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.

Saying you don't eat pork is not racist (a bit inconvenient in the UK tbh, though). I don't eat halal meat (or kosher, come to think of it) on principle. I don't think I should have my choice whether to eat it or not removed.

Alot of your comment is quite sweeping and I find it hard to believe actually - and I would be asking why. Happy to be corrected.

Oh no i totally agree with you. I work in a school too so see school dinners a lot they look revolting! Funnily enough I was asked to work all day last week and didn't have a packed lunch. I was told I could have a school dinner I soon rushed down the road to buy something from Tesco rather than eat the schools food!

I don't think they get very long to eat either, do they? I seem to remember my kids saying they only got half hour for lunch (and that included play time)
I remember 80s school dinners & they were bad too!

I assure you it is true. Certain councils have decided it is easier and possibly cheaper to serve only halal meat in schools.
Rupert Lowe has recently spoken about his efforts to prevent Newcastle university following the same policy. It’s all there in the public domain for you to check.

No, and yes I know you're being sarcastic, but expressing a dietary preference is "just that" and there's no reason why having a menu meet (meat ?😈) Halal requirements should have any impact on anyone, except for so done who has a rare medical condition which requires they to subsistence on bacon sarnies......

They get an hours lunch. But most kids are not in the dinner hall for long. They do tend to rush them out.

I had the exact same experience, the school invited us in for lunch when dd2 started school, and it was similarly minging. DDs both take packed lunches most days now.

Sikhs can't eat meat that has been ritually slaughtered so you are excluding them from the meat menu.

Some people choose not to eat halal meat and they should have their choice.

Maybe schools should pick 1 or 2 meats to be halal but serve others. So say a school has halal chicken but the other meat isn't Muslim children know they can have chicken at school.

What rubbish! A lot of people who are worried about halal meat are concerned about animal welfare.

Schools don’t have unlimited funds and unfortunately teaching and learning have to be prioritised.

DH is a headteacher and his school now do a heat from frozen offer at lunch, with all meals coming in pre-prepared and being heated up by teachers.

It ensures that portions and quality are consistent and some of the saved costs can be spent on ingredients.

I think portion wise they would be fine for the average primary kid but agree the content isn’t great.

Thanks for the additional info.

Heated up by teachers? Surely not. 😱

I'm a school cook and I think portion wise for younger children is ok. I understand alot of cooks are trying to stay within the budget but I tend to always give an extra scoop of mash, rice pasta and bread to the older ones as I know they need filling up more. Our children love meat pie dinners roast dinners curries and treat days which is burger and chips or fish on Friday. I think times are changing though and alot of children won't even touch shepherd's pie meals or vegi based meals as unfortunately alot aren't used to homeccooked food at home and sometimes they pick a sandwich instead. I do know there is alot of bad catering companies out there though where the food is shocking. I also give out extras if there is anything left over. 😊

I discovered how bad the school meals were about 30 years ago when I went to do a course at a school. Most of the people on the course loved the food, God knows what they had to eat at home. But it was absolutely awful, burgers, fries, pizza …. You could help yourself & pay for what you had there & then. I’d eat that sort of thing normally, but it was tasteless. I was only there 1 day a week, but it was always the same, no meat as such, or veg. Our school meals used to be lovely.

Yes- all meals come in frozen and just need to be heated up and served.

DH saved hundreds of thousands of pounds by not needing catering staff, as all preparation and serving is done by teachers.

How much did their food hygiene certificates cost and was the risk assessment updated to account for random unqualified people potentially failing to ensure that the food is neither too cold in the middle nor hotter than the surface of the sun in parts?

Who is responsible for ensuring allergens are checked with each delivery, that any food for a child with a history of anaphylaxis is prepared in an entirely separate area? Who ensures that storage of frozen meals is legally compliant? Who santises the food preparation area and equipment, maintains the records and is legally responsible in the event of cross contamination?

And, of course, who is doing the washing up?

All of that, plus, I may be wrong, but surely a teacher's hourly salary is higher than the salary of a catering assistant? How can there possibly be any saving if teachers are heating food in microwaves at a time when they would otherwise be preparing lessons, marking or actually in the classroom?

The food safety aspects are overcome by the fact that no cooking takes place on site, I believe.

It is simply a case of heating up the frozen dishes according to the manufacturers’s instructions.

Teachers put the plates etc into the dishwasher.

It saves money as teachers carry out the catering duties alongside their other tasks.

They are already in the building being paid, so it doesn’t cost any extra for them to prepare meals.

What, they're standing in the school microwave area marking with one hand and removing a plastic tray with the other? This makes no sense at all. Do the 'teachers' get a lunch break? What have the teaching unions had to say about this extraordinary extra demand on an already over-stretched body of staff?

You've also completely ignored the important point that catering staff are trained (or should be) in how to deal with allergies, food intolerances and so on and should be very careful about it. Teachers aren't given that training as standard, surely? Do the school's insurers know about this arrangement? Do the parents know?

Recent posts remind me of the persistent troll who makes outlandish claims about her husband's draconian treatment of his employees and how they're all fine with it.

No, you are adding tasks beyond their scope. How predatory. Shameful.