Why is vegetarian food in schools so bad?

[BiancaBlue]

My 5yo is vegetarian by choice. The non veggie options are usually mest, a barb and veggies. Today the meat option is roast chicken with potatoes and seasonal veg. The veggie option is a veggie hot dog with onions on and chips. Tomorrow the meat option is curry, and the veggie option is a mock meat taco. Vegetables are so cheap and versatile, and protein can be sourced elsewhere other than fake meat. I can't afford to do a Packed lunch every day but equally hate that the only choice is either UPF or a cheese sandwich. It was the number 1 issue raised by parents but feels like a wider issue. Are school meals crap everywhere?

Might just have to get my arse in gear next term and start sending him in with batch cooked stuff in a thermos!

*meat and a carb!

That's crap. My dcs' school and the primary I used to work in always do the same meal bit a Veggie version. So if the non Veggie option is pasta bolognese, the veggies get pasta with tomato sauce.

Are there no other options? Like jacket potatoes, sandwiches, omelette etc?

Just a sandwich option. Choice of cheese or tuna but don't really want him eating a cheese sarnie every day. I didn't realise school meals were so bad until I sent my son to school!

I think the ones you're describing are particularly bad tbh. Packed lunch might need to be the solution which is inconvenient but still.

Maybe just some days. Main meal 1 or 2 days, cheese sandwich another day, then packed lunch the others maybe?

That's rubbish. I've been veggie for 40 years. The trend towards using fake meat rather than vegetables is everywhere!!

Oh, I remember when my veggie kid can home from school and said he'd had a jacket potato for lunch. Great. What filling did you have? Rice.

He took a packed lunch thereafter.

It may depend on how many children are vegetarian, and whether the other vegetarian children will eat vegetables, beans etc. I make all kinds of vegetarian food at home as both (adult) DDs are vegetarian but they would not eat 90% of these foods at age 5! Fake meat is easier when they are mostly cooking for meat eaters and the vegetarians are fussy

I assume it’s because young children are so fussy, I don’t know many children that would eat a vegetable curry instead of a meat one (if they even eat curry at all). I’m lucky because DS eats pretty much everything but whenever he has friends round there’s always a rule book to follow to get them to eat anything.

Because the higher quantity probably makes the price decrease. The less UPF probably have a significant shorter shelf life which isn't great for the mass catering approach.

I am in Ireland and our school have being trialing hot food delivery. I have been very impressed with the quality and quantity of choices so it is obviously achievable but probably takes a bit more joined up thinking.

When DS2 was in primary the only school lunch choice he would eat was fish fingers. Two weeks out of three it was the Friday lunch option. One week out of three it was the Friday vegetarian option. Not good enough!

That's grim. Yes they should be doing better but they probably don't have the time/money/facilities/imagination. I'd send a packed lunch at least some of the says so he isn't eating UPF every single day.

I think a lot of places, as well as some schools, seem to struggle with providing decent veggie food, and which isn’t a vege/halloumi burger or butternut squash in some form! Had a (very well regarded) pub meal yesterday where the only veg options were halloumi burger or nut roast, which was very salty and came ready swamped in (veg) gravy.

My DS5 is vegetarian and we’ve found his school meals to be great. He’s actually tried a lot of things he wouldn’t have eaten before and his appetite/interest in eating is so much better since having school dinners.

I would say it’s a mixture of UPF and non - like on “hot dog day” he will have a vegetarian one but that’s a win for us because he wouldn’t eat a veggie sausage for love nor money before and at least now we have a “lazy tea” option every now and again.

he’s had things like:

• veggie curry
• mushroom pie
• jacket potatoes with beans (which he never used to like)
• cheese flan (again would never had eaten at home)
• stuffed peppers
• veggie Swedish meatballs
• countless themed “special meals” for Halloween, bonfire night, Easter etc

just a normal state school! We have been really impressed

Oh and they have a “try the menu day” once a month where parents can come in and eat with the kids to see the dinners for themselves

But I do agree that veggie options usually seem to be a side thought and are pretty much the same disappointing three options…

schools/pubs/restaraunts all included

DS5 seems to rotate between jacket potato with beans and or cheese (at least 2x week), cheese wraps, and tomato pasta. I'm not sure he's ever talked about anything else.

It's better than when my DH was ar school and they would provide a veggie option 3 days per week - but couldn't say in advance which days these would be . . .

That sounds unusually bad. IME (well, my DC’s) the veggie option is usually a veggie version of the same dish.

I’m ancient though. Spare a thought for the poor veggie kid at my primary school (for religious reasons) who got a pile of grated cheese every day! Bet it wasn’t veggie cheese either!

Our school food is terrible. Way too many baked beans and there are potatoes basically every day. Most veggie options are fake meat. For me it’s not just about money. You can make a healthy and delicious vegetarian meal for pennies. It’s mostly the fact that they can’t find staff who actually have decent cooking skills and also that kids are fussy so they go with lowest common denominator which is chips and baked beans. I’ve given up and send packed lunch on the days the menu is particularly terrible. Those food thermoses are great.