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.

The only bad food is food that gets tossed in the bin.

The portion sizes are fine and two of the meals have a good helping of vegetables. How is your primary aged child taking photos of their lunch at school?

The OP was there!

School dinners are not great and never been. They full fill a purpose. Those photos looks OK for a small kid. There is nothing wrong with them other than they look a bit grim if you compare then with what we cook at home. Some kids rely on those free dinners some not. Of course you can make a better pack lunch for 3 pounds, but you don't have to prepare the school dinners that is why some people pay for them.
I don't read much into it. Pack lunch is my preference anyway.

The OP was there but I doubt very much that three different meals were on offer. More likely the photos come from the school's website.

I'm in my mid 60s and generally enjoyed school dinners. I think all the schools I attended had a kitchen on the premises where the stuff was cooked. There was plenty of it and it was OK on the whole. I am a human dustbin, though! The food my children were given at primary school was not great and we moved over to packed lunches (that was the 90s and early 00s).

It’s a normal portion for a primary school child.
Does she eat breakfast and does she take a snack?

might have been where you were.....

Your child has been crying with hunger and you've refused to give her a packed lunch? I think you're misdirecting some guilt tbh.

When DS started school he begged for packed lunch for about 3 weeks. He finally relented when I said he could have the terrible, high sugar, UPF pudding. As it happened he stopped coming back from school starving. He’s in reception on FSM, I get lunch provided at work and DC2 is at nursery. Making a packed lunch as well isn’t something I want to do right now. I think after Jamie’s school dinners everyone assumed they got better, but they’re awful. ETA: we have a picky tea most school nights, which would include traditional lunch box foods (crisps, frube, sandwich, fruit etc) but the stuff they get is so awful I’ve started making (and freezing) my own snacks because I’m so concerned about the lack of nutrients and high number of UPFs. It’s my day off today and I’ve been baking blooming bread. At least I know he’s eating well at home.

@WillieverlearnQ What did you have for school dinner when you were a child?

The average packed lunch in the uk according to surveys is white bread with ham or cheese, crisps, occasionally fruit and often a chocolate bar. high calorie, fat and sugar, low in nutrients.
The lunch shown is nutritionally much better, but if she doesn’t eat it that’s not going to help!

We got jam too, but our semolina was awful. It was probably more the texture and consistency than the taste to be honest.

I think I would have died of joy if we had ever received ice cream!

(All of this said we used to have a pudding which was shortcrust pastry with some toffee/caramel style gloop on it - cement pie we called it - and actually it was bloody lovely. I keep meaning to google to see if there is a recipe! I also was rather partial to cornflakes in syrup with tangerine segments and a big blob of confectioner's cream on top).

Oh this is all a good point. So the description of the turkey dinner in the first post wasn't accurate then, as it missed out three ingredients!

Let's not romanticise 80s school dinners - I was born in 81 and I remember them being utterly revolting. The boiled cabbage slop, the chewy grey meat. I vividly remember crying when I was forced to eat some cabbage - and I am not, and never have been, a picky eater.

My kid's school dinners now look better than mine, though they are pretty basic.

These are more than enough for a child. It isn't supposed to be a banquet. Says something that the only meal she enjoys is pizza. Is it just that she is unfamiliar with meat and two veg?

All very different across the Channel. https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4889466-french-school-meals

According to the OP of this thread from two years ago:

My kids went back this week (bog standard state primary, rural France). They were moaning about the canteen so I thought I'd check out the menu. Tomorrow they're having a melon starter, free range chicken tajine with raisins and organic couscous, a cheese course and apple and quince puree for dessert

Agrees with an old Good Food article I've read about French school meals. They sound wonderful.

Those meals don’t look too bad (if they are foods that your children will eat). I’m more concerned about the amount of schools, hospitals etc serving up Halal (non stun slaughter) meat as standard

Portion sizes are based on government guidelines on nutritional value and for the age of the children. A school dinner is never ever going to be the same portion as a parent would serve. Quality varies depending on the supplier of the meals (some schools are supplied by an outside caterer, others are in-house) but all have to meet a minimum requirement. My son only had school dinners on the days, he actually liked the meals and by Year 2, he was on packed lunch, as the portion sizes weren't big enough for him. Some children don't eat a great deal, others eat more, so if your child likes their food, and is asking for packed lunches, it's because the size isn't sufficient for them any longer.

I went to secondary school at a time when real people came into school first thing in the morning and started peeling vegetables, making huge pies, stews etc i.e cooking proper food
I couldn’t believe what was on offer when I went for lunch at my grandson’s school. It did not look or smell appetising at all.

Those meals look ok to me.
What are you expecting?

We used to die of joy when we got it. It was ridiculously exciting because it was so rare. Yes, the caramel thing, I had forgotten about it. I liked fly cemetery (sponge with raisins and currants in it).

To be fair, the crapness of school dinners is an adult nostalgia talking point. DH and I compared notes on my late 70s/early 80s ones and his earlier 70s ones and it was all the same sort of thing.

No doubt you also get the obligatory and contradictory "healthy eating" letters from school as well 🤣

I just roll my eyes at the whole thing.

Squashed fly sponge! I had forgotten about that!

Oh it absolutely is and to be honest, if someone asked me if I would eat a week's worth of school dinners based on those original "recipes" - would I? Yes of course I would, even the gross stuff, just for a wander down grim culinary memory lane!

I wonder if the hunger/crying when coming out of school is an emotional need rather than a physical one. I often suspect, particularly with my 7 year old daughter, that it's a type of restraint collapse where she wants to be able to demand that I take care of her in a tangible way. She calms down when she sees the food I bring, but doesn't actually always eat it.

My kids never had school dinners in England. Same portion sizes for reception and year 6. The older ones were starving and the food always cold.
Pleasantly surprised by the meals in NE Scotland though, they get three courses and a menu choice each day. It’s free up to p5 I think.