farmed salmon (may be carcinogenic), and pizza. And lots of cake and biscuits for pudding.

[PolkadotCircus]

Our school has problems getting the money off those that order them.Would be impossible to get money off an entire school and a huge amount of parents who don't want them anyway.

What are they going to do exclude kids or take parents to court for something they never ordered or asked for in the first place?

[elliejjtiny]

The school my DC's go to has food cooked fresh on the premises with a choice of 3 main courses and 2 puddings. We order the meals a week in advance and there are always leftovers for those children who want seconds. There is always roast dinners 2x a week and things like lasagne, spag bol, pasta bake, cottage pie etc other days. We pay £2.20 per child per day which I think is great value, especially as DS1 in year 2 eats a year 6 sized portion and then goes back for seconds (wish I could eat that much and stay thin like he does).

I don't think enforcing school dinners would work unless there was that kind of quality and choice at every school. Even then it would have to be free/a lot cheaper and packed lunches should always be available to those who had special dietry requirements for allergies or religious reasons.

[RussiansOnTheSpree]

@girls But she is allergic to dairy. As am I. Yet they don't ban dairy. Vegetarians and vegans need protein. Schools seem unprepared to provide it. Nuts are banned (but dairy isn't and our dairy allergy is severe). Are my kids just supposed to starve? Apparently they are.

[lainiekazan]

When I was at primary school in the 70s school dinners were compulsory at our school. The school was very small, so they were able to provide such excellent dinners that the mums used to complain that their dcs turned their noses up at home food! We were also highly trained in table manners such that no child left that school - no matter where they came from - with excellent manners.

Obviously in the dc's school (100 per year) this couldn't happen. But it makes me sad that their school dinner experience is so far away from the one I had. School dinners on plastic trays - prison style - and no intervention in manner of eating. No child left my school holding a knife like a pen!

But packed lunches... it's not just the kids who may bring chocolate and crisps, it's the sheer amount of stuff some have in their boxes. No wonder many children are on the large size - they may be eating healthy stuff lovingly made by Totally Organic Mummies (many of whom strut around MN) but I have witnessed children ploughing through gargantuan portions of food inappropriate to their size and age.

[lainiekazan]

"no child left school with excellent manners" whoops! without excellent manners!

[Bonsoir]

lainiekazan - the Headmistress at my girls' prep school was a stickler for table manners and made us all eat our pudding with a spoon and fork. We were served at table and everyone had to wait until we were all served in order to say grace before we started eating.

My mother has no memory of it being difficult to instil table manners in us, and I am sure that the difference between then and now is that many children eat in school canteens where no-one is bothering to teach them to acquire proper eating habits.

[Notcontent]

Well, there seems to be general consensus on that proposal!

[Wheresmycaffeinedrip]

:o

We need a "shove it" emoticon

[KC225]

My children have packed lunches but the school has a very strict packed lunch policy.

Lunchtime supervisors check the lunchboxes for 'contraband' ie chocolate, crisps etc. My children were sent home with unopened cereal bars and a terse note as DH had mistakenly packed the treat bars with chocolate chips. At first I thought it was a little over the top but actually I think it sets a high bar

[lainiekazan]

Yes, Bonsoir. My school was not a private school - it was a village school and the pupils came from all sorts of backgrounds. But as I said, no child left with inferior table manners - a skill for life.

I have goggled at how some children eat now. With their fingers, or holding knife and fork in their fists. Do they acquire better manners by osmosis, or do they grow into people whose eating habits will badly let them down?

I'm not talking about the knowledge of how to eat an artichoke or other poncey stuff designed to trip someone up, but basic skills that should not be considered "elitist".

[TooExtraImmatureCheddar]

I am stunned that there are schools out there who run out of food before the last kids come in. That's appalling. And that's before you even start on the quality issues.

[Dromedary]

Our shool forbids sweets etc in lunch packs, but supports the weekly evangelical christian club bribing the children there with sweets

[SaladIsMyFriend]

The vegetarian "choice" at our school is usually quorn based - so more processed food, and not all veggies I know even like it. So these kids often end up with bread for lunch.

And yy to those who have mentioned school packed lunches - I have seen a school packed lunch (on a school trip) consisting of a thin soggy processed cheese-slice sandwich, a bruised apple, crisps, and a chocolate bar

[NotAnotherPackedLunch]

It'll never happen.
Just imagine the chaos as the blizzard of Freedom of Information requests arrive asking to know the provenance and species of animal that the compulsory school meals are made from.

[RussiansOnTheSpree]

@salad Quorn isn't even vegan. :(

[AugustaProdworthy]

Talking about it now on Five Live

[girlsyearapart]

russian my sympathies with the dairy allergy it's a pita. She was allergic to dairy until 2.5 then thankfully grew out of it.
I guess nuts are easier to put a total ban on?
She is also allergic to eggs and sesame seeds which she has had anaphylactic reactions to and those wouldn't be banned.

[PolkadotCircus]

Hmmm see Kc I don't buy that when the school dinners have very refined cakes,biscuits and puddings in them.

Tis double standards.

Also my filling home made banana / choc cake which uses up my rancid bananas (so cheap)and is made with loads of banana,w/m flour and reduced sugar I can guarantee would be deemed as contraband but would be waaaay healthier than some of the puddings I've seen on school dinner menus.

If a child has had a w/m sandwich,carrot sticks,cucumber sticks,cheese or yog I don't get what is wrong with a cereal bar containing choc chips if the rest of the day is balanced too.

[Bunfags]

FFS, when will this madness stop? Many of us grew up in the 70's on a diet of mince, chemical laden orange and Angel Delight, but they bleat about jam sanwhiches and a packet of crisps. I'm lost for words to be honest.

A £2.10 school meal will likely contain mystery meat, horse maybe?