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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To want this stopped?!

387 replies

Notasperfectasallothermners · 26/01/2018 10:57

Dd started secondary school in September. Loves it, really settled well - no worries regarding peers /work etc. However, had an issue with food tech last week where dd (vegi entire life) was given pre measured out ingredients to make biscuits, as dd didnt know what lard was she used it and brought the biscuits home. All dc sat and ate them, will admit they were nice! Until she mentioned lard and Googled it herself. Not a happy dd! Told her things happen and not to worry, not lovely to drop down in a heap this once sort of thing.
Rang the school to remind them she is vegi etc, mistakes happen - don't expect head on a platter etc...
Then yesterday she gets home, salad wrap for lunch, server wearing gloves to handle ingredients makes hers - after handling ham to the previous dc in the line! Rang school again, they will be speaking to the caterers today. Fed up. Sad

OP posts:
ThenBellaDidSomethingVeryKind · 26/01/2018 13:02

I hate the gloves thing. Gloves v rarely signal improved hygiene / minimised cross-contamination. What tends to happen is that caterers wear the same pair for everything, (taking money, touching meat/veggie products etc) in the belief that its somehow ‘cleaner’. Avoiding waste discourages regular handwashing. They’d be far better with tools.

ThenBellaDidSomethingVeryKind · 26/01/2018 13:02

*it’s

Crumbs1 · 26/01/2018 13:03

I would expect a 12 year old to ask if they were vegetarian and didn’t recognise what they were cooking with.
I don’t know any biscuit that would use lard as an ingredient except homemade dog biscuits.
I’d expect a 12 year old to say please can you not touch meat before making my sandwich if they were bothered by it.
I’d think it quite amusing and precious for a parent to phone and complain until I realised some poor dinner lady was going to get a roasting.

slashlover · 26/01/2018 13:03

I'm vegetarian and the gloves would bother me, although I would ask for it to be remade.

As for the lard, if there is an ingredient she does not know then she needs to google or ask the teacher. It might be worth checking out the vegetarian society website as there could be other things she is eating and doesn't realise - gelatine or cochineal/carmine.

ExConstance · 26/01/2018 13:03

ShastaTrinity - that is not the point it is repugnant to most vegetarians to have your food contaminated by a decomposing corpse.

MikeUniformMike · 26/01/2018 13:04

But vegetable shortening has a fair bit of saturated fat in it.

SusannahL · 26/01/2018 13:06

What a complete nightmare it must be for any cooks/caterers these days with all these idiotic food fads and 'allergies' people like to claim they have now.

Ok, of course I accept that there are a few with a serious nut allergy, plus illnesses which require them not to eat gluten etc, but really it is just getting out of hand

I am sure a lot of it is part of this 'look at me/ take notice of me, I am IMPORTANT' self obsession which is so prevalent today, particularly with the 'selfie' generation.

Oh how our great grandparents would laugh!

RockinHippy · 26/01/2018 13:07

God seriously? What a load of crap.

& you are vegetarian Laguna? If not then the crap comes from your mouth not mine as you cannot speak from a corner you know nothing aboutWink

If you are for ethical reasons rather than health, then I'm surprised it wouldn't bother you, but everyone is different & I can accept that you feel differently. I can not however accept that you think you can speak for my DD who was devastated to find out she had accidentally eaten meat for the first time in her life when she wholeheartedly doesn't agree with it. Or any other person who chooses not to eat meatHmm

slashlover · 26/01/2018 13:09

Just thinking, is there any way that the school could let you know in advance what is being made and if you could substitute any ingredients? I remember when I was in school (25 years ago!!) they'd let me know for example that beef bullion would be used to make soup and I could bring in my own veggie stock cubes if I wanted.

scatterolight · 26/01/2018 13:10

The lard thing, maybe just maybe you've got a point. Though perhaps your DD should learn to ask her teachers if any animal products are present before she starts cooking in future.

The ham thing, jesus christ give over. This sort of offence taking makes the modern world so painful to live in.

If you subscribe to beliefs that deviate so wildly from the norms of the society around you, it is YOU that needs to accommodate. It is YOU that needs to say "Sorry for being picky about this, but could you remake my sandwich with new gloves?". Or alternatively TAKE A PACKED LUNCH.

QueenFrosta · 26/01/2018 13:13

It seems odd to me that they are making up sandwiches as the students file past. It would be much easier to make them up in bulk.

Olympiathequeen · 26/01/2018 13:13

There is no such thing as ‘psychologically allergic’!

LineyS · 26/01/2018 13:17

What an odd school.

RockinHippy · 26/01/2018 13:17

There is no such thing as ‘psychologically allergic’!

Of course there isn't🙄 don't take things so literally, it was a metaphor of sorts to make the point that to a non meat eater, this is a huge & very upsetting deal

ShastaTrinity · 26/01/2018 13:18

ExConstance but you are happy for people to wear plastic gloves when you know how damaging plastic is for the environment and the animals trying to live? How hypocritical.

JacquesHammer · 26/01/2018 13:18

What a complete nightmare it must be for any cooks/caterers these days with all these idiotic food fads and 'allergies' people like to claim they have now

Really? Two sets of tongs is a “nightmare”?

LineyS · 26/01/2018 13:18

It's a splendid metaphor, RockinHippy :)

ShastaTrinity · 26/01/2018 13:22

RockinHippy
that is a lot of crap.
I can understand that your daughter is interested in animal welfare, which even meat eater are by the way, and refuse to eat the body of a young animal raised for his meat, separated from his mother and killed to end up in her plate - or eat any adult animal for that matter.

However, if the concept if so strong for someone, there's no way they would be absolutely fine seeing their peers eating said food, but will end up with nightmare only when someone touch some meat then your food. The animal is already dead, the meat is there, touching it with gloves is not making any difference.

be consistent, either the whole concept is giving you nightmare, or it isn't. You don't pick and chose!

RockinHippy · 26/01/2018 13:27

Shash you are talking absolute crap, clearly from a point of "don't have a clue" too🙄

You also miss the point that meat STINKS of dead bodies to a non meat eater.

CBA to debate the rest of your points as you clearly don't get it & are too closed minded to even attempt to

londonista · 26/01/2018 13:28

I do have a good old LOL about the number of vegetarians I know that drink cow's milk and wear down coats. Mice to be able to pick and choose eh?
Just have a think about all those male calves being killed as soon as they're born every time you have a cuppa.

Sorry I'm genuinely not trying to bait vegetarians, but I really don't see the point in being vegetarian for ethical reasons. Health reasons, yes, but ethical, no. That's a vegan.

londonista · 26/01/2018 13:28

Nice...

Not mice. Don't eat them either. Grin

2kidsnopets · 26/01/2018 13:31

I'm not a vegetarian but I think YANBU
We often host friends for bbq in summer and are very careful to cook vegetarian food first to avoid this issue.
The lard thing is difficult, the teacher probably just assumed that the kids knew what lard was.
I'd also be wondering about the school's approach to healthy eating if they are teaching them to cook lardy biscuits!

LineyS · 26/01/2018 13:32

The Romans ate mice. And rotting fish sauce. And bathed in aqueducts whilst Nero burned. It's all true.

MotheringMilly · 26/01/2018 13:32

A baby or toddler doesn’t decide to be a vegetarian unless they are physically allergic to meat!

Firstly, what an unnecessary waste of latex gloves and secondly I’d imagine the catering staff are almost certainly overworked and on minimum wage!

If you’re that bothered about it you make her lunch for her.

If you and her feel that strongly I assume you only socialise with vegetarians and not those horrible nasty meat eaters!

NotReadyToMove · 26/01/2018 13:35

Sorry but I think the answer there is ... packed lunch.

If I had a child who was allergic to peanuts/gluten etc... i would make them a packed lunch too rather than relying on someone else to work to my standards. (Which is why btw ours secondary school says they can’t cater for people with really severe peanuts allergies). I wouod do the same for religious reasons.

I would also not expect everyone to know what my standards are (remember for example that some vegetarians eat fish. How are the school caterers supposed to know what you are or not ok with when there is such a wide interpretation of what being a vegetarian means???).
Plus there are some limits on what they can and can’t do. Changing gloves on a regular basis will be an issue in a busy secondary canteen.