Is this packed lunch reasonable?

[DarkBlueEyes]

DD1 went on a school trip last week. She's in Yr 7 of a private school and I selected the packed lunch provided option as she has school lunches and they seem very good.

They were out for the whole day. What she received was...

A sausage roll, a packet of crisps and an apple.

Is this acceptable do you think? I have to admit I was a bit surprised as although personally I love a sausage roll, I wouldn't eat a cold one and had expected them to provide a sandwich, piece of fruit and a biscuit/muffin or something like that (this is what I would have packed and will pack in the future).

I now gather this is totally par for the course from other mums with older DDs at the school, so clearly I won't be selecting that option again. Besides that, the poor girl was ravenous.

What would you think? Would you bother giving them feedback and risking being labelled as "that mother" or just muse at how totally crap that lunch was and leave it? I'm inclined to the second option but then part of me thinks how will things ever change if they don't know how parents feel about it, and, I'm paying for that bloody lunch so why should I have to pack one?

So I will let the collective wisdom of mumsnet decide and prepare to be flamed

I disagree jesabel, the obesity issue is from poor nutrition, and meals regularly made up of high carb, it's shocking how many children I see being given sweets/chocolate at hometime by their parents, it's the norm for most children to have a treat on a daily basis now.
For years the government have been selling 'diet' and low fat products they paid to be developed, and achieved through the reduction of fat and increase of sugar.

The obesity issue is not just from poor nutrition.

It's also about the sheer volume of food, many people are consuming and also how often.

Living on shit food is not healthy, but it's highly unlikely to make you obese if you don't eat huge portions, don't snack and take enough exercise.

Rag not smug but yes my dcs never had anything like this in thweir lunch box in primary. Secondary and sschool lunches are a different kettle of fish but I can promise you that dc1, who is also in Y7, would need ore than what the OP's dc was givemn and more than what your ds eats too.
He is also very skinny and sporty etc...

For any person who is saying xx, Im pretty sure you can find someone whose epxerience is the opposite.

However, I think we can agree that this wasn't a healthy balance meal.

And not even a small bottle of water or a carton of juice??

If it's any help, today my 2yo (size of a 4yo) had the following packed lunch today :

Half a slice of malt loaf
Half a nibble of banana
Half a slurp of apple juice

No protein or savoury at all. Maybe 100 kcal all in. He and DC2 live on fresh air.

Ah, they'll never be busting out of their spanx Mrs Hathaway

My idea of a packed lunch is a sandwich with protein in it (hamwich?) a drink, a piece of fruit and a "treat" so maybe a biscuit, or malt loaf, or even a packet of crisps, but one "fun not so nutritional" item. I might chuck a 2nd "fruit or veg" option in there if they are also supposed to bring something for morning break, so a carrot for instance.

This is primary.

I don't reckon that lunch is all that fab, sausage roll etc tasty but not terribly filling or nutritious. For the same calories (I know its not all about the calories but still) you could have a full sized roll with something better in it than sausage meat

It wouldn't be enough for my 8yo, no. For a whole day out he'd have:
• a sandwich (= sausage roll, fair enough, except his sandwich would have some form of salad in it)
• carrot sticks or other veg (celery or cucumber, usually)
• 2 portions of fruit
• Yoghurt
• Some kind of "junk" food, whether a bag of crisps or a flapjack or similar.

Apart from the crisps/flapjack, that's his normal school lunch/break food.

I would have hoped for a decent sandwich to be in there too. Then it might have been sufficient.

As it stands, it isn't great.

I've a feeling I'm about to get shot down here but my 15 mo takes a packed lunch to the childminder and today it consisted of

1 salmon sandwich
1 banana
1 satsuma
1 small pot of cucumber (9 sticks)
1 small pot of olives (8/9 olives)
1 small pot of organix crisps (approx 1/3 a multipack)

these will probably all be eaten. It's more than I take for my lunch! But then she doesn't eat much dinner.

Crisps is really not food though, I think UK/US are very rare to treat them as such. In Scandinavian countries it is very much a very rare treat, you would never dream of eating them on a daily basis let alone give it to young children.

Well, the Scandinavians ate missing out.

Nothing like a wotsit of a lunchtime!

Crisps are food, really delicious food.

Anyone else remember getting crisps by the scoop from the bakers window (like popcorn) when you were kids (abroad)?

I'd complain. Not very healthy!

Doesn't sound very healthy, but the amount is probably OK.

DS2 is in Y7 and takes packed lunches. He has a round of sandwiches (usually either ham or tuna), a packet of crisps or a cereal bar and an apple or a banana. I've tried giving him more exciting things (pasta salad, cold spanish omelette, couscous and falafel) but he doesn't always have enough time to eat anything that fiddly. So sandwiches it is.

Never heard of scoops of crisps

Yummy yummy Spanish crisps by the scoop. They used up sell them like that in the ME too.

Ragwort Delta's ds sounds like he's eating a banquet.

Possibly, on a smaller scale. He has a compartmented lunchbox and he eats better with lots of little things rather than fewer bigger things. For instance, the watermelon and grapes, about 5 small cubes of watermelon and 5 grapes sliced. Half a carrot cut into sticks, half a thumb size chunk of cucumber. It looks like loads written down but perfectly fills his planetbox and hardly anything gets wasted. It's still more than the school gave OP dd though.

Next time I go to Spain, I'm looking for scoopable crisps! And I'm gonna have them for lunch, as well as a churro, seeing as crisps aren't real food I need something else to keep me going

That's awful. High fat, salt and not much to fill her up. There should be a roll or sandwich in there at least in addition to the other crap!

I'd say a wholegrain roll, sandwich or wrap with tuna/ham/egg/chicken and lettuce/salad. Plus 2 pieces of fruit, a bottle of water is adequate. There is no NEED for crap for growing children.
On a school trip is a special occasion, I might put in some crisps or use a different bread such as a baguette.

TattyDevine!

I was wondering when 'hamwich' was going to make an appearance

I find that appalling, one you paying for it so it should be a decent meal, and two she was on a trip so she would of been doing a lot more exercise than on a normal school day. My son is seven and in he's lunch I pack, flavoured water, a sandwich 1 slice of bread. a piece of fruit, a tomatoe (he loves them) and cheese string a yogurt and a packet of crisps. He doesn't always eat all of it but it's there incase he wants to. He does have the option of snack at school so generally he takes the fruit or tomatoe out for snack.

Our school isn't allowed of provide certain sandwishes that have been suggested. For example Tuna.

Because they can't guarantw they'll be eaten within a certain time frame (I think 2 hours) as they can't be refrigerated on trips.
So they only provide "low risk" ones such as cheese, with a big warning label saying "these must be consumed with in x hours/by X time".
Same for yoghurts - they are no longer provided for day trips.

I think the " standard" packed lunch is cheese sandwich, pack of crisps, 2 finger kitkat, piece of fruit and bottle of water

So its a real pain in the neck with fresh food sometimes. And parents don't always realise tat the school have to stick to food safety guidelines religiously

green there is no need for crap full stop. But life would be bloody boring if we cut out all the "unnecessary" food.