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.

In terms of portion size, my nearly 10 year old DD wouldn’t eat more than that for lunch at home, so I think it depends on your child. Can’t comment on the quality of the food but it looks ok from the pictures.

@Wolfpa I could make a lot sodding better than that for 3 quid a head, I expect most people could. Even counting in the need to employ (poorly-paid) staff.

The pictures didn’t show a tiny lunch. Guidance for children is 550-650 calories for lunch. The pictures are over that. It is then down to parents to ensure that other meals are balanced.

I havent seen a school lunch for 3 years now, but I think portions are small, because they base the required calories in the children eating the whole meal. This isnt what happens as some of it isn't to thier taste. Its also not unusual to have a meal where half the required calories are in a pudding which isnt very sweet so gets left. Plus school plates can be tiny so portions look bigger than they are. So perhaps plenty for a delicate 4 year old but not much for an active 10 year old.

I also found over the years the quality got worse as funding didnt keep up with staff, fuel and ingredient costs. Roast went from really quite nice to really not so great.

I think its sad, for pp children its supposed to be thier main meal.

I was at school a long time ago. I remember sardines, with boiled potatoes and salad, beef olives (stuffing wrapped in a slice of beef) with mashed potatoes and veg, curry and rice, ham salad (occasionally), turkey etc only at Christmas, stew with dumplings, mashed potatoes and a side vegetable. All entirely adequate portions for teenage girls (seconds available if on last sitting). Puddings were: Eve's pudding (apple sponge), sago/tapioca/semolina (hate all these but esp sago and tapioca), sponge and custard, stewed fruit and custard. Again adequate portions - we used to count the stones in the stewed fruit and I reqularly got as far as 'rich man' (sad, never found one!) so there was quite a lot of fruit.
Later, when I ate school meals as a teacher it was pizza and salad, a vegetarian option that was always nice since it would be a vegetable curry with rice (because of where I live) and puddings like jelly and faux cream, fruit etc (though I tended to buy a Mars bar if there were any).
No idea what has happened to school dinners in last 15 years but the Tories will have had a finger in it as well as the whole operation being outsourced to private companies whose aim is solely to make a profit (when I was a child the LA had its own kitchens).
I never made packed lunches for my DC - life's too short to be making sandwiches every evening or batches of them on Sunday afternoon. I said if they wanted them they could make them up themselves (I would provide the contents) - they did not want them that much!

They cost the same though. Serving different sized portions to different children would be problematic if all parents are paying the same. There's a very tight budget and it can't really be tailored to individual children's needs or wants.

For several hundred children?

How are you getting pictures of your primary school child's meal? I think they look absolutely fine.

Perfect size for a child, hence why so many are now overweight, it’s like parents tho l they need to keep eating, snacks etc, kids weren’t fat when parents didn’t provide snacks everyday. Packet lunches often contain far more calories than a child needs.

They also get a snack now in primary school, we never got a snack in the 80s and we were fine. We also never drank anything!

My kids love school meals, to be fair they love bland food and will happily eat meals cold too 🤪 I’ve realised that the plainer the meal at home (similar to school dinner quality) the more likely they are to finish their plate. I honestly don’t think kids have the palate for gourmet food like we do when we reach adulthood

I had school dinners in the 70’s and loved them. They were much better than now. My sons had them in the 90’s and it was dried up pizza and smiley faces. We swapped to packed lunches.

So I. Sorry if I've not read every post but I think it's shocking. My sister is a catering director for five schools and nearly every member of staff eats in house. This is external catering with profit at heart.
My MBA referenced Maslow and it talks about food and shelter. 30% of children live in poverty, any government should be ashamed.

Those meals really aren’t that small for a primary age child for lunch. I think most people massively over feed their kids and have lost sight of what a sensible portion size is. It’s no coincidence that so many kids are obese.

If she’s so hungry give her a more filling breakfast like eggs or porridge, and take an apple with you when you pick her up.

My twins now have packed lunches (they are 6). One of them doesn't eat potato of any kind, so all they were having was pasta & sauce everyday. My DH is a governor, he can go in and try and food at lunch and said that it was absolutely grim. They've since sacked the catering company and gone back to employing their own staff, which will hopefully be much better.

But I'm going to stick with the packed lunches, I then know what they've eaten and can ensure it balanced.

For a primary school child I think this looks fine to be honest. For me, a big part of kids having school dinners is exposure to things they might not get at home, and a bit of peer pressure when it comes to trying things and eating them. Plus having to choose, order and be served something and use their manners etc.

How many parents on here end up saying that their kid is very fussy with their lunchbox / comes home with half of it uneaten it… I think you can end up in that situation no matter if they’re school dinners or packed lunch.

When did you go to school? They were also horrific when I went to primary school in the 00s. They improved considerably at secondary though

This is the comment I agree with.

I think a lot of parents compare it to say a £3.50 mea deal

But this is child size portion for mid day meal. It should not be there main meal of the day and most parents probably do not know what a correct portion size is!

I've worked in school food for 15 years.
I helped out today and there were children having a very poor plate (their choice!) and some children having veg and salad and it was a full plate
Same school picky kids, hard to please parents

The photos you posted look fine to me.

I agree. In France they'd be getting a three course meal for that.

Ours used to be good in the 1980s. Home made, a proper square meal and a proper dessert. I often had seconds when it was something like plum crumble and custard. On proper plates with proper cutlery.

I’m with you I think that meal looks awful. I wouldn’t want to eat it. I think the standard of school dinners is awful.

It is recognised for many disadvantaged children that it is the main meal of the day though.

I also work in a school and the quality 12 years ago in terms of meat and breads made on site was better.

That looks grim. My son has a packed lunch but we are overseas and he's in an international school. Kids are eating fillets of hake, wirh dauphinoise, steamed veg and white sauce for lunch......lucky them, although I very much doubt they actually eat it. But at least it's appetising. At creche they were giving the kids duck, and tofu and all sorts.
I always had a packed lunch when I was in school. I feel like school dinner has always been a bit grim.

When I was eight or nine I could eat more than I could do now, 2000+ calories a day and was running it off easily. I could eat a full three course meal in a Berni Inn. They should be able to eat to their measure and have more if they need it.

The portions should be adult sized once they are KS2.

What did you make her for lunch before she started school? A full hot meal?