Why can't school lunches be simple

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My kids school changes the lunch menu after the summer and they now only offer 2 hot meal options for lunch many of which my children (one fussy one not ) do not like. There used to always be an option of either sandwiches or baked potatoes with a small choice of fillings but this has been taken away.

I would very really every have a main meal lunch followed by a pudding for lunch so I don't understand why they don't have simple options like sandwiches, baked potatoes, soup and bread for lunch and maybe one option for a hot lunch.

There is always so much chat about healthy lunches for kids etc but surely these would be healthy choices and then instead of pudding give them choices of yoghurt, crisps, fruit, cheese to go with them ?

I know that school dinners are the only hot meal some children get so an option should be kept but I'm guessing most children go home and have a main meal for their dinner so don't need a roast turkey dinner with pudding for lunch ?!

If you're that annoyed and concerned, raise it with the school?

Baffled you think the school should cater for your picky eater, surely that's far better done at home rather than a busy dining hall?

And also your post just smacks of being a bit stuck up to be honest, the fact it hasn't occurred to you that for many, many children the hot lunch at school is their most dense, nutritional meal of the day as some families would struggle to afford a hot dinner and so knowing their kids can have a hot lunch is a relief and one less pressure? If you can afford to cook a hot meal at night and cajole your picky eater to eat it, then hurrah for you! Some families just can't, thank goodness school can help them there.

There was a big push for food bank donations over the summer as without free school meals demand was increased.

YABVU.

What’s wrong with a jacket and cheese now and then. Seriously? I eat them all the time, picture of health? We all need a bit of fat, the fibre and vitamin C content is excellent and calcium is essential for kids (and old birds like me). Don’t load them with butter and salt, obviously, but there’s nothing wrong with a bit of cheese. Throw in a salad and a few beans, great economical, nutritious meal.

RafaIsTheKingOfClay

I agree - although the pasta-heavy Italian lunches (and willingness to give seconds to little boys who were too polite to say no) didn't do much for my eldest's propensity to chubbiness! But the structure of the meal was very good for all the kids, using proper cutlery etc, sitting around a table and taking some time. and a vegetarian option isn't hard to include.

I certainly prefer it to his current school which is packed lunches eaten in the playground (!) not even tables to sit at.

Our school piss me off as they put sandwiches on the menu but won't let my daughter have them. She has ARFID and gets very distressed, so I had to put her on lunches as she wasn't eating at all when I trialed it and ended up in the school office feeling sick from looking at the dinners.

We get free school meal entitlement but we can't take it as they don't allow her to eat the sandwiches daily...why put them on the menu?!

School dinners are the light option when you take into account that y6 get the same portion as Reception.

My DC go to an independent school where there is a fantastic range of meal options. DS2 without exception goes to "grab and go", takes a cheese salad sandwich and a bag of crisps dumps the salad out of the sandwich and rushes out to play football. This isn't an issue really since he had a good breakfast and a decent evening meal but some children don't get breakfast or a decent evening meal. I can't believe you don't realise that OP.

Make your kids a sandwich if you want them to have a sandwich.

Offering 2 options instead of 1 doesn’t help the fussy eaters. If you can find something from 2, you’re not a fussy eater!

My daughter’s school could put on a sumptuous bloody buffet and she’d still find nothing that she approved of.

So packed lunch it is.

She’s gone in today with pasta in tomato & veg sauce with chicken, apple slices - and stone me now! - a single twirl bar.

If school dinner did that:

• the pasta had cheese on
• the chicken just didn’t taste right
• I saw peppers in the tomato sauce
• it was a green apple, not red
• the chocolate bar wasn’t one I’ve seen before

She’s not pissing about trying to have chips and cake. Won’t touch cake. Will eat own body weight in broccoli. I usually say she’s a limited eater rather than fussy, because fussy implies to me that “chips or I’ll tantrum” thing.

She once decided to try school dinners as it was fish fingers and chips day. They changed the shape slightly and called it a goujon. So she came home starving “I didn’t really like the look of that”.

More options in school would just give her more options to move away from suspiciously!

Once again I said right from the start that I understand that some children rely on the hot school meal and I have at no point said this should be changed for sandwiches only. All I said was it would be nice to have a simpler 'lunch' option available. This used to be the case but now no longer is.

Yes my kids are lucky we can feed them at home and yes my picky eater is not anyone elses problem but mine but it is also common for kids to like simpler foods and for many families to eat a dinner in the evening so I am surprised that it is not seen as a good option to keep the sandwich, soup, or baked potatoes option in there.

My school don't control this is is a council wide menu.

Also I do not consider a ham sandwich, a low sugar yoghurt and a piece of fruit a nutritionally awful lunch for a child.

It’s nonsense to say that adults don’t eat like that... every office or factory canteen Ive used (my whole working life) has had cooked lunches. Lots more choice so sure - the salad / sandwich / baked potato / soup sections are busy. But there are ALWAYS queues for the hot “main meal” style items.

YABU

School dinners are 5 meals a week, for about 38 weeks of the year. All the rest are provided by you, so you can surely correct any “conditioning” done by them at home.

If you want your fussy eater to have sandwich and yoghurt then put them on packed lunches.

The school is doing exactly what your title suggests, making school dinners simpler by going back to one veggie option and one option.

@Ellisandra my son is similar he will eat well at home now as after many years of working very hard I have managed to get him to eat a fairly well balanced diet but he will not handle when the pasta sauce looks like it has peppers in it etc even though he enjoys pasta at home. He also does not have a sweet tooth and does not eat much in the way of treats recently he has started to like lollipops and will have a small amount of ice cream but usually always says no thanks and gives his party bags etc to his brother. Things like a ham sandwich he is familiar with and you can't go to wrong.

Although one day the dinner lady put his beans on his baked potatoe so he wouldn't eat it as he normally has it on the side. That is not their problem but he usually was always able to ask for his toppings on the side and they could do that and he would be happy.

Why do you want your kids stuffed with carbs at lunchtime instead of proteins & vegetables? MAdness.

Go through the menus and help them choose the option they will prefer out of the ones offered, stop giving them the option of sandwiches, they’ll learn to eat the lunches offered. If not, they won’t starve between breakfast & dinner, especially not if you give them a good breakfast like eggs not sugary cereal or toast. Or give them healthier lunches than sandwiches.

Multiple loads of carbs every day is setting your children up for weight issues in the future and diabetes T2

I love having a cooked lunch. Thankfully since becoming a teacher I can get nice school lunch everyday if I want.

OP You keep saying you're surprised that he options have changed because how you do things isn't unusual. Here's the thing, just because you do things that way doesn't mean that's what's working on a large scale.
If offering jacket potatoes etc was working then they'd carry on offering it.

On reflection, our school stopped doing jackets for y7-11 because students weren't eating them. There's a grab and go queue with wraps and sandwiches but the hot meal queue is biggest every day, especially on fish Friday! Some days kids have puddings, others they don't. Some have a hot break snack or a brownie or fruit at break time.

It's really not hard to consider that what works at scale may differ from the preferences of a sheltered mum and a fussy eater.

Ok I have read all the replies and see that I am in the minority with my opinion. My kids are already going packed lunches most days as I said above and as suggested by many people.

Thanks for the opinions.

Also I do not consider a ham sandwich, a low sugar yoghurt and a piece of fruit a nutritionally awful lunch for a child

I do. Do you know how much sugar is in bread? Low sugar yogurt - look at the contents, I bet it’s full of sweetners, fruit is full of sugar (yes it’s better than sweets because it does have nutrients, but it’s still sugar.

It doesn’t matter where it comes from your body converts carbs to sugar and fruit is sugar. You’re doing your kids no favours not understanding this.

Just because the children whose ONLY OPTION is to have a hot meal in school are in minority does not mean they should have taken that away from them because you can't be arsed to pack your kids a lunch if you don't LIKE what's on offer. If you do live in a neat little bubble where everyone sits down for dinner, then it's high time you educated yourself on the reality of children whose number is significant enough to prompt government measures.

A pp mentioned that schools should go back to cooking meals on site instead if them being brought in.

In many schools that would now be impossible as there are no school kitchens to cook the food...hence the catering companies having to bring them in!

What’s wrong with a jacket and cheese now and then. Seriously? I eat them all the time, picture of health? We all need a bit of fat, the fibre and vitamin C content is excellent and calcium is essential for kids (and old birds like me). Don’t load them with butter and salt, obviously, but there’s nothing wrong with a bit of cheese. Throw in a salad and a few beans, great economical, nutritious meal.

First the jacket potato with cheese kids are eating does not usually have a side order of salad and a few beans.
Secondly there is nothing wrong with jacket potato and cheese occasionally. But in reality some kids will eat this every single day and that is not a healthy diet.

A sandwich, yoghurt and fruit is okay for a lunch. But most cooked meals with meat or fish and veg will be healthier.

Why do people keep saying that I want the hot meal option taken away I have never said this and have repeatedly said I understand why this is available and why it should remain so.

they now only offer 2 hot meal options for lunch
*

• If this is per day then I think YABU as they are working to very tight budgets and some families can not afford to offer 2 nutritionally balanced options for a main meal per day.

* I always had hot school meals as my parents worked it out as cheaper/less hassle than a packed lunch and if I didn't like an option that much I would just have to get on with it and learn to like it else I would be hungry!

Why would having a hot school dinner at school have any impact on their meal later on at home. My kids (one picky, one not) have 2 hot meals a day when at school. They obviously get age appropriate portions. Far better than carb heavy sandwiches. Not sure where the idea that a sandwich is a healthy option?

I think we are quite lucky at my children's primary school. We order meals each term on line so I go through with my DC and pick together what they want, then that is what they are given. No waste apart from children who are off sick on the day. There is always 1 near option, one veggie and a jacket potato. Puddings are fruit or yoghurt except Fridays where there is a cake. But on Fridays those who bring a packed lunch are allowed to bring a treat too like a KitKat. It works well for us. As it is a small school infants are not allowed to bring a packed lunch unless they have a medical reason. Since.my oldest has been in juniors he picks the days he wants school dinners and brings a packed lunch the rest of the time, best of both worlds! We sometimes eat a hot meal in the evening but if both boys had school dinner they quite often have a sandwich or something light in the evening and DH and I eat later once they are in bed.

Don't you think though that too many options and messing about makes kids fussy?

I have one kid who's just started reception and the other one is in nursery. I don't think packed lunch is even an option at nursery and they only have one option, they have all sorts and all seem to really enjoy it!

At DDs school and they do have baked potatoes, sandwiches or a meat/veggie main. I must admit I took comfort in the fact there was something she would definitely eat but from the sounds of it she's been giving the main a go.

(Btw, both much pickier at home).

I also don't understand this '1 hot meal a day'. Why is it bad for a child to have 2 hot meals? Surely it's better to have a more varied diet, more veggies etc. Than sandwiches etc.?

You cannot expect a school to change their menu just to suit your fussy child. You will be amazed how few children are actually fussy eaters, and a school cannot cater for everyone.
DS has always had school dinners, with a pudding, and then another cooked meal at tea time (shock, horror!) He is healthy, all his meals have always been balanced, he isn't overweight. Now he's at secondary school there are all the options you have requested OP. Sandwiches, soup, jacket potatoes, salads, or one hot meal choice which is either meat/fish or vegetarian. DS is now making unhealthier choices because he has the option. A sandwich, a pizza, a jacket potato with cheese, none of these options he is choosing any veg or salad with. Do not think that just because a school offers healthier options, your saintly child will choose them. It's actually better to just not give them the choice.

So OP, what you want, really, is for your child to have packed lunch, but for someone else to provide it, so you don't have to.

The point of the school meal provided to infants/FSM isn't to be easier for parents!

It's to ensure balanced nutrition because so many kids won't get it otherwise. It's easier to do this by providing for all than trying to identify the poorest kids.

They will have removed sandwiches etc because kids do not choose what is best for them nutritionally, and in many cases the kids who need those hot meals most may be eating a jacket potato and cgeese every day.

The "cakes" etc provided in schools these days are much lower in sugar and often use beetroot/carrot etc. They are necessary because children need calorie dense food with more fat & carbs than adults need, and desserts are a good way to provide this as some children have smaller appetites/are pickier and won't get those calories if simply "bigger portions of the main" are provided. Also, sadly, it's probably the only way the companies can provide sufficient calories at low cost.