To send DS in wth butter (and a note) (lighthearted)

[clary]

Very much a first world problem I know...
DS2 is cooking granola bars next week at school. They are healthy apparently ( at that because the recipe includes sugar, honey and dried fruit).

Anyway he was told they must bring marg not butter as "margarine is lower in fat and healthier than butter". This is nonsense of course as marg is as high in fat as butter and includes potential nasties such as colours, flavouring and preservatives. It also tastes icky (IMO).

DS (bless him) put his hand up and said his mum would only buy butter so was that OK? Teacher said no, if you bring butter you won't be allowed to cook.

AIBU to send him with butter anyway - in a plastic box so you can't tell - and just let him get on with it? DH says I should include a note saying why in case teacher queries it (highly unlikely I would imagine) but only to be shown if that happens.

I don't want to start a fight and I am not going to pick the teacher up on his mistake (except on MN ). But equally I am not about to buy marg yuck.

Sorry this is sooo long.

[BoneyBackJefferson]

As far as I can see the only reason for recommending marge is that it isn't as problematic when combining in a mixture from cold.

If the pupil is happy to spend the extra time sorting that out then I don't care.

But as you would melt the butter in a pan for this I can't see a problem.

[Losingmyreligion]

Total bollocks on so many levels. Send in butter with a note that their information is outdated, you refuse to feed your children trans fats, the recipe is not healthy as it is too full of sugar and there will be hell to pay if ds is not allowed to cook.

[willowisp]

I spoke to the home economics teacher at the school open afternoon & asked why they use & request margarine & she says because its cheap & not everyone can afford butter . . She also said its fine to send in butter.

[ginslinger]

I would send butter and a very detailed note. But I was 'that' mother

[BoneyBackJefferson]

willow

There are some parents who can't afford to send in any ingredients at all.

[emotionsecho]

This 'healthy' margarine thing drives me mad too, OP, I won't have the stuff in the house. Margarine is just a chemical soup, when even flies won't touch it you have to wonder why anyone would want to eat it! Didn't the formula for margarine start out as a possible industrial lubricant?

Worrying that a teacher is promoting this incorrect information re margarine being low fat and healthy.

Send him in with the butter, a note may help in case he is challenged but I would include in the note that if your son is not allowed to cook you will take it further.

[Tallypet]

Ugh. Marg is not a suitable substitution for butter especially in 'baking'. Too fatty, salty and melty. Plus it's gunk.

[ZingOfSeven]

send butter. end of

[SDTGisASpookyWoooolefGenius]

I told my GP this week that I wouldn't be replacing butter with low-fat spreads, even though my cholesterol is a bit high.

My argument is that I would rather use a bit of something that has only two ingredients - both natural ones - that I could make myself in my own kitchen, rather than using something that contains 17 ingredients and has to have both flavourings and colour added to make it palatable to the taste and to the eye.

I have looked up Flora, as an example - these are the ingredients:

Vegetable Oils (Seed Oils 85%), Water, Salt (1.4%), Buttermilk, Emulsifier: Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids, Preservative: Potassium Sorbate, Citric Acid, Vitamin E, Vitamin B6, Flavouring, Colour: Beta-Carotene, Folic Acid, Vitamins A, D and B12.

The ingredients of butter are cream and salt - and even the salt is not vital to the product. I could go and buy a pot of cream and make butter in minutes, using nothing more than a lidded jar. I couldn't make margarine.

[sashh]

Send a note saying you are unable to buy ,margarine, could the teacher please state where they buy theirs.

Back in the early 1980s I used to have to pretend butter was marge in cookery classes.

[CruCru]

Yeah, I see your point and it's irritating.

However, at some point you may need to go in to the school to resolve something important. If that happens, you don't want to be the parent who kicked off about whether butter is better than margarine.

Pick your battles.

[ihatethecold]

SDTG. How do you make butter?

[Thrif]

I am generally very much in the pick your battles camp but I don't think I could let this one go.

This teacher is responsible for teaching healthy eating and what they are teaching is just plain wrong. Would it be OK if a maths teacher taught that 6 x 6 = 81?

I would have to take issue with marg being better or lower in fat than butter, with the fact that margarine in fact doesn't actually exist in the UK and that granola is healthy at all.

I would do it by telephone, not via a note though and expect a proper discussion

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

I have always just sent my kids in with butter.

Formerbabe you can't just melt butter and pour it into something else and expect it to re solidify into butter. You get a separated out ghee like substance. I actually had issue had issue with this in a posh restaurant that should have known better. Er no that very cute, tiny little pot, does not contain something I would like to spread on my roll.

[Wishtoremainunknown]

Marg doesn't have less fat ? Or am i thinking if low fat spread ? Is that different ?

[Wishtoremainunknown]

Spread contains less far right ?

[WonkoTheSane42]

How do you make butter?

Get some double cream and whizz it in a mixer for a little while. Alternatively, shake it for a long time in a jar or something.

[Kookydooda]

Could someone point me to some factual websites where it explains that spread or marg as we normally call it is worse for you than butter? I just had a quick google and all seem to say marg is better for you than butter.
Confused?

[ZingOfSeven]

lakeland has a butter maker jar

pour in cream, shake, leave in fridge for a few hours.
I keep meaning to buy one

[TheRealAmandaClarke]

Im not sure you can even buy margarine now.
Are they talking about a sunflower oil spread? So no lower in fat but lower in saturated fat than butter?
Annoying.
I would send him in with an organic sunflower spread or some such so as not to be awkward (because they have asked for it not to be butter and I wouldn't car either way) but I would be tempted to point out, via a note of some sort, the comparative fat content (usually just over 80% for both sunflower spread and for butter)

[ZingOfSeven]

Ams

you are right, you can't buy margarine anymore. I know that from QI

[fredfredgeorgejnr]

In the EU, Margerine is non dairy oil which is solid and between 80 and 90% fat. Butter typically has around 81% fat... You can buy marg here, but it's not very common at all, typical baking fats (e.g. Stork) that the teacher is presumably asking for is typically lower in fat (probably around 65%)

Send in whatever yellowish or whitish high fat baking ingredient you want,

There is absolutely no reason to send a note to the teacher... if you really think their professional knowledge is inadequate you need to take it up with their superiors in a sensible plan to rectify their knowledge. But in reality just do the same as you do with every other of the thousands of things that teachers get wrong / over simplify / your kids understand. Teach them the correct answer and an opportunity to remind you all that no-one knows everything, and often there is no right answer.

The question of which is healthier depends on so many other things than the individual item.

[fredfredgeorgejnr]

kookydooda So outside of the UK, and here some time ago, spreads were made by including "trans-fats", there's reasonably strong evidence that these are not that good for you, and should be avoided. They are not available in normal UK spreads (Palm oil is used instead, so it's worse for orangutan's) so it's no longer as clear that spreads are different.

[tobysmum77]

all this marg debate fgs it tastes disgusting - that's all that matters. Butter is bad for you if you eat too much of it.

op yanbu imo. Just send him in with a note stating you won't be buying marg for an unhealthy recipe. If they are that worried about healthy eating why not cook something erm healthy?

[starlight1234]

YNBU..

I stopped buying spead after reading stuff on FB.. No idea if it was true or not but enough to influence me.