...to ask you to ditch school milk?

[TurquoiseTranquility]

Just received the milk letter from school. Not sure if milk prices vary by area/school, but I'm being asked to pay £18.25 for the Autumn term. That's for a 189ml carton of semi-skimmed for 8 weeks, which works out at a whopping £2.42 per litre (£1.37 per pint) of supposedly EU-subsidised milk
Beyond the maths, though, I can't even begin to explain just how much school milk goes to waste. I'm a TA and in my KS2 class, only three children are on the milk list... yet they never EVER drink it, and even though we do offer it to the rest of the class, there are rarely any takers. In Reception, where more than half the class are on the milk list, they are regularly chucking whole packs of it. And that's not just the milk, it's all the packaging and the plastic straws, makes my heart sink
The odd thing is, I've always asked my kids whether they want milk before renewing. And they'd always said yes. But having seen all that waste, I thought I'd go a bit further and ask it they drink all of it or just take a sip and put the rest in the bin. Guess what the answer was.

So last term, I bought them a small thermos flask each and started sending milk in with them. This lasted all of 2 weeks, in which time they were coming home with the flasks still full. Lesson learnt

I guess what I'm trying to say, grill your kids before you pay! And if you don't think they actually drink much of it, save your money and the planet. They'll drink some at home if they want to.

When I was teaching the children loved their milk and anything left over was considered a reward. In fact I made a list so everyone got a chance. I felt sorry for the children whose parents hadn’t paid for it as they were the first to want the unused milk. I used to give them priority but not too obviously. I regretted the decision to stop free milk. Children are ready for something mid-morning as breakfast is often a quick affair and early.

Milk is absolutely fantastic for strong teeth and bones. Nothing comparable in such an easily accessible form. So important for children and girls particularly when osteoporosis is a real problem. I don't understand the demonisation of it at all when there's so much shit stuff out there that people are pouring down their neck.

I was with a friend who was ordering a soy latte and asked her why and she looks at me and says she doesn't really like the taste but normal milk is soooo bad for you she feels like she must avoid it! Bizarre.

My children drunk "free" milk for ages after they had turned 5, by drinking up the cartons other children didn't want, but that their parents had paid for.

Rocinante1 school is brilliant. 20p a cup is a system all school's should have!

Thank you Str4ngedaysindeed, though I'm not taking it personally as it it's a scientific fact, not my opinion, that no human NEEDS milk/dairy products after weaning.

I blame teachers for not educating their pupils to distinguish between wants and needs. :o

If the children are enjoying the milk it makes sense. Do they provide a vegan alternative? It's much healthier. A carton of milk is an extra 100 calories a day.

But why's it such 'a massive coup'? It's one of the most nutritionally complete foods there is so ideal for giving to kids especially those from deprived backgrounds.

And as further anecdata, I drank gallons of the stuff as a kid, when others were drinking tea and coffee I was drinking milk.

Gah posted too soon.

I'm also 50+ and fighting fit, very very active. All that milk has given me lovely strong bones too.

On the flip side I've always hated milk. Never drunk it. Had it in coffee sometimes that was it.

I avoid dairy often because it makes me feel a bit meh... but im.the only one in my family who's never broken a bone...

But why's it such 'a massive coup'? It's one of the most nutritionally complete foods there is so ideal for giving to kids especially those from deprived backgrounds

While the cheap nutritional benefits are plain, so are the boost to producers:

www.telegraph.co.uk/education/12152492/Government-to-consider-bringing-back-free-milk-in-schools-to-boost-childrens-health.html

It is very strange the way some people are determined to demonise the nutrition of dairy. It's been an essential part of the diet of Northern Europe and quite a few other areas for thousands of years.

Has worked pretty well so far!

No-one is demonising it, merely pointing out that milk is not needed after weaning, and that late efforts to boost free milk in schools has an eye to support milk producers.

"have" not "has"

I didn't pay for school milk for either of my DC. They both got it up to age 5 but neither of them liked drinking milk particularly so I didn't want to pay for something that would be wasted. They get a decent diet and plenty calcium.

Weirdly, despite not paying for DS2 to get milk this year (Y1), he has been given milk nearly every day despite telling them he doesn't have it. It's weird as there's only a few in his class who do still have it. Eventually he gave in and started drinking it most days - I'm not bloody paying for it though as I've told them about 50 times he doesn't want it and I'm not paying for it!

I'd disagree. For a child with an otherwise inadequate diet, it could be very essential indeed. Biologically a child may be able to thrive without dairy on a carefully considered diet however, that is simply not going to happen for many children. A cup of milk may make all the difference.

Supporting British dairy farmers is also something I would support- assuming said farmers are getting a fair price. Worked along side a few and they don't always have an easy time of it with supermarkets etc. We need to support British farmers or risk being dependent on imports

Urgh school milk is vile stuff i remember when i was at school it would be left on the steps of the main entrance till a receptionist remebered to bring it in and then it would sit in the corridor for a few hours before been passed around to us luke warm and stinking to high heaven. If its anything like that now then no wonder kids don't drink it.
And no you don't need milk past infancy and adult humans get nothing nutritionally from milk as our bodies don't process it the same as a baby would. We just drink it in tea and on cereal as a habit a bad one at that
jezebel.com/adults-should-not-be-drinking-milk-1685033047

I think school milk is a good thing. Yes, there are environmental issues about dairy production and health debates about how much milk children need or not. But there are so many hungry children now the school milk is a way to get them some nutrition at least to age 5. But it is very expensive thereafter, and there is the packaging. I really like the idea of school buying normal milk and pouring out for whoever wants a cup - it would cost next to nothing, and the cups could just be added to the dinner time washing up. dD is in a small school, about 70 kids and I guess less than 20 get the milk as I've seen it on the doorstep. A few 2 L cartons a week would probably provide anyone who wanted milk with it. Also, a child might only want it occasionally, but with the little packs it's every day or not at all.

Schools which get large bottles of milk and pour it into named cups are the best IMO.

We recycle an eye watering number of plastic cartons everyday which still uses a large amount of energy. Much better to reduce and reuse than to recycle.

Most of the class pay and drink all of it however.

It was a coup, as its an unnecessary product being touted as essential. Surplus milk being being dumped on children, and parents/schools duped in to paying over the odds for it. An example of succesful marketing.

saveourbones.com/osteoporosis-milk-myth/

Tbh only one of mine takes milk. The school give it at lunch time so u don't send him in a carton of juice. Luckily school left overs go to afterschools and breakfast club

When I was at school we had a tick shop that sold toffee bars and snaps. I think debating if milk is needed is bizarre .

Isn't it also the case that the countries with the highest consumption of milk (UK and usa) also have the highest rates of obesity and heart disease?

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1471-0307.1998.tb02642.x

amp.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/human_evolution/2012/10/evolution_of_lactose_tolerance_why_do_humans_keep_drinking_milk.html#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s

This is quite an interesting introduction article to the evolution of lactose tolerance in humans

That article is absolute bollocks MrsElla. You should not be getting any scientific information from Jezebel!

The problem is that the author, despite mentioning the significant minority of adult humans who are capable of digesting milk, then goes on to pretend that what's true of those who can't is true of everyone. Basically acts like digesters don't exist. Adults most certainly can digest milk and absorb the nutrients- but not every adult. Only those with the lactase persistence gene. Which is a lower percentage of the US population than it is of the British, and that author is American. Their milk is also full of much more shit than ours, because of EU requirements.

It's certainly true that anyone who's past early childhood who doesn't have the lactase persistence gene is probably incurring more negatives than positives from milk consumption. The advice she gives would be salient in the majority of human societies, in fact. But that is not the same thing as anyone past early childhood per se, especially not in a society like the UK where the majority of the adult population can digest milk.

*Whatshallidonowpeople

Why on earth are parents giving glasses of milk to children? Drinking milk is for babies. *

What are you talking about?