Horrified by school dinners!

[WillieverlearnQ]

I went to my daughter’s school yesterday for dinner with the parents. All they had was two scoops of mash (my daughter did say that it is usually just one scoop) the thinnest slice of turkey I have ever seen and a tablespoon of carrots with a drizzle of watery gravy. With a tiny pot of ice cream. When I was at school it was nothing like this.

She has been asking for packed lunches for a long time but I’ve always refused. But today and going forward I will always make her a proper lunch.

It just make’s you question what on earth is going on? How can that be a sufficient for a child at school for 6 hours. Also why on earth are parents paying £3 for such a terrible meal.

My children had mashed potatoes, chicken, gravy and 2 veg regularly at home . What’s wrong with that? A perfectly healthy, balanced meal. What are you feeding yours?

in my children”s day school dinners were all turkey twizzlers, pizzas and cheap, dry burgers so I think this looks much better.

A similar cost to the parents maybe but surely heavily subsidised.

I’m a teacher and I have to say the meals in my school are dreadful! Poor quality, awful presentation and nowhere near enough food. And a very grumpy cook!!

Do you serve up processed chicken, frozen mash and microwave veg? If your home cooked meals resemble those photos then I’d not eat at your house.

Turkey twizzlers still haunt me but school dinners needn’t be a choice between that and prison food slop, surely.

How would you know what prison meals were like.

@sittingonabeach I am constantly trying to cut down on sugar at home! It is a never-ending barrage of party bag Haribos, Birthday cake slices, summer ice lollies, Winter hot chocolates, Christmas/Easter/Whatever chocolate, 'Please, Please, Please!' at the supermarket or café.... Primary kids don't need daily dessert at school- they just don't.

Society is geared toward sugar-ing our kids up.

If you look at places like the States, their canteens are often sponsored by Coca-Cola and Doritos. Total joke, and that will be us in 20 years.

That looks like plenty of food for a child’s lunch

Is that a teaspoon or dessert spoon in the photo

I remember back in infant school, the food was served on actual plates, and we sat at a table with a teacher and they used to pout water out of a jug for us. A lot of the focus then was table manners etc.

secondary was crap as it was done in order of which form you were in. Which was t great if you were at the top and then next week obviously last to go in. By that point there was little choice left. (I vaguely remember surviving on chips and gravy for most of year 7/8!)

I can actually answer this one, as I know someone who moved to work in a primary school kitchen having previously worked in the local prison kitchens. She said prison food was much much better and was shocked at how bad school dinners are in comparison.

School dinners have never been cordon bleue dining. Sounds par for the course to me, though in my day we had sugar-filled puddings with lashings of custard. I still wouldn't eagerly eat custard......

Anyway, leaving aside the quality of prison dinners, I think individual schools are mostly doing their best. Costs have gone up massively - food, energy and staffing costs have all spiked - and schools are under a lot of pressure to pass as little of the extra cost on to parents as possible. So quality and quantity gets squeezed.

This is standard policy in our council area, the argument being that they all pay the same amount so should get the same food. Yes it's crazy, but there you go....

As for the reliance on pizza etc, whenever schools in our area try to de-beige the menu take up falls very noticeably, at least in primary schools. And the whole thing ceases ro be viable if numbers fall too low.

It's not schools who are employing people to make dinners, it's outsourced to catering companies who seem to provide dinners to multiple schools, with profit not quality as their aim.

In 2004 when ds switched from state to private, the state school lunches were £1.80 and pretty dire. At the indy they were fab: balanced, choices, fresh fruit, fresh veg, pasta dishes - even chops. However they were £4.50 per day. It isn't hard to figure why they were so much better. You can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear.

You get what you pay for.

The school dinners at my own school were delicious - so much so that we asked the kitchen for some recipes when we left. The school I taught had very good healthy food, but it was a famous public school, admittedly.

Where are you getting the stuff about the processed this and frozen that from? I’m looking at the photos which are perhaps not a representation of reality. Maybe the actual meals are unpleasant but I’m not getting a bad impression from the photos at all.

No danger of an invitation to dinner at mine.

I think the meat is processed because its perfectly round. And the veg in the second picture is that very neat cubed stuff which is frozen veg. I dont mind frozen veg but its not that flavoursome when its half the plate.

The mash might be real but having has school mash regular it can be dried potato flakes mash too.

The sausages can also be quite catering sausage rather than butchers sausage, and those little potato squares are processed.

I dont mind these things but im not seeing the same healthy stuff others are.

My daughter's school dinners are absolutely shocking. I want her to have a hot meal but frankly, the nutrition is zero in the school meals. Typically, Friday will be a burger or sausage roll with chips and cake for dessert.
I try to balance things at-home with lots of fruit and veg, as well as quality meat and fish. I'm aware a lot of people can't do this.
The French do amazing meals for kids at school. They pay more taxes than we do too. However, the meals don't cost more than here. Maybe it's the availability of the produce? We produce less in the UK but surely, they can do better than this?

Even before that it wasn't individual schools it was the LEA. I suppose now it's the Academy chain. I retired before my school became an Academy.

Our school they are far worse.

The reality is these days the cost of labour, energy, tech platforms to order plan and administrate meals on large contracts etc, the cost of actual food child is served is barely 50p on a £2.50 meal.

In the past women who worked in school kitchens were paid pocket money wages, school offices & teachers had to do the admin of collecting money & orders etc.

Fresh fruit & veg & meat do not keep.to plan, cook & serve good portions of fresh meals to school kids at scale is very costly. In reality its much cheaper for parents to provide a good quality packed lunch.

I don't really get why people insist a hot meal is better. Don't your kids get a hot dinner at home? A cold lunch is fine when you've got a proper cooked dinner.

I agree with @peridoteage Our DC rarely had a hot lunch. I have almost always worked and rarely have a hot lunch.

As littlies they used to have brown bread and butter, a wholemeal pitta or oat crackers with carrot, cherry tomatoes, chopped cucumber, etc, with ham, cheese, houmous, etc, with fruit and/or Yoghurt. When they were a bit bigger and it was cold, they might have got soup and a toastie or an omolette with beans or something of that nature.

Lots of families dont have access to a kitchen or cant afford fuel. 25% of pupils are pupil premium children and whilst many of thier parents will be prioritising thier child getting a bowl of soup or an omlette on a cold day for tea, others cant or dont, on the expectation they got a nice roast at school that day so they are ok with a sandwich for tea.

The standards have fallen massively now that it is usually outsourced to a private company who need to make a profit.

The portions at my school are minute and would in no way be enough for the 16 yr old lafs eating them. The prices are not great either.

I think the food isn't great but £3 or free in many areas. Not sure what you expect for £3. Again it's the fact that most people don't want to pay more or more taxes. What is the solution? I would love to hear !
Free dinners must help out lots of families but as a teacher most kids nowadays don't eat the veg or salad as they don't eat it at home