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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that if school dinner puddings are unhealthy EVERY DAY, then I can

137 replies

CocktailQueen · 16/01/2014 11:45

give my dc a gingerbread biscuit in his packed lunch??

School is cracking down on 'treats' in packed lunches. So no crisps, sweets, biscuits etc. except for one treat on Friday. Fair enough. But they have kept 'unhealthy' school dinner puddings - chocolate crispie cake, chocolate pud with custard, etc.! How is that fair?

Now, my ds is skinny and always on the go, and he needs some fat in his diet! So I gave him the gingerbread biscuit yesterday and he said he had to hide it to eat it in case the dinner lady saw him and took it away!

OP posts:
Back2Basics · 16/01/2014 18:05

Giles that's not every school, it's never happened for any of my dc and they have been to 3 different schools. Surely if this really does happen parents complain and the cook cooks enough.

I do work in a kitchen (not a school one) and we over estimate quantities not under estimate. For example I made. 90 mix up for 72 instead of stretching the 60. I would assume school kitchens do the same. Or they should do if the cook wants to keep her job.

Back2Basics · 16/01/2014 18:09

Meals really are balanced over the week and the 3 week rota. It would be quite silly and impossible to get every nutrient into every meal and frankly that would be unhealthy. Oily fish is great but not every day, then it becomes bad for you.

There are weekly staples like fish that are not for every day.

I could go on but I can't be arsed to get in this argument. There are a lot of schools that cook really child centric healthy meals balanced over the week.

Boreoff456 · 16/01/2014 18:11

Most schools don't have actual cooks. My friends dds school has meals delivered in hot trolleys. Made early in morning and kept in hot cabinets and delivered just before lunch. They don't even have a kitchen, they have a room from which the meals are served.

You can complain but its the council in our area that wants schools to do this to avoid H&S hassels of hot food prep. The schools in this area do mot even employ the people who serve it.

As i said i own a restaurant, i know what it takes to cook and serve healthy food on a big scale and most of the schools here don't have the facilities.

Mim78 · 16/01/2014 18:12

All her friends are free school meals (we aren't) and the hot dinners are at a separate time from lunchbox - so if she doesn't do the hot meal she eats her sandwich on her own and then plays in the playground on her own which was really upsetting her.

This is so sad! There are guidelines telling schools not to do this (i.e. not to separate packed lunches and dinners) but I'm afraid I can't provide a link.

It seems to cause upset the other way round often - i.e. kids wanting to stop having school dinners because their friends all have packed lunch.

I am glad they are bringing in free dinners for infants next year - will be good for those who just can't afford it at the moment and who are finding packed lunch (though probably expensive too) a bit cheaper.

Boreoff456 · 16/01/2014 18:13

Bit carbs, car a and the small amount of protien in beans (also has carbs) is not a balanced meal. I didn't say everything had to be in one meal. Because not everything is healthy to have every meal.

However carb overload, followed by a sugary stodge pudding is not a balance meal over 1 day or 3 weeks.

Mim78 · 16/01/2014 18:15

PS - SueDoku - i assume you're joking about packed lunches being banned but no, I don't think that is part of the plan!

In the republic of Mim they will all be banned and replaced with excellent, high quality meals. You will all pay lots of taxes though and all complainers will be shot (!).

RufusTheReindeer · 16/01/2014 18:15

As I said before, many schools seem to be able to manage decent food, mine does

So why isn't it across the board, and can it be changed through parents complaining

Boreoff456 · 16/01/2014 18:16

That first line should be carbs, carbs

Boreoff456 · 16/01/2014 18:19

Because some councils and LAs prefer ot the way it is and the schools have now had the kitchens (in part removed) and they don't give a shit when you do complain.

At dds school the oily fish option is only ever salmon nuggets. I wouldn't eat salmon that was deep fried at 9 am and served at 12. But the council and LA don't want to know.

Back2Basics · 16/01/2014 18:21

Oh and just one more point

School kitchens do not serve low fat, artifically sweetened crap, they serve full fat milk and yoghurt and most of the cakes are cake mix (crap really) made with sugar.

If the cakes and puddings are properly made they are made with sugar not sweetener.

And I don't know of any school that has hot dinners deliver daily, all the ones in my area that I work in have cooks.

Back2Basics · 16/01/2014 18:24

Oh and again one more point or two

All schools council run have a strict no reheating policy so nuggets wouldn't be cooked at 9 to be served at 12. To ht hold for this long is illegal to btw.

Most school kitchens don't have holding hot cupboards either anymore.

Reheating food is a on the spot fired offense.

GlitzAndGiggles · 16/01/2014 18:25

When I was in secondary school we had an ice cream van come into the school but we were only allowed to buy 1 item. After many complaints it was removed from the school and they'd park right outside the school gates. I agree it's stupid the puddings they serve but schools kick up a stink if a child has a treat of their own Confused

Gileswithachainsaw · 16/01/2014 18:27

My dds school the food is brought in. I expect that veg that's been kept warm all morning and reaches the children completely over cooked is highly nutritious Hmm

As is all the other food that's been mass cooked and kept warm til it's served bypass one vile spoon ful at a time to the poor unsuspecting children.

Our school didn't even do an Xmas dinner this year because there wasn't the space or time for everyone to be served then sit down and eat it.

I don't want my child to jar to wait an age for lunch and kiss out on vital play and exercise. And I don't want her going hungry because it's vile.

Don't care if it's going to be free. Just because something's free doesn't mean it's best for my child. And I won't have her made ill or miserable purely because "it's free"

Gileswithachainsaw · 16/01/2014 18:28

Miss out.

Sorry for typos Blush

HappyMummyOfOne · 16/01/2014 18:38

Our chocolate cake is made with beetroot, the custard is powered and the guidelines the cook has are very strict. The menu sounds far more appetising than it actually is.

I dont think bringing in free school meals for infants will benefit anyone really and is just a costly PR exercise. A school dinner doenst replace the need for a proper evening meal which many dont do after and why dont juniors need one? Some will have siblings in both key stages and wont pay for school lunches for the elder ones.

cosikitty · 16/01/2014 18:43

School dinners might not be perfect, but what do people provide that is any better in a packed lunch?

Yoghurts will have equally as much sugar as custard, veg is hard to get into a lunch box, as is a decent serving of protein.

Boreoff456 · 16/01/2014 18:45

There are 2 schools in our area that have food delivered. And its not reheated. Its kept on hot cabinets all that time yes. The school show all the parents how it works.

That isn't illegal.

Boreoff456 · 16/01/2014 18:51

Dd likes salads and raw veg. She takes mixed seeds. Some meat or cheese. We bake our own bread so she also has sandwiches sometimes. A piece of fruit. We vary it quite alot.
She also has a home cooked meal on a night. Because we know exactly what she is having at lunch its easier to make sure she has a balanced edit across the board.

We also grow alot of fruit and veg so its fresh as well. We are in quite a good position because dh loves his allotment, trained as a chef and has studied nutrition for his previous jobs.

cosikitty · 16/01/2014 18:52

Our school has a serving kitchen only, meals are cooked in nearby school and delivered to several neighbouring schools and kept hot in special cabinets. DD has then, and they are fairly balanced compared to most children's packed lunches. We are able to choose from the menu in advance to ensure the meal is balanced and she gets two servings of veg. The pudding is optional as there is fresh fruit or yoghurt as an alternative.

Boreoff456 · 16/01/2014 18:52

Oh and dd loves a boiled egg.

Bootycall · 16/01/2014 18:59

if teachers were just required to teach and not interfere into parenting choices of food and clothes for school how much easier their job would be and how many stupid and petty conflicts would never begin.

cosikitty · 16/01/2014 19:01

I'd like to see my dd's face if she just had raw veg and some seeds for lunch! Grin

cosikitty · 16/01/2014 19:05

Who are teacher's to advise on the contents of a school dinner anyway. They are not nutrition experts, and all the staffrooms I have been in always have a stash of cake and biscuits.

Gileswithachainsaw · 16/01/2014 19:11

And why should children who always have decent lunches, be forced to eat crap just because even the dregs of a school meal is better than the stuff a minority of unfortunate children get?

Help those children!!!

Let me look after mine!

Boreoff456 · 16/01/2014 19:14