Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think school lunches are expensive

65 replies

SEsofty · 08/10/2018 11:12

So eldest child has gone into year three so I therefore need to pay for school lunch as previously free.

I have a relatively generous food budget of about £100 per week for five all meals, and to include nappies for youngest and the occasional bottle of wine.

So just under three pounds per person per day.

School lunch is £2.50 per day. Therefore most of the budget gone and the small portion size means that child still needs a full meal in the evening.

I am thinking of doing packed lunch instead but everyone else seems to have school lunches.

I am just wondering how everyone else affords it and whether I’m out of kilter

OP posts:
Fatted · 08/10/2018 11:14

We don't get free school lunches where we live in Wales. It's £2.20 per day. We send him with a packed lunch.

User9870 · 08/10/2018 11:16

Our school is £1.75 a day. Not too bad if they get main meal but seems a lot when they choose ham sandwich every day.... Portion size is small though

IDoLoveToBeBesideTheSeaside · 08/10/2018 11:18

Just send packed lunches. Many will follow soon.

Thisreallyisafarce · 08/10/2018 11:19

People afford it by doing packed lunches or upping the food budget. £2.50 is a bit expensive but not particularly so.

LoniceraJaponica · 08/10/2018 11:21

In the grand scheme of things £2.50 is very reasonable for a 2 course meal. School meals are heavily subsidised, and you must realise that school budgets have been cut to the bone. One of the ways the school can stop haemorraghing money is by incresing the cost of school dinners.

However, if you can't afford it, you can't afford it. So, packed lunches it is.

DunesOfSand · 08/10/2018 11:25

Can you do some school meals?
Thursday apparently has the best lunches here, so we send in packed lunches the rest of the week, and have school dinner on Thursdays.

NorthernRunner · 08/10/2018 11:27

My local primary is £2.50, but the children are encouraged to serve themselves so some children get a lot for the ££ wheveras others who are pickier eaters, can come home hungry (im a childminder)
I do think packed lunches are better, on the whole, but can be uninspiring, especially in the colder months

whycantyouusethephone · 08/10/2018 11:28

I think it's very expensive. £2.50 is reasonable for a two course meal? For 1? But you could buy a pack of bacon, a pack of pasta, chopped tomatoes and a cake in Lidl for that. Feed 4 people two courses.

It's cheap compared to eating out yes, but not at all cheap compared to home cooking.

lauryloo · 08/10/2018 11:29

£2.60 a day here.

DS enjoys them though so happy to pay it. Not sure I could hold out to it if I had several children tho

Dontjudge · 08/10/2018 11:30

My DS is in Year 4. He gets a packed lunch as was always starving when he came home when on lunches so not worth the struggle to find the extra cash.
DD just started reception and I’m considering doing the same. Food is lovely but just not enough to get them through to tea time.

RedneckStumpy · 08/10/2018 11:32

Yes they are expensive considering that the prison service has approximately £1.20 a day per prisoner, and the military has 96p per day

highby · 08/10/2018 11:32

In my opinion school lunches are crap. I'm a Lunchtime Supervisor and I see the poor quality food served every day. Some days we don't know what it is! No wonder the kids don't want it and it's my job to push it upon them. The 'food' is prepared 40min away and we just heat it. I'm sure not every school is like this but I expect the majority are. It's definitely not worth the money. Send a healthy packed lunch, I'm more than happy to encourage a child to eat that. It will be much cheaper. My own children love the pasta pots I make in bulk and in advance.

Thisreallyisafarce · 08/10/2018 11:32

whycantyouusethephone

But the £2.50 at school isn't just for the food, is it? It's for the wages of the people cooking the food, the cost of storing and transporting the ingredients, waste disposal, packaging, cutlery, etc.

WindyWednesday · 08/10/2018 11:37

I’m in the same boat.

School lunches are tiny potions. I spoke to the person responsible for organising the meals, she said they recently received an outstanding award for the school meals which meant they had cut the size of the meal back. Obviously for childhood obesity reasons. But the same portion is for yr as y6. So that didn’t sound right.

She told me the meal is tiny and not supposed to represent the main meal of the day, I’m relying on it being the main meal of the day.

Packed lunches wouldn’t cost me £2.60 to produce. Sometimes the school meal is a ham wrap and cucumber sticks and a jelly. That can’t cost £2.60.

WindyWednesday · 08/10/2018 11:41

Yes, I understand it’s the whole meal service that costs the £2.60 but if they can produce a cheaper meal they get more profit. They will be mass produced meals, so that will mean lower raw product prices.

I’ve noticed a decline in the quality of our school meals. You can tell by the menu they are using cheaper food. Last week they had broccoli and cauliflower curry with rice. Yum. Exactly what every Primary School child loves.

Thisreallyisafarce · 08/10/2018 11:50

They also do need to make a profit, though, Windy. And I am not sure why you would be relying on lunch to be your child's main meal, without anybody suggesting to you that it should be. Most children eat a small lunch/larger dinner.

grasspigeons · 08/10/2018 11:51

there are 4 staff in the school kitchen and loads of equipment to maintain so yes they are expensive compared to making it yourself and they are a commercial company so I presume they make a profit as well. I guess I imagined that bulk buying stuff would mean they could get ingredients for less that I could so it would even out but that doesn't seem to be the case.

the other way of looking at it is they are cheap for eating out everyday. The children don't eat for £2.50 anywhere else either - maybe McDonalds Happy meal?

We can't afford to 'eat out' every day so the children have sandwiches.

Fatasfook · 08/10/2018 11:52

Pay for a school meal on the days you know your child will eat the meal. Packed lunch the rest of the time.

lalaloopyhead · 08/10/2018 11:54

They cost £2.20 at our primary, and now I only have one DD having lunches its not too bad. As someone else has said, its not just the ingredients you are paying for but also staff to cook/serve it. So compared to a café meal for example it is pretty cheap for 2 courses and a drink.

DD also often doesn't have a big cooked meal in the evening, and instead has something quicker/lighter like a toastie, pasta or similar - and too me not having to conjure something up straight after work/school is a godsend and worth the money!

imamum21 · 08/10/2018 11:56

ours is £1.65 todays school lunch is, starter= oatcakes with cheese spread, main= spag bol and garlic bread or cheesy beanos, snack= ham baguette, veg= sweetcorn and everyday dessert= fruit or yoghurt

ours get starter pick a main or snack, veg and dessert for that price

some days its salmon baguette, fish and chips, chicken pie with baby potatoes, curry, chicken fajita with wedges etc, there is loads of choice but tiny portions! the old menu used to be alot better and had a choice of cakes, fruit or yoghurts

Dychmygol · 08/10/2018 11:57

School lunches are £2.50 per day here in our primary but you have to pay for a whole week, you can't swap and change day by day.

As we're in Wales they're only free for those on benefits, although there is a breakfast club provision if you're lucky enough to get a space.

My daughters have always had packed lunch. I can provide more food for less money and I know I don't have to worry about there being something they don't like on the menu and being really hungry for the rest of the day.

DD1 is still on packed lunch in secondary, she tried out the dinners but they were way more expensive and just as tasteless so she asked for packed lunches again. She'd rather be in the minority than be hungry.

seventhgonickname · 08/10/2018 11:57

I thought school lunches was the main meal of the day.It us fuel for all that running around and makes up there breakfast some children do not get.
I have to agree about portion size though as they seem to serve the same no matter the age of the child.

Thisreallyisafarce · 08/10/2018 11:59

seventhgonickname

School lunches are substantial but not the "main meal" in my opinion. They don't replace dinner.

OutPinked · 08/10/2018 12:00

Packed lunches are far cheaper. I have three DC so would be looking at a £35 a week bill for school dinners, it just isn’t worth it. I’d say I spend an extra £10 a week max for packed lunch things.

Flashingbeacon · 08/10/2018 12:06

I can definitely do ds packed lunch for a lot less than £10 a week. Except suddenly food he’s been eating his whole life is “disgusting” so he leaves it and want the same as the others in his class. Which is much more expensive pre packaged food. And he comes home hungry. We’re weighing it up till Christmas. For example he had a handful of mixed nuts (excluding peanuts) now they are disgusting everyone else has nut bars. Cheese is smelly, from a boy that can tell Brie from Camembert (I was sending him with cheddar).