Would giving all children free school meals actually safe the public purse money long term?

[Kendodd]

Really good quality, highly nutritional, tailored to children's needs and vegetarian. I know this would cost a lot, but if it improves the nations health long term, would it actually cost less?

That's gluten free. But those are the 'normal' foods that everyone eats. So on the days the main meal is not GF, you get a special main meal but you're fine to eat the salad offered and no need for special salad.

Macerated berries. My mouth is positively drooling
Also, aren't maceraters toilets?!

You think only us 'poor people' have kids with Autism?!?!?!!

the salad bar is rabbit food

Utter nonsense. Most people love salad and find it tasty and refreshing. Yes, including children and teens!

Not what was said. It doesn't matter how much money you have, if your child isn't performing academically or is disruptive they will expel you or if think they don't fit at interview won't accept you in the first place.

@NoOrdinaryMorning no that wasn't what I meant at all.
My comment was a sarcastic one about private schools and their perfect pupils who will happily eat whatever is placed in front of them.
(I am a mother of a child with autism and fairly poor)

In winter it's probably better have have a warm option, some salad might be a good option in the less chilly months! Soup is underrated imho, in terms of nutrients and satisfaction on a cold day!

To macerate something essentially means to break it up/soften/partly liquify and can be applied to a whole host of things.

In the case of food like strawberries it's basically a way of softening them/breaking them up in liquid.

Macerator toilets are common when it's not possible to have plumbing for a standard toilet, and I think essentially the waste is mechanically broken up into a smoother texture and then pumped away.

Shame on us.
I know this talks about under fives but this thread speaks to the culture and attitude that underpins this. Its too hard and too expensive to feed our children properly so we'll just feed them crap that we know makes them fat and unhealthy.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/children-experts-government-nhs-england-b2490549.html

Um, you have no idea how some of us feed our children, or ourselves, so the blanket 'we' needs to be reconsidered!

The school meals at my son’s primary are awful, they are made in central kitchen and shipped out to schools. The portions are tiny and the quality is is grim.

before chucking money at FSM there need to be a complete overhaul in the standards some school caterers seemingly get away with

No it doesn't.
'We' covers all the countries children. You may feed your children perfectly, great. Why don't you just be honest and say you don't give a shit about anyone else's children then and that's your objection to the 'we'.

Most people love salad

What planet are you from?

Or you could just stop making assumptions about other people and what they care about?

What's your objection with the 'we' then?

It makes assumptions, as already stated.

But we, as a country, are not feeding our children well. 'We' have fat and unhealthy children, it's not an assumption, it's backed up with facts.

And I focused on the money in the OP because I knew people (government) would give a shit about the health (or teeth) of our children but they do care about money. Problem is, investing in school meals will be a upfront cost. Its like when the government pulled investment from Sure Start centres, short term savings but long term, much bigger cost.

If such meals could be produced (and I am not certain why they would have to be vegitarian), possbly they might.

However, the chances of anyone being able to do so on the scale required withing a rasonable budget strikes me as being remote to the point of impossibility.

Unless, of course, you're not in the UK. We've had descriptions of much better school meals in other countries. You might well be in one of those. In which case I apologise.

They seem to be able to provide good quality meals in other countries. I think you've hit the nail on the head though when you mentioned 'reasonable budget'. As a country, I think we're just not willing to spend the money to feed children good food. We have put money as a greater priority than the health of the nations children.

'We' are not one group.
Are a significant number feeding their kids badly? Yes.
Are there sometime reasons for this? Yes.
Are there also people doing their best? Yes.
Is vegetarian food the best option for everyone? No.

Presumably, the other countries have prioritised the capital spending g to make the good food possible. Its not just the ingredients... they need somewhere to cook it and serve it.

Whereas UK schools have dodgy concrete and overcrowded corridors and classrooms.

It would be better if they allowed school cooks to manage their own menu & budget. Most schools my way use Aspens & it's just a money making venture. So the quality has gone down drastically since my school started using Aspens.

Average cost per student of lunch in Finland is 2,76 euros (some counties spend as much as 8 euros per student though!), which seems to be about on par with the UK