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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be confused by universal free school meals

22 replies

Gwladgwlad · 08/09/2014 18:16

DS is in Y2 and is getting the free school meals but I am not really sure what I think as so far the meals have all been really unhealthy, not fresh and with cake/ cookie every day.

So, on the one hand I think it is important that kids get a hot meal every day and especially those kids that might not get fed decent food at home.

On the other hand, DS was getting healthier food in his sandwich box and not chips/ beans/ cake.

AIBU to think that the money would be better spent giving the kids that really need it a decent fresh meal rather than churning out rubbish food to those families that can afford to pay for meals anyway just for the sake of universal free school meals?

OP posts:
LindyHemming · 08/09/2014 18:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Groovee · 08/09/2014 18:24

I think it depends on your area and what the food is like. The primary school my children went to, have a working kitchen where it's all cooked fresh. It was lovely on the few occasions I had lunch with them. Ds never took a pudding in the 7 years he was there. Dd liked cheese and biscuits, caramel flan with custard which was once every 3 weeks and the fruit salad if she didn't take soup.

I often hear of friends having chocolate banned in packed lunches but the school lunches have the stodgy puddings!

exexpat · 08/09/2014 18:27

You're not alone in finding the school meals unhealthy - see this thread here, in response to a guest post on MN: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/guest_posts/2176167-Guest-post-Offering-every-infant-child-a-healthy-school-meal-has-just-become-a-reality?

WooWooOwl · 08/09/2014 18:31

Some school meals are really good though, and as I like universal benefits, I think this is a step in the right direction. The problem is that some schools serve crap meals, not the policy itself IMO.

hollie84 · 08/09/2014 18:36

The school meals were I am are pretty good.

eastmidswarwicknightnanny · 08/09/2014 20:28

My 4yr old has just started school but the school has gone back to cooking on site and has tables laid properly with table clothes and proper plates not those nasty plastic trays and a bread basket on each table, awaiting to see meal choices as he doesn't stay for lunch til next week but got to be better than nursery (value chicken nuggets, fish pie made from tinned tuna n mash potato, sausages were value range n this was expensive Montessori!!)

JamaicanMeCrazy · 08/09/2014 20:33

Do the free school meals apply all over the UK or just England? This is what om confused about Blush

Thefishewife · 08/09/2014 20:34

I do not want chepo free school meals and this is likey to cost me more than dinners would. Have as I am likey to now do packed lunch and the dinners and honey also I have heard that the juniors meals have gone up by a £1

Hassled · 08/09/2014 20:40

Jamaican - just England.

I agree it's an insane idea. Just make it easier to qualify for FSM, so more struggling families with children of all ages get the benefit - don't give it to comfortably-off parents of KS1 children who don't need the freebie.

WoodliceCollection · 08/09/2014 20:53

The FSM are only England, I was actually a bit bewildered by OP due to username getting them because we don't in Wales, not sure about Scotland. I think school meals are generally pretty good quality now, though my one who would be eligible is too fussy to make them a realistic option.

Original poster
Gwladgwlad · 08/09/2014 20:59

(Sorry Woodlice for confusion, am a welshie living in england!)
The food in DS's school is dreadful- am sure that can't be the case in all schools but it seems such a waste of money - we will probably return to packed lunches as at least I can put fresh stuff in it.

OP posts:
ilovepowerhoop · 08/09/2014 22:03

supposed to start in Scotland in 2015

whathaveiforgottentoday · 08/09/2014 22:31

We have quite nice food at our school but still don't get why they've brought it in. I agree they should have made it easier to get FSM. I'm not rich but I certainly could afford to pay for lunch for both my dd's. The money could be better spent especially as the lunches are not exactly the healthiest option going.

however · 09/09/2014 02:56

I don't understand why, in a time that calls for austerity, children with parents who can afford to feed them are provided with free meals. It makes no sense.

Clarinet9 · 09/09/2014 03:14

massive threads on this at the time

YANBU

an awful lot of what is served is shit and my kids would not be having it (I do wonder whether this will be the next display of ostentation like having 5 + kids for the wealthy, kids who are not allowed to eat the free food lol eek I am going to get flamed now)

it is not really confusing is it just another election bribe just it is rather an odd choice.

I do remember wondering at the time whether the take up of paid meals was getting too low to make it sustainable to keep offering free meals to those who qualify and whether that could be behind it.

moominmarvellous · 09/09/2014 03:30

This latest 'grand' gesture reminds me of the drive a few years ago to get kids active so 'Free Swimming for all Under 16's!'.

Until it was realised that large groups of unsupervised kids descending upon understaffed pools in the school holidays was a bad idea and the whole thing disappeared!

They're now fattening up a new generation so further down the line they can swoop in and make them fit again :)

EverythingIsAwesome · 09/09/2014 08:20

It starts in Scotland in January, our school is getting ready for it.

Chattymummyhere · 09/09/2014 10:57

It good at our school as we have a kitchen and good cook Infact tomorrow is a Sunday roast and Thursday is fresh salmon.

While it might not need to be free it does help people out and can provide children with foods they might not get at home. We have 98% uptake at our school.

tumbletastic · 09/09/2014 11:53

I love it, my DD who has SN and is in a SN school is now eating a variety of food. I would send her in with a healthy lunch box but would have often had the contents returned uneaten. Now she is given the same meal as everyone else and is actually eating it.

She is 5 years old and has eaten a roast dinner for the first time. I have cooked umpteen of these over the years but she has never eaten mine!

The socialisation and copying is great for her, and whilst we are not on the poverty line, school meals cost more than lunch box and so we couldn't justify the expenditure in our tiny food budget before.

BoomBoomsCousin · 09/09/2014 12:55

Part of the problem is that the way to reach many of the children whose families can't afford lunches themselves is through universal provision because so many families eligible for FSM under the regular criteria just don't take them up.

Estimates are that something like a quarter of children who could qualify for FSM don't apply and records show that a further 16% of primary school children (25% at secondary) who have been awarded them don't take them up.

jas1978 · 09/09/2014 13:01

If you think they are unhealthy put your hand in your pocket and make your child a pack up so you can choose what they eat. I make pack ups!!!!!

Callani · 09/09/2014 13:17

YANBU OP - I get the idea that universal freebies make us feel "all in this together" but tbh, I feel guilty getting something for free (that's not fantastic in its provision either) when so many vital services and funding is being cut. To me it smacks of vote buying at the cost of those who really need it.

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