Cheese sandwich and cabbage for school dinner

[LizyMint]

So my son has come back from school today saying that his school dinner consisted of a cheese sandwich and a choice of either boiled cabbage or peas and sweetcorn. This is not the first time this has happened sometimes there is a sandwich and boiled potatoes yummy On other occasions he has had chicken curry with one piece of chicken in it. So I know the budgets are tight but really this doesn't feel good enough we used to get a menu for the term but haven't had one this year so I don't know if the supplier has changed or if its just rubbish. Would you complain if so who to (guessing the head) or would you just switch to packed lunches. Seriously considering a thermos and a variety of soup / pasta things just so he gets something warm for lunch and doesn't come home starved. Maybe to be childish and make the point too.
Honestly though is this just how school lunches are now he used to actually enjoy the food on the whole now it's mostly either rubbish or just plain stupid

Someone will come along and tell you that is a proper nutritious meal

Not experienced this at my kids school. I'm always impressed by the dinners as they actually sound/look nice and filling.

If a child chooses the cold option at my school - so the cheese sadwich today - they are then allowed to have the hot option veg and accompaniments if they want. Leads to some strange combis though!

Sounds similar to my dc school and I'm fine with it.
Basically the dc choose either meat, veggie option, or sandwich.
They then all go along to the same veg and salad bar.
It's a bit of a strange meal if you've chosen sandwich as you've detailed, but makes absolute sense for them all to have the same veg and salad from a financial perspective.
As you say, you can always provide your own if you want.

So was that the only choice Is is it what he picked from the available options?

That is utterly rubbish. How anyone can think this is acceptable escapes me.
Yes to thermos and packed lunches.

My kids school meals are fab but I remember being in for dinners last and getting.....mashed potatoes and chip scraps with gravy.

I was distraught because I loved my food and also it was a rare day my mum let me have school meals because it was cheaper for me to have a packed lunch!

I'm assuming you pay for these school meals, yes? If so, you should complain. If not, I would say YABU.

The kids get veg crudites at school for their veg option with a sandwich, a piece of fruit and yogurt.

So are you saying that School doesn't provide options and every child at dinners are the same?

Ate the same

That sounds pretty crap tbh

Cheap sliced white bread no doubt. Plastic cheese and soggy cabbage...

Doesn't sound right at all.

I'd go with packed lunches. Get a thermos food flash and He can take soups and curries with actual meat in and pasta bolognaise and all sorts.

Its the same at the school where I work. The kids get a choice of meat, vegetarian, jacket spud or sandwich. Then its a free for all with the veg, salad and potatoes. We end up seeing some kids with jacket spud and waffles for dinner. The HT has spoken to the cook about it but she said that the council has told her that she can't restrict what the kids choose . So were trying to promote healthy eating yet they are free to load up on jacket potato, potato waffles then a pudding .

How old is your child, does he choose what he eats from a selection, and how reliable a witness is he?

DS once told me that he had spaghetti with gravy (just gravy) for lunch and that it was rather nice. After a bit of probing it turns out that he chose the pasta from one section and decided that he didn’t like the meat sauce so had the gravy that went with the other choice of main.

Does the school have a rota for which age groups go in first? Obviously the last group through will not have as wide a choice as the first ones through, but if it is rotated then everyone gets a chance at the wider choice. One piece of chicken in the curry? depends on the size of the piece I suppose you should only be eating a piece of protein the size of your palm , what else came with the curry? rice? Flatbread?

There is no nutritional difference between hot or cold food, though I think psychologically some people feel they like something hot on a cold day.

have you tried looking on the school website for the menu? most schools have it there.

also, and I am not saying this is what your son does, but we used to have problems, especially with boys, of them going into the playground to play football and not coming in until the very last minute so that the cooks were actually clearing up and had to scrabble about to find them a lunch. Worth checking this isn't what is happening.

When my dd 28(vegi) was in primary cheese sandwich +mash and veg was the normal for school lunch.

It could be because he didn't like any of the hot choices. Of course the dinnerladies should encourage them to have the hot choices, but if they strongly refuse they may be given something like a sandwich. However if it is not something like that you should complain to the school.

I have worked in 3 schools, the first two schools provided the smallest and cheapest portions possible, I remember walking through the dinner hall and feeling disgusted that the kids had half a hot dog and a small lump of mash potato. It was a pathetic lunch and they served the exact same sized portions to the youngest children as the year 6's. The school that I am working at now is completely the opposite, the food looks really nice, there is a good variety of different options, it's smells tasty (not tasty enough for me to try though) and the portions are huge, like stupidly huge, there is so much wastage everyday. If it was my child I think I would swap to packed lunches so that I could be sure that he gets a proper lunch everyday. If you wanted to complain I think it's actually your local council that you would need to contact but it's definitely worth mentioning it to the school, your child needs a decent healthy meal to keep him going until the end of the day.

Puppyfat - is is nutritionally ok though isn't it? Protein, dairy, vegetables, carbs.

No green custard in sight eh.

FAIL.

Jamboree's post is nonsense.

If the government are offering free school meals - which they are - then they have made a commitment to provide an adequate, nutritious meal to every eligible child. Whether you are paying or not makes not a jot of difference.

That sounds crap but I guess it depends on whether that's what he chose to eat because he didn't like anything else, or whether that's all there was on offer, or whether all other meal options had gone by the time he got to the front of the queue.

If he chose it because he didn't like the other options then yes YABU. If it were either of the other two options then no YANBU.

I would say regarding the thermos flask idea that if we're talking primary school then you probably won't be able to do that idea as many/most/all primary schools won't allow thermos flasks for packed lunches as the flask may smash causing issues or contain potentially scalding food. My school banned them due to potential hazards, however one was smuggled in and the child in question burnt her hand trying to get it open. It was a ludicrous situation because the girl's parents had already been told that their dd was not allowed to bring in a flask full of hot soup because of the risks yet they ignored that and the child ended up getting hurt. Then the parents threatened to sue the school for allowing their dd to get hurt. You can't make this shit up.

My kids won't eat the school's hot dinners Monday-Thursday. For special lunch last week there was a choice of sausage and beans OR Chinese chicken - both served with pasta spirals.

DS will eat the cold lunch - a white bread ham sandwich and a small pot of fruit, mousse or cake.

He is Y1 so still under the universal free meals but I send him in with lunch as he's fucking ravenous by the time he gets home.

He is in year 6 there is apparently no set rota anymore for who goes in first it depends what order the dinner lady on the door calls them in and there is a tendency for them to just go in numerical order. As such they are last in quite often. There is technically a meat option a veggie option or baked potato it sounds like quite often there is not much left. I would say he is a fairly reliable witness as he doesn't like making a fuss but has actually come home and asked me to complain about the food today. I get the impression that there is a "salad" bar with crudités and lettuce but otherwise everything is served by the dinner ladies. The chicken curry has diced chicken in it so one piece is tight. The kids even commented themselves when someone got 3 bits of meat! It's only £2.20 a day so I understand the budget isn't huge but in an effort to cut waste there seems to be next to nothing left if you're the last class in.

Based on what you've just said then you need to complain. That's unacceptable. You're paying £2.20 a day for that. Horrible.