School demanding packed meals for 18 hr bus trip

[Snoopmummy]

DC is off on a school trip involving an 18 hour coach journey. School is demanding we drop children off in the evening having fed them (fine), equipped with nut free snacks (makes sense). We have also been asked to provide TWO meals: a packed breakfast and a packed lunch.

That means breakfast will be consumed 13 hours after they set off and lunch will be something like 17 hours later. Is there any food that can safely last for that length of time in an insulated bag or flask? DC does not like dried fruit or cereal bars.

AIBU to consider asking for the risk assessment over this and suggesting we equip them with money to get food on the way as they will need to stop anyway?!

It’ll be fine. Prepacked croissants and yoghurt/fruit for breakfast. Cheese/peanut butter sandwich, sealed tub of hummus, veggies, roll or crackers/crisps for lunch in an insulated lunch bag. Put in an ice pack if you’re worried.

Cheese is fine, I'd pack croissants/pain au chocolate for breakfast along with fruit, long life milkshake. Then for lunch cheese sandwiches, crisps, fruit, some treats etc for lunch, plus a couple of capri suns which you can freeze making them into ice packs which will be thawed by the time they are needed

We use Wow Butter - it's just like peanut butter, but made from soy instead of peanuts. Great for sandwiches etc in nut-free environments. We buy it at Holland & Barratt or Amazon

They obviously don't want the hassle of stopping to feed scores of children, likely having to order in a foreigne language and currency. There are numerous things you could pack.

Hi Cormorant, I'm a coeliac who travels a lot. I like to take slices of a pre-cooked frozen gf pizza, which I load up with loads of veg - mushrooms, red peppers, onions etc, salami or ham (obviously not for your DD!), topped off with extra cheese and herbs. It's satisfying and tasty, just wrap the slices up in a tin foil parcel and they travel well.

My DD went on a long school trip to France last summer. They left early morning though about 4am so she took pancakes, fruit and a yoghurt for breakie, She took vegetarian sushi for her lunch and some kind of wrap for her tea. We froze a water bottle to use as an ice pack as well, and this gave her a cold drink later in the day.

DC is doing silver DofE. 2 nights away for the expedition, and needs to take all food for the 3 days. For the practice expedition, took wraps with cheese and peperami, small tins of flavoured tuna, biltong/jerky, crisps, chocolate biscuits.

Why are you worried about 18 hours? How long does food last in your cupboard? Do you buy fresh food several times a day?

There would already be a risk assessment completed for the entire trip and agreed by class staff and SLT ahead of time (I speak from school experience). This will have been agreed and I imagine the decision will have been made based on the health and safety of the children if where they’re travelling to is far away enough for an 18 hour coach trip. Probably safer and easier having preprepared food for the children to have en route than have (I dunno, say it’s a year group so 60-100ish children?) wandering around a service station trying to buy food a few times on the way. I’m sorry but if you think it’s demanding or unreasonable then, with due respect, don’t send your child on the trip in the first place?

I don’t think most comments on here have addressed the timeline of this journey. I would ask the teachers / organiser for details. Its a very long journey, make sure protein ham/beef and egg and fruit and cheese involved and lots of water. Not personally something I would have put my daughter now 18 on at Imperial.

I haven’t managed to read all the many many comments but have skimmed… what about those Huel drinks. They don’t have to be kept in the fridge and they are a balance of nutrients and easy to transport!

My chilled German potato salad would be ideal for this ( though strictly speaking should be eaten before they land on EU soil to comply with food import regulations)

Cooked diced potatoes, tomatoes, cucumber, green peppers, onions and German salami with mayonnaise. Scrumptious and satisfying.

Is there any food that can safely last for that length of time

Literally amazed at this. Jam sandwich, fruit, raw veg, rice cakes, crackers, tuna pot, jerky, freeze a bottle of water as an ice pack. You can even freeze the actual sandwich. You can freeze a chunk of cheddar. Don’t make the kid carry a dirty flask and fork around with him and ffs don’t make a fuss about a risk assessment and then send your kid with a nut meal in a flask when they’ve specifically “demanded” you don’t send nuts. Give him some vitamins if he’s so nutritional depleted he can’t substitute his usual breakfast with a croissant and fruit for one day.

Is this really a genuine post?? If so , tyere really is no hope!

John West do lots of different varieties of these pots of food that don't have to be refrigerated. Stick a few in his bag for on the way out and some more for the return journey. They won't go off!

One of my sons is going on a 36 hour coach journey (to the alps), and we have been asked to provide the first two meals (breakfast and lunch) and send him having eaten his evening meal. I plan to send him with 2 pain au chocolat and a banana plus carton of fruit juice for breakfast, and 2 rolls (jam / marmite), crisps, chocolate bar, apple, satsuma, carrot, celery and baby bels for lunch. Plus a ton of snacks (things like pretzels, race cakes, crackers, flapjack, dried fruit, wasabi peas and grapes. The only thing his school has said is no sweeties or fizzy drinks (understandably). They will be having an evening meal at a French place and then will be at their hotel in time for breakfast. In the normal course of things we eat a lot healthier than the food I have planned for my sons trip, but he won’t die from lack of protein or from eating processed foods over the course of 36 hours.

Asking for a risk assessment is a dramatic escalation- why don’t you ask what they recommend?

The jar in my fridge says it contains cashew nuts. I checked as I was about to send DD to a club with pasta pesto and then realised I couldn't. Brands may vary though, and we sometimes make it fresh and only add pine nuts.

Just avoid meat and fish. If you’ve been camping having food after this length of time is normal!

Seriously, I cannot understand the level of angst on this post.

School Trip - Take a packed lunch. End of.

How have we ended up as a society so hysterical that our kids will die from eating a sandwich made the day before planned consumption is beyond me.

Don’t forget the killer ham !!!

Get a grip, it’s an 18 hour trip, the children aren’t going to starve. Do you really need to create a fuss. A risk assessment? Are they going to Gaza for the day?

My son did the same but they asked we gave them money so they could eat at the services or provide food, which worked well because they were stopping at the services anyway to use the loo and stretch their legs.

OR you could just not sign them up in the first place.

Never a true word said whispered under ones breath, by teachers since education began, at parents worrying about nothing and making a simple request into massive fucking overkill requiring a fucking risk assessment for a fucking sweaty sandwich, as if kids aren't germ-laden hobbits already with stomachs strong enough to manage all sorts of crap the other 365 days a year
FML.

😂

Crying .

Honestly OP , really, seriously, you with the scientist friend and as someone who has actually held down a job in something or other and raised a child to 9 - I am crying at this thread. It's brilliant.

A risk a fucking assessment for what ? A cheese roll and a packet of crisps? A croissant in a wrapper.
An apple?

J.H. Christ.

Honestly this thread has made me howl.

And if you think that a flask of oily pesto pasta works better than a sandwich in a paper bag, on a coach, think again.
It's heavy, they'll get it all over them and if it comes back it'll be festering because it ain't being washed up.

Honestly this is a simple task. Stop making it difficult.