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.

No, the watch stays, thanks. He will & does eat everything on offer...that's edible. I don't think you understand why he took the photo in the first place. They do have a salad bar that is usually poorly stocked & runs out quickly. His eating habits are phenomenal actually - he eats all veg, all proteins, all fruits. I'm not sure I've found anything he won't eat.

Neo liberalism. Thank Margaret Thatcher. Everything is up for sale to the highest bidder- yes, even our health, education and safety...

Do they, though? I doubt they meet nutritional guidelines.

@Grammarninja nothing to do with nutrition but they were outside for an hour for lunch and were only inside for a short period to eat their lunch. Massive school with a tight turn around to get everyone fed. We are in the North so it is a bit colder and wetter. He just liked a hot lunch in autumn/winter, liked feeling warmed from the inside.

Most school lunches in primary are hot. I have just looked at my child's old school for their menus, they are all hot lunch choices.

Agree. That’s about what I would consider to be the right sized portion for a 4-7 year old. I would not tend to serve portions larger than this to my kids at home, and they rarely ask for seconds.….

@Timeforabitofpeace on my child's old school website they provide the guidance from The School Food Trust that all schools in the area are to follow and use that to justify their menus.

Some schools are better than others. The problem is that they’re often portioned according to what a child needs nutritionally and a lot of us actually over feed our children based on what they need scientifically (me included) so I doubt complaining would make a difference. I worked in one school where it was shockingly tight portions but they had a salad bar so were offering extra food that most children over looked. I would just give them packed lunches if I were you.

I’m sorry I hate commenting on other peoples comments but feel like I have to. This is a safeguarding issue and it would be confiscated if school knew it had a camera. Best to disable the camera or not send it.

Children are allowed seconds in the school I work at - I think that’s pretty standard. They also get sides, such as bread or jacket potatoes. I don’t think it’s bad for a couple of quid - free for KS1! Just give your daughter a packed lunch if you’re not happy.

I was at infants/juniors in the 90s, and our school meals looked exactly like the photo of the meat with veg and gravy.

I still remember my lunch box getting 'lost' one day in year 3 (was mixed in with a different class) and being forced to have a school meal. It was my first and last until I started high school!

@Dishwater i
see. But they might, for example, list the nutritional value of carrots, but it would not be necessarily accurate, if the carrots were limp and overcooked.

My 80s school dinners were cooked on the premises but not from fresh ingredients.
Powdered mash, spam. I hated them.
I did have them all the way through primary though

That should be plenty. I'm not sure what you're expecting for a CHILD.

Errrr yeah that maybe a county thing. When dd was in primary school the whole of the primary school had free meals ~ meals were ALL prepared on site along with a homemade pudding (our neighbour was a dinner lady there) kids were aloud to go up for 2md & 3rds. Each month one year group had parent / family lunch & the food was surprisingly decent (especially the puddings 😍😍) & im a huge food snob. Now she’s in secondary school £20 a week on school meals but she likes to take a thermos with leftover dinner in it or noodles. She might have fried chicken from school or a pasta pot. She more enjoys the cooked breakfast they offer before 8:45.

My DC got lots of processed food in the 90s, such as Turkey Twizzlers etc (DS still goes on about them now). During their time at high school though, Jamie Oliver stepped in and the food became much more nutritious. I went to primary school in the 60s and school dinners were very good, albeit that you had to eat things you didn't really like.

I don't eat anything like that amount for my lunch!

Honestly OP they look fine to me, and the sort of food generations of people grew up eating. School lunches aren't supposed to be fine dining.

I wish school dinners didn’t have pudding. Why are we teaching kids that they need something sweet to finish a meal every day of the week?

The food looks gross. Anyone defending it must have very low standards.

What a sweeping (and ill informed) statement. In the 80s, the children at my kids' primary school didn't have any kind of meals provided at all because of cuts. All children had to bring packed lunches. Before that, because the school didn't have a kitchen, meals had been brought in from another school. Not all schools are, or ever were, the same.

Just as a comparison, I live in a poorer country than the U.K.

Comparing the pictures of lunches here to what my son gets is pretty shocking. Considerably less healthy, and way way less vegetables and fruit. (if any?)

But it is more than just the lunches.. it is the whole attitude and system.

This is how it works here:

One parent (part of a parents council) is responsible for food communication. They receive the nutritional details, and ingredients (as a photo) of exactly what will be freshly cooked in the school that day. They then send them out to the social media groups of all the parents, so that every day you get to see exactly what your child is being offered.

Every child eats the same(allergies accounted for of course), and no pack-lunches allowed. It is a healthy nutritionally balanced hot meal,, and the whole class and teacher eat it together at the same time.

Every day a couple of students are the "lunch helpers" who help other children, and supervise the whole thing.

The students all clear up their plates/bowls, and then all go together to play/enjoy lunch after.

Imagine that in the U.K.?

The basic expectation that every child should get a free and fully healthy meal, where the parents know exactly what is going on, and the culture of eating healthily and together is a fundamental part of the school day.

(Of course it doesn't work if you have a lot of fussy children though....)

I work for a school catering company and the number of myths being posted on this thread is incredible.
In most schools the price charged to parents for a meal is not £3. It’s often nearer the £2.50 - £2.60 mark, but it can be as low as £2.30. The universal infant free school meal price, which is set by the Government, is £2.61. Bearing in mind that price has to cover labour, food and a lot of expenses, just think about it for a minute. How much does a latte on the high street cost?
Our company has to produce healthy two course meals every day that meet the Government school food standards and include an additional salad bar with about seven different items like fresh cucumber, peppers etc and freshly baked bread. There’s a choice of main dishes and alternatives are pasta and jackets. Desserts include yogurts and fresh fruit every day as an alternative to a traditional pudding like crumble and custard.

When was the last time you purchased a two course hot meal, plus salad bar, for £2.61? Now try to imagine how tiny the profit margins are in this industry (some primary school catering contracts are actually loss making), and you have an idea of what these companies are up against.

They look fine to me and a good portion size for a child. They are certainly more nutritious than pizza!

I'm with DD on this, I would be crying too.

@VenisonHotDogs Why should anyone / any company make any profit on school meals? Why are companies supplying the meals?

Schools mostly used to have kitchens and food was cooked in house, that's the way it should be.

I was a governor at my DCs primary school. The caterers would all come in, promise the moon on a stick, but then a few weeks into term the complaints would come in about portion size/quality. Then a % would switch to packed lunches and the income would go down for the company but their fixed overheads (staff) would remain the same. Profits squeezed food cut further. Eventually they’d give up and leave, rinse repeat every year. We were only saved when an ex parent came out of retirement and pretty much worked for free and some people still complained.
I know some people will say “oh I can feed my kid well for £3”. But if all your labour is free then yes you can probably trot out a good sized balanced meal for that. That isn’t the reality in schools.

Yes although I do recall it being powdered mash potatoes probably ‘smash’