To think a leftover happy meal isn’t the worst packed lunch you could have?

[Tulipdreams]

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/teachers-share-students-worst-packed-36878989.amp

Hear me out first. Of course the article is pretty terrible, children being sent into school with only packets of biscuits for lunch, stories of children having no milk for their cereal and bringing in energy drinks.

But one example was a child took a leftover happy meal to school. Aibu to think that this isn’t the worst thing you could have?

No I have never sent my child into school with a cold takeaway for their lunch, and it would be concerning if it was happening all the time. But I would eat leftover McDonald’s if I hadn’t eaten it the night before. It’s probably no worse than taking a ham sandwich and a packet of crisps (which would be deemed as acceptable).

When I was a child most kids took meat paste sandwiches and a wagon wheel and that was a completely normal lunch.

This is in America?

funny, since you are the one unable to elaborate or explain it 🤨

Same my 4 year old is likely autistic. He eats 3 fruits and I take that as a win, no veggies.

Packed lunch is a cheese pizza cooked in the morning and then goes in the thermos, a flap jack, some raisins, a bears fruit roll up, apple, strawberries,or watermelon, a yoghurt and some rice cakes, every single day.

This made me chuckle as my little one didn’t eat her happy meal the other day, just not in the mood. I hate waste so I boxed it up and put it as part of my husbands pack up for work the next day. He seemed fine with it.

The one line that stood out for me was this: Staff in primary schools monitor packed lunches. Unfit or inappropriate items can be seized and returned to parents at the end of the school day – in their place, children receive a free school meal.
So little johnny wont take a sandwich or a bottle of water and a carrot to school, mother in desperation goes fine take the ginger snap biscuits. School see this and replace biscuits with proper meal. It could be a handy scam.

If this was a handful of kids over the course of a school year then hardly neglect sending in a cold happy meal one time via granny who minded the kids the night before however if this is on a more regular basis yes it is neglect. Also are these actual 100% the lunches parents packed OR could little Johnny have dumped a pre packed lunch and tried his hand with older brothers can of red bull? I mean one of mine went back to school one summer and having been asked did anyone do anything fun over summer he said 'mum brought us to aldi'. That specific summer we had been in the south of france for a month but that was what came out of his mouth. Kids sometimes should be made to sign non disclosure agreements at home lol

If this was EVERY day or even once a week yes its horrendous and great that can be swapped out for a school lunch but if its one child of 400 once a month thats a lot different.

Cold McDonald’s is pretty much inedible - I’d be more concerned about that.

I also have an autistic child that eats the same thing every day. Cream crackers, berries and a cupcake. That’s all she’ll have. Occasionally she might have grapes instead of berries.

I don’t fancy a cold McDonald’s.

Also leftover Happy Meal…surely can’t be very much food at all? Even for a child, half a Happy Meal can’t be that filling?

And what if the chikd had eaten all of the happy meal ?
Then they wouldn't have any lunch
Honestly I have bern really skint if I only had £3.60 to feed my kids i wouldn't be buying a happy meal,
You can get frozen pizza, s for less then£2 in Iceland etc.

Its a crap lunch regardless of any circumstances.

@x2boys if a one off it really isnt like they sent the kid in an arsenic bloody sandwich.

A nuggets HM contains under 400 calories. If it’s a left over HM, then it could be less than 200 calories. How is a child supposed to function properly on a woo calorie lunch? Of course it’s unacceptable, verging on neglect.
A ham sandwich and wagon wheel is approx 500 calories, so clearly much better nutritionally.

It looks terrible and tastes awful .

Having seen the portions at my children’s school for school dinners I can’t believe they’re any more (quantity and calories)

It does that when its hot too but it is still something in a kids belly if it is a one off and the granny was stuck.

Where did the granny come from?

I might be late to the party but one a happy meal is barely a meal to start with. Two cold fries and nuggets that are left over from a happy meal is not enough for a lunch full stop or even anywhere near nice.

Where did I mention to buy loaves of bread, ham etc?

I said buy a pack of bagels.

And there's usually some cheese spread on offer that will hopefully make it under £3.60

No it’s not - here’s a list of the ingredients of a cheeseburger happy meal. Yum!

Cheeseburger Bun EITHER:Allergen Ingredient: WHEAT Flour (contains Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamine), Water, Sugar, Rapeseed Oil, Salt, Yeast, Emulsifier (Mono- and Diacetyl Tartaric Acid Esters of Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids), Allergen Ingredient: WHEAT Gluten, Preservative (Calcium Propionate), De-activated Yeast, Antioxidant (Ascorbic Acid). Potential Allergen Ingredient: N.B. May contain traces of sesame seeds, milk, barley and rye. OR:Allergen Ingredient: WHEAT Flour, Water, Sugar, Rapeseed Oil, Salt, Yeast, Emulsifier (Mono- and Diacetyl Tartaric Acid Esters of Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids), Antioxidant (Ascorbic Acid). Potential Allergen Ingredient: N.B. May contain traces of sesame seeds, milk, barley and rye. OR:Allergen Ingredient: WHEAT Flour, Water, Glucose Fructose Syrup, Rapeseed Oil, Salt, Yeast, Emulsifier (Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids, Mono- and Diacetyl Tartaric Acid Esters of Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids), Flour Treatment Agent (Ascorbic Acid). Potential Allergen Ingredient: N.B. All the above may contain traces of sesame seeds, milk, barley and rye. Please note all our buns, rolls, bagels, tortilla wraps and flatbreads are toasted in the same toaster as buns topped with sesame seeds. Beef Patty 100% Pure Beef. No additives, fillers, binders, preservatives or flavour enhancers. Just pure forequarter and flank. A little salt and pepper is added to season after cooking. Cheddar Cheese Slice (processed) Vegetarian Cheddar (51%) (Allergen Ingredient: MILK), Water, Vegetarian Cheese (9%) (Allergen Ingredient: MILK), Whey Powder (Allergen Ingredient: MILK), Butter (Allergen Ingredient: MILK), Emulsifying Salts (Trisodium Citrate, Citric Acid), Allergen Ingredient: MILK Proteins, Natural Cheese Flavouring (Allergen Ingredient: MILK), Salt, Colours (Beta Carotene, Paprika Extract), Anti-Caking Agent (Sunflower Lecithin). Tomato Ketchup 60% Tomato Puree (equivalent to 168g tomatoes per 100g ketchup), Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Spirit Vinegar, Salt, Spice Extracts. Dill Pickle Slices Gherkins, Water, Spirit Vinegar, Salt, Firming Agent (Calcium Chloride), Natural Flavouring, Preservative (Potassium Sorbate). Onions 100% Onion. Mustard EITHER: Water, Spirit Vinegar, Allergen Ingredient: MUSTARD Seed (14%), Salt, Spices, Spice Extract. OR: Water, Spirit Vinegar, Allergen Ingredient: MUSTARD Seed (13%), Salt, Spices, Natural Cloves Flavour, Spice Extract. Buxton® Mineral Water (Still) - 250ml Buxton® Natural Mineral Water Natural Mineral Water. Apple & Grape Fruit Bag Fruit Bag 75% Apple, 25% Grape.

I think you should aim for a healthier packed lunch - McDonalds should be kept to a treat. I wouldn’t want my kids thinking it was an every day option.

And possibly I’m being a snob, but I would never send my children with something like this as I would worry what the teacher would think of me as it is quite lazy to chuck a leftover takeaway in the lunchbox as well as unhealthy. I would expect my kid’s school would send an all parent reminder home about the importance of balanced lunches - at least that’s what happens when someone sneaks a chocolate bar for break time…!

By that logic a 360g bar of dairy milk contains over 1900 cals so is far superior nutritionally.

I think the nutritional element is almost secondary tbh.

A hamburger and cold chips or chicken nuggets a handful of times a year obviously isn't going to kill anyone. Provided it's been stored/chilled properly it probably won't cause food poisoning (although I feel a parent who would do this probably wouldn't take much care of food hygiene).

For me it's more the utter disrespect and lack of thought for the child. Knowing that you, as a parent, are giving them a meal that's cold and half eaten which is just disgusting. Knowing you're giving them a meal that will raise eyebrows with the teachers and make the other kids pity them or laugh at them. And knowing you're normalising this behaviour and sending them a signal that leftover food is all they can expect.

If that had happened out of absolute necessity in a time of deep crisis or trauma it would be sad but forgivable. But I just cannot imagine a scenario where someone would be able to scrape together the money for a Happy Meal, eat half of it and get it out of the fridge the next day but couldn't find it in their gift to buy a loaf of bread, butter it, stick some cheese inside and find a piece of fruit, just to reassure their kid that they were a priority.

I dont think they gave her geographical location precisely but in the article which I wrongly assumed you read it says this:
A member of staff at a school in Birmingham was sent to school with a Happy Meal box with a cold McDonald's burger and fries.
Their gran explained it had been bought the day before but the pupil hadn't wanted it so it was a "shame for it go to waste."

If you seriously only have £3.60 and you waste it on a Happy Meal, your child will go hungry the next day. Better to buy the ingredients for the 'miserable' sandwich, which will feed them for quite a few lunches that week.

This exactly.