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 does seem a bit odd. My eldest went on a school coach trip to the Alps last year and they took a packed lunch for eating on the way to the ferry, and money to buy food on the ferry/at service stations.

I don’t think they are demanding at all. Use this tip from when I went to school in Australia when it regularly hit 40 degrees c for days on end. Freeze a small carton of fruit juice, wrap it in a cloth/tea towel and pop it in with the chilled food. It will keep it fresh and your child will have a slushy to drink at the end of it. Put hot food in a thermos/flask. It will be fine.

When you say "demand" you mean ask?

But as others have said

Salami
Cheese
Snacks
Pepperami
Boiled eggs

One of those tuna snack pot things that can be kept in the cupboard?

It's really not difficult!

This doesn't sound that hard to be honest. You could also pack some frozen blocks or drinks with food if keeping it cold is important.

A risk assessment for lunch

Come on now. Juts apply some common sense.

‘Demanding’ shut up you’re being ridiculous. When you stop at services all they eat is McDonalds (veteran of too many school trips to count)

Last time I did a trip like this on the way back the company provided long life sandwiches. When I saw the use by date I was prepared for them to be horrible and to do a sandwich run to a supermarket at the appropriate time but they were quite nice. I suspect you can only buy them in bulk so other suggestions are fine for the way out but there will be an easy option for the way back.

You're being a bit over the top, loads of food is fine out of the fridge for that amount of time. Obviously don't give them sushi or anything like that. Asking for a risk assessment would be ridiculous.

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?!

Oh dear god! Who would be a teacher? Let alone take children on a trip!

To me it seems highly unlikely that all the food won’t be eaten within about 8 hours of setting off, or have I just experienced really greedy teenagers and children? Anyway, it’s fine. Insulated bag, ice pack, sandwiches.

It wouldn't cross my mind that the food would be unsafe, I might avoid cooked meats if it was stinking hot weather.
I thought you were would be worried it would all be eaten by 3am and the child would be starving by mid morning.

A risk assessment? For packed lunches??

Use ice bricks or a cool bag. Loads of snacks. Cheese sandwich.

We had BabyBel cheeses out of the fridge for two weeks when we went to the wilds of Scotland and lived to tell the tale.

Crackers, brioche, pitta bread, croissants, cereal bars, popcorn, crisps. An apple, banana, pear, strawberries and blueberries. Dried fruit - raisins, prunes, apricot. If you have a small insulated lunch bag - pop a frozen ice pack into it along with cheese, hummus, carrot batons, cherry tomatoes, etc.

Why do you sound so cross about this ?

Think about all the things that sit on the shelves in the supermarket without refrigeration - looking at my teen students that’s 90% of their diets anyway.

I remember those days and swore by frozen Capri-Suns in the packed lunch.

Your tone is disgusting. If I were a teacher leading this trip and received an email demanding a risk assessment for a pack up I think I’d solve your problem by cancelling and not giving up my free time.

If you can’t work out what safe food to send I doubt you’ll be able to read a risk assessment either!

I think you are being OTT here about risk assessments etc. It's a sensible ask from the school, certainly not "demanding"

You could do something pastry based for breakfast, think croissants, pain au chocolate, brioche buns etc? With fresh fruit this would be perfectly fine for a breakfast.

If you are worried about lunch keeping, just avoid meats. A cheese or jam butty , packet of crisps, another peice of fruit or yogurt. Just use a chilled box if it's warm and it will be fine.

It isnt unreasonable what they are asking, don't embarras yourself going into the school asking for a risk assessment

Bloody well said!!

If you can see my posts I also question "demanded" as opposed to asked.

I also said who would be a teacher, let alone one that went on trips.

I'm not a teacher BTW, I don't have the nerve for it!

Presumably by 'demand', you mean they've asked you to provide this for your child. You would feed them anyway, just give them things that will last, it won't kill them for one day.

The use of the word 'demand' and the suggestion you should ask for a risk assessment for their food just makes you sound like one of those pain in the arse parents I'm afraid.

I imagine you'd also want a risk assessment for 30 kids to be allowed off the coach to join massive queues at a foreign service station when they don't have a reliable means of paying or understand the menu , and might well wander off.

It's way more sensible, safe and controllable (not to mention very time saving) to just let the kids out at a safe aire to sit as a group and eat the snack meal that they've brought with them.

School wanting to ensure every child has food, how considerate of them.

I bet the OP is someone who drives an SUV and has not done a risk assessment of the journey, or of the impact of the wine consumed the previous evening.

I nominate the OP for the next Darwin awards.

I pack meals for my dc all the time in 40 degree weather. We freeze drinks and use insulated lunch bags with additional ice packs or I am worried, but generally the drink is ice pack enough. I don’t even worry about the food being perishable because it stays nice and chilled with a quality lunch bag.

I save the worn (and much to my child’s chagrin unfashionable) ones just in case we ever need multiples so we have quite the stash.

do you normally get away without having lunch bags in the uk?

My kids always did this on choir tours. Make some flap jacks. A couple of marmite rolls. Apples and crisps. Sorted.

And "demanding"? WTF?

Expecting teachers to supervise a coachful of kids in a service station is practically the definition of demanding!!