School residential vegetarian/vegan only

[vgp1234]

My child had really been looking forward to their year 6 residential, but a new head has joined and had changed the format somewhat.

They have now booked a Sustainability Centre in Hampshire, which only caters for vegetarians and vegans. My child is not a vegetarian or vegan, and across the cohort of year 5 and 6 only one child is vegetarian.

While I appreciate that there is a view that they can go 5 days without meat and they should just suck it up, I find it incredibly frustrating that you would not ask a vegetarian or vegan child to suck it up and eat meat for 5 days. So I don't understand why we do not treat both dietary preferences with equal measure.

The new head is very keen on government guidance, and has changed our lunch menu to comply with the current guidance for school lunches which is that 3 days should include meat or fish (previously we had a meat and vegetarian/vegan option every day). However it seems this guidance only applies on the school site, so you can disregard it at a residential. While they are within their rights to do this, it does seem like quite a contradiction.

I have tried speaking to the Sustainability centre directly but they were very inflexible and just stated it is a against their ethos (may I add that they also offer a day trip at a cost to visit a working farm, who rear animals for meat, so their ethos does not run all that deep). This really goes against my ethos as not only do I think you should treat all groups equally, I can't help but feel that this is forcing their ideas on children verses allowing them free choice and the ability to hear both viewpoints (meat is unsustainable/sustainable) and make their own decision.

In all honesty I'm quite perplexed as to why the school choose the venue when it would clearly be controversial, as this is quite a personal choice for parents and the cohort has so few in it that have this dietary preference.

I'm sure some people will not agree with me, and I am open to your opinions as I'm a big believer in hearing both sides of the argument and our ability to think critically for ourselves and not be told what to think (I want this for my child too).

I do plan to send the school an email initially and request that they provide a rounded menu including meat. But I'd really appreciate any advice on how to word this appropriately as I'm quite upset by it, and I'd prefer to send a well worded email than an emotional one.

I think a lot of posters would be surprised by what their kids will eat when they know there's only one option

My son told me the other day that he loves bean wraps at school - at home, he has flat out refused all beans/lentils

Not children! My child might struggle, is what I said.

Where have I shown "offense"?

I'm challenging the knee jerk reactions that a menu devoid of meat and fish is going to be problematic.

But “might struggle” is rather vague - they also
might thrive and find their world opens up a little and that’s kind of the point of a residential

children are often a lot more picky at home than anywhere else / even if they hate something they don’t like to be seen as weak in front of their peers

I think TBH all children will struggle at least a little with the food on a residential, no? It won't be exactly what any child is used to

I cant believe the fuss for a couple of nights ressi!
My kids didn't like the food when they went to Castle Rigg. Tough. They were told ( by me) the menu doesn't revolve round them. The catering staff have to cater for 1000s of children over the year and are not going to keep every single child happy all of the time. Thats life!

They managed to eat breakfast, and lunch but wasn't keen on the evening meal. However they didnt starve to death and we're absolutely fine.

The thing with a veggie meal is that everyone in theory can eat it.
A meat meal is more complicated, the veggies and vegans can't eat it. The Muslims can only eat it if it's halal, the Jewish kids cant eat certain meats etc.
Its a catering nightmare, then you have parents wanting special treatment for their child to add in to the mix!

Jeez, who would want to work in residential catering these days!

I remember them doing a residential, I cant remember where it was but they didnt notice that it was veggie,it was just food to them I never pointed it out to them there was no need.

School is easy though because if all else fails you can just send a packed lunch which is exactly what I do for my son with a limited diet and it isn't restricted to meat free, even on Mondays when school lunches tend to be meat free so he can have his ham sandwich and fridge raiders.

Joyless veggie slop 😂😂

I was veggie for years and one night my DH gave me the talk on how my diet was so unhealthy and how plant proteins can be so over processed. He said it while eating chicken goujons 😂

We are not vegetarian but we do eat meat free meals a few days a week.
A bean chilli or a spinach and chickpea curry is really nice.
I honestly don’t think it would hurt for year 6’s to eat veggie for a week.
I would suggest you pick your battles and this is not one of the battles I would pick.
Please don’t be that pompous parent giving the emotional blackmail view that “my little Johnny is going to be so upset as he dies like to have sausages for his tea every week”.
Teach your child to be open minded about all food and treat this as a positive learning experience rather than a negativity.

My view OP? Who cares. I mean really. The food will be good and the kids are perfectly able to get on with things.

The amount of energy wasted on thinking this is somehow an issue and speaking the Centre and school are better spend on other things.

I do get that and I think that's sensible for school.

This would be tricky on any residential and that is definitely a conversation worth having to see if there are any mutually acceptable foods that they would be able to provide. By year 6 I think most kids have become a bit less.suspicious of food but I know there are some where it's much harder.

Extra restrictions would make it trickier. Especially when my son doesn't eat lentils, beans, seeds or nuts and fruit and veggies are limited. He's currently in Year 5.

Extra restrictions would make it trickier. Especially when my son doesn't eat lentils, beans, seeds or nuts and fruit and veggies are limited. He's currently in Year 5.
In all the years I arranged outdoor residentials as a ( forner) youth worker for borough wide youth clubs and the residentials my kids did through school and scouts, I cant recall one occasion where lentils and seeds was in the menu. Sure there was beans, baked beans that us to go with the jacket potatoes.

Most kids eat fruit and veg.
Your son is unwittingly the issue, probably no fault of his own, not the food that is supplied. All those things, (in my expierence with over 40 years of working with children and teens including 11 years with children with disabilities, ) most children would eat some, if not all of those things.

Why do non veggies just assume veggie food is all lentils and seeds?

Don't people think that caterers want the least waste and will make food, even if its veggie, that the majority of kids will eat eg pizza and chips, jacket potato and beans? Do non veggies never have these foods either?

Why do non veggies just assume veggie food is all lentils and seeds?

Or slop?

Because they are incapable of thinking outside of the meat and two veg box or because they are stupid.

I don't think you can expect a residential to cater to children who are picky eaters.

Another child might hate cheese and tomatoes? And another might hate potatoes?

Ultimately the school has to cater for those with allergies and religious dietary requirements and then if your child is a super picky eater, they can skip the residential

You sound like a barrel of laughs.

For all those saying their children don't eat vegi / vegan I bet the do sometimes. Lots of 'traditional' food is vegi. There used to be a saying, "they eat meat every day" which meant you were quite well off.

Egg and chips
Beans on Toast
Pancakes
Yorkshire pudding
Egg fried rice
Samosas
Cauliflower cheese
Eggs or cheese on toast
Omelette
Vegi pies / pasties
Various soups
Toasties
Pizza
Pasta
Baked Potato

These are not weird and wonderful creations they are things that have been eaten for generations, well maybe not the pizza and samosas.

Lentils have been used as an example by several posters to say that veggie food isn't always just cheap fake meat etc. Of course veggie food isn't all lentils and seeds.

He has a limited diet due to medical reasons, not because he's a picky eater.

These are not weird and wonderful creations they are things that have been eaten for generations, well maybe not the pizza and samosas.
Pizza and samosas have been eaten for generations though!

I just find this thread weird. The kid will be missing a few meat based meals and that is the focus the OP wants to email and complain about.
Personaly I loved my kids going on ressis because of the new activities they got to do such as abseiling, rock climbing, archery,gorge scrambling etc.
Not one came back and told me about the food, it was all about the adventure.

Shouldn't that be the focus of the residential not that he had pizza margarita and chips instead of a burger?

Of course veggie food isn't all lentils and seeds
Going off some of the replies on this topic you would think that's all the kids were going to be offered!!

Wow I couldn't get het up about this - so much food is vegetarian anyway, will the kids even notice?! Tomato pasta, mac and cheese, jacket potato with cheese and beans...Loads of 'standard' kids favourites are vegetarian anyway?

I've stayed in vegetarian/vegan centres before and without exception the food was piss poor and I ended up having to leave the premises and get other food. I've eaten lovely vegetarian meals but that's rarely what's on offer for this kind of mass catering. And it's one thing if it's vegetarian another altogether if it's vegan, which is increasingly the worst kinds of UPFs.

Nope - the worst UPFs are cheap meat products - eyelid and arse scrapings from the abattoir floor bulked out with fillers and full of E numbers.

And it's one thing if it's vegetarian another altogether if it's vegan, which is increasingly the worst kinds of UPFs.

The meals in many of the schools I go to whether veggie / vegan or meat based are heavily UPFs. The exceptions that I have come across are very small country schools where there aren't many children on the register.

I am often offered a meal when I am attending a school but always refuse.

Op you are making a ridiculous fuss over absolutely nothing.
The problem isn’t vegetarian food, the problem is you tolerating your child dictating their food choices. Imagine contacting the sustainability centra to complain that they are making sustainable decisions around their menus