"Healthy" school lunches

[ambereeree]

My DC started reception and I was told by the teacher to go for school lunch as it becomes a social thing and encourages children to eat.
The school doesn't allow crisps or chocolates in the packed lunch and the school lunch is a balanced healthy meal... Or so I was told.
My DCs lunch is now the highlight of the day and when I ask how school was all I get told about the sausages or burger they ate along with the chocolate cake or icecream jelly.
I admit I'm a bit strict about sweets and chocolate and the first day sent in a packed lunch of cheese sandwich, chopped fruit, vegetable sticks and crackers. I normally give a biscuit or piece of chocolate after dinner but not everyday.
DC now asks before school whether they'll have school lunch and how excited they are to eat the pudding. I'll never be able to send in a packed lunch again will I?
What's happened to the healthy school lunch advocated by Jamie Oliver?!?!

@timeforanew

amen

@dameofdilemma

Lyra - sadly at the moment there are no side veg and of course no salad bar. The f&c used to come with either baked beans or peas (do bb count as a veg??) but now meals are served in individual boxes so guess logistically it’s difficult.

It’s not the schools fault, they’re doing the best they can.
It does make me sad though, dd ate really healthily during lockdown, ten fruit and veg a day easily, her skin and hair looked much healthier.
Now I’m trying to cram it all in post school.

Putting it in boxes doesn't make it any harder. They can either take the veg order when they take the food order (if they do choices), they could have one veg and a yes/no option, or they could put the veg in and the kids could leave it if they don't like it, with a note for any allergies.

It doesn't take really any longer to take 5 F&C with peas and 4 without to Class 4 than it does to take 9 F&C

I’d just be grateful that my child was getting and eating a free hot meal if I were you. Let her continue to enjoy her dinner with her peers and balance it out with a healthier meal at home.

Where are you from? Im in scotland and work on a school and the meals are really good and super healthy.

Sorry im writing again after reading some replies. Someone said they cooks are under pressure, cutting cost ect, we have the best of meat at our regions schools and i just assumed that it was like that everywhere obviously not

@Angelina82 i disagree. While there are some children with general food scarcity at home, most poor children have access to food - but not necessarily to healthy food (cost, preparation cost, availablility are issues) a healthy, balanced school meal is super important for them.
A school that does not provide that is actively and intentionally damaging these kids even more. Veggies in bulk from wholesale are cheap, preparation in a school kitchen not a lot of effort, and putting them in a box isn’t that difficult either.

I wonder if the schools are also trying to ensure kids are not going hungry - many kids would probably just not eat the veg and go hungry?

I know if I served up meals I commonly make (eg veggie fajitas, veggie chilli etc) to some of dds friends, they simply wouldn't eat them.
Lots of food waste and hungry kids.

It's probably difficult to find a balance between food kids will reliably eat, that fills them up, is nutritious and cheap. End up being a lot of pasta (3 out of 5 lunches this week we're pasta based).

My dd hated the school dinners (which sounded good to me, balanced, some healthier than others). I was annoyed as I wanted her to have the free lunches!

I think this group will have self-selected for parents who understand the value/benefit/critical importance of vegetables, and have kids that will at least have a go at veg.

The school probably also has kids who wouldn't entertain veg (and possibly even some parents who might complain if their child was given something they didn't like in a box as it put them off eating any of it) and I suspect they can't win. Or they may have kids who don't get enough to eat at home and the priority is to get enough calories into them at lunchtime which will be more easily achieved with familiar popular foods, and a pudding than it would with the most healthy foods. Some kids who didn't see veg until they got to school may not eat, or might eat less of a meal where the veg isn't heavily disguised.

In an ideal world it would be better for all children to get, and eat, a healthy meal. However given that the parents on this thread probably get vegetables and good nutrition into their children at home at every opportunity, perhaps it is important that kids who may well not have had breakfast, get something filling and nutrient dense that they will actually eat.

I think kids in schools should have a healthy meal, but I don't think it works in isolation - the kids need to be engaged about food generally, want to eat it, be willing to try things, and be supported at home. If it was a choice between my children getting the kind of lunch they would have at home, and a child from challenging circumstances getting and eating something filling and nourishing - I'd choose the latter.