Aibu to think the school lunch DD had today was a joke?

[ICameOnTheJitney]

Seriously....noodles and a beef burger with no bun...the other veg on offer was potatoes and cauli....followed bu "A cookie as big as my face" according to DD aged 5. Is that crap or am I fussy? She usually has a packed lunch....

[junkfoodaddict]

I've read the first page ... not all 9 so sorry if I am repeating something.

I am a teacher and I would NEVER allow my child to have a school meal due to what I see in the dinner hall.

The children get two choices of a main course with a choice of 2 carbohydrates and 2 vegetables/beans. They get a QUARTER of a slive of bread too and dessert is usually a pudding or fruit/yoghurt. Sometimes the pudding is just a cookie.

The main courses are sometimes tasty but meals such as bolognese and lasgne is mainly bulked up with lentils but 'sold' as a meat dish and kormas do not have any of the spices that you would expect. I am aware that curries often need to be less spicy for delicate taste buds but they taste absolutely nothing like they should - they are bland and pale in colour.

The amount of food served is an absolute joke. One recpetion child received 2 very small roast potatoes, 1 link of thin sausage, a spoon of gravy and a teaspoon of sweetcorn and a cookie for dessert. My 20 month old is served and eats more than that. What is even worse is that there isn't any difference in proportion between a Reception child and a Y6 child.

Even with the introduction of free school meals, at least with a packed lunch I know what my child has been given to eat and I can control what he has. Granted, some kids are good at binning stuff they don't like so I don't know for certain if he would have eaten it but I hope to bring my child up to be honest and open about what he eats/doesn't eat and what he likes and dislikes.

I asked my class of 6 year olds if they would eat school dinners if given the choice. They said no. I have only 2 school dinner children in my class of 30 and they are 'free school meals'. I have another 6 'free school meal' children and they bring a packed lunch.

We are a PFI school.

[CarmonEileen]

I'm a midday supervisor. . much prefer dinner lady
When I started last year I sorted the trays and cutlery for the little ones (reception) The choices astounded me, my Dd was on school dinners at £2 a day, she would always pick Jacket potato and tuna... this was half a small potato and a dessert spoon of tuna
The choices are generally good and in most primary schools they have a salad bar so if a child doesn't like the veg on offer they are pushed to chose something from the salad bar, quite firmly, Dd had coleslaw every day!

[TerrorMeSue]

They could do worse than to download a copy of Eating well at school

[TerrorMeSue]

Free meals aren't coming in yet. Central Govt doesn't provide meals. Are you sure the staff aren't on MN ? The only thing that would make sense is if the school are switching catering suppliers to the in-house local council ones .

[ICameOnTheJitney]

Bastards it's not an Academy though...

[StuntGirl]

Yy hammer!

[LCHammer]

But it's not the kids that need to be satisfied. It's their mums!

[DuckToWater]

I think it's stupid that kids don't just get a set meal in primary school. With different options catered for - veggie, halal etc.

[YoureAllABunchOfBastards]

As pointed out up thread, academies are not bound by food standards any more.

[Wheresmycaffeinedrip]

Or perhaps she's seen the menu and feels its her duty to put them all off the food now for the kids sake?

[nickelbabe]

maybe the cook was bloody annoyed that the government had decided they would start to mess around with the meals, and decided to protest?

[nickelbabe]

ooooh, that's good news, though isn't it!

maybe the cook had a funny turn

[Wheresmycaffeinedrip]

Think that's the safest option jit

But please up date as to the state of things after the switchover.

[ICameOnTheJitney]

UPDATE. I love and hate this thread in equal measures....I went into the office today having been told by another Mum that the menu is displayed there....stuck up on the glass partition...it wasn't. I asked "Where's the menu for this week please?" and got a lot of "Um...ah...I took it down...because there were some issues."

I asked to see it anyway and looked to see that the meals on offer on the menu were nothing like what had been served...I looked at last weeks too...again, nothing like.

The receptionist told me "We don't know what's going on with it all...byut anyway the cook will be getting a list from the government next week and her menus will all be provided by them from then on anyway."

So this must be the change over...the free "Government meals"...what WILL they consist of? Gruel? Spam and Tomato Tumble? The leavings from the local hostelry bought in bulk and slopped out in tiny portions?

Can't wait! Mine are back on packed as of tomorrow.

[PaperSeagull]

This thread is mind-boggling.

Burger + bun + potatoes = acceptable

Burger + noodles + cauliflower = disgusting

Er, what? How does that make any sense at all? As I wrote above, I think the combination of items sounds absolutely fine. Can someone explain what makes this combination "disgusting" or unacceptable?

And the comments that one can only eat noodles with a stir-fry or meatballs? What an oddly rigid view of food.

[nickelbabe]

Right, I don't have a problem with noodles alongside a burger.

I've read many "served with the proper accompaniments" comments and it's driving me mad! No wonder kids are unwilling to try new foods!!!

My ex used to have a real bugbear about having to eat the exact things with the exact things. So much so that if we had sunday dinner, he wouldn't entertain the idea of eating stuffing if he didn't have a bird as his meat or yorkshire puddings if it wasn't beef.
what a pile of shit.

the problem I have with that menu is the one type of vegetable, and it being a crap vegetable. Nothing wrong with cauliflower, but it's white, not green, or any other colour, and i bet it was boiled to death.
if you're serving veg, you need at least 2 diversse vegetables - usually the different colours will ensure that you get the most nutrients (so, cauli and broccoli; or sweetcorn and peas; or courgettes and tomatoes etc etc.)

[bearleftmonkeyright]

Sometimes a child will have an odd combination because there maybe two things on the menu, eg chicken or beefburger and maybe the noodles were supposed to go with the chicken but the child wants a bit of both. Cookies, chocolate crispy cake, sponge pudding, all served. Our dinners are pretty good, nutritionally sound but they are not fine dining. I often eat them if I am working at school all day.

[GreenShadow]

Can't stand burgers personally, but apart from that, I agree with frog and others - seems a reasonable meal.

[NewBlueShoesToo]

I remember years of hiding tinned tomatoes under jacket potato skins and mint custard with skin on it. I'm sure it's all character building stuff..

[TerrorMeSue]

Meh. Some of you would find what I serve for breakfast some days bizarre, but nutritionally it's fine, if unconventional (eg leftover homemade burgers or roast chicken, leftover pasta or potato, leftover veg or tomato sauce etc). Dietician said it was not a prob, and it's grown ups who have hang ups about food 'going together' or at set times of day. Probably far better than breakfast cereal. DCs love unusual!

Like others, the only things I would question about the meal were why not more than one veg, why cookie so huge (if it was), and anything about the quality of the individual items, eg overlooked cauli or cheap rather than homemade burger.


One local school regularly serves quiche with potato (and optional salad) followed by apple pie and custard to its 3-4 yr olds. It's caterers have won awards too, but it is stodge, stodge and more stodge. Pie followed by pie wold worry me more than burger, noodles and a vegetable.

[NewBlueShoesToo]

DS can choose from a range but has to have a carb, a vegetable and a protein on the plate. His favourite combination was spaghetti, prawns and cabbage!

[NellysKnickers]

DS1 once had a plate of sweetcorn two days running, despite the headmistress assuring me they would cater for his allergies without s problem! At least it was healthy I suppose. When I complained I was told that was what he chose. He was 4. He is now at a different school where the lunches are fab but he insists on packed lunch now.

[Sallystyle]

My DD had a burger with no bun yesterday, with cauliflower but spaghetti hoops instead of noodles.

Noodles should only be served in a stir fry or with meatballs and sauce, not a burger!

[Feminine]

op I'd like to tell you something...

I quite often cook the meal you have complained about.

I can make that combo taste really nice.

All food groups are there. I don't see what is wrong.