To expect school dinners for my coeliac daughter?

[jurisfictionoperative]

When my daughter was diagnosed as coeliac, I enquired as to wether there was a gluten free option for school dinners.
I was told that there wasn't as 'they couldn't cater for every preference'!
Excuse me for being picky, but surely vegetarianism is a 'preference', coeliac being a health threatening condition, along with nut and shellfish allergies? I think that this is discrimination, would a disabled person user be denied ramps because they prefer to use a wheelchair? And yes, I know that this is an extreme comparison, but the whole thing makes me cross! We go to a restaurant, and the poor kid has to have chips, or a jacket potato, every time, because nobody caters for coeliacs, yet when I worked as a waitress, we had many more requests for gluten free than vegetarian!

YANBU they must by law cater for veggies and those observing religious dietary requirements which is a choice the parents and/or child makes being Coeliac isn't a choice.
I would be taking it further than the school speak to the local authority or ofstead as this is certainly not in keeping with the so called 'every child matters' policy.

riven, what on earth did they say when you spelt it out for them? Surely sometimes she's in for a few days at a time - and even if she's just in overnight, telling a child they have to go hungry is not on

My dd does take a packed lunch every day, but would like the option of something hot! Especially in the depths of winter! If the LA is going to provide dinners, everyone should be catered for or nobody IMO. To bar people with certain requirements is DISCRIMINATION! Wether or not it only costs £2. Everywhere you go, people treat coeliacs like lepers. 'We don't cater for THAT, for goodness sake'! My entire family now eat gluten free, and in general cooking terms, it is dead easy to convert. You just have to think about the basic ingredients, cornflour for flour, leave out or substitute vinegar and worscestershire sauce etc. Maybe the reason coeliacs aren't catered for so often is because they can't be arsed to think about it, and serve processed crap which is full of wheat and barley malt to bulk it out and make it taste better. It doesn't have to be expensive, the best gluten free oven chip is McCain orange bag which is the cheapest brand! In our Tiny school there are 3 kids who are gluten wheat intolerant, and we are one of the smallest in the borough! Put together all the schools supplied, surely there are loads more in he same boat!

YABU

send her in with packed lunches

so send her in with something hot then - you can buy flasks that stay hot that you can eat out of

the only way a school could cater for coeliac is to make all means gluten free - which would be expensive and have other parents up in arms as lots of kids love / live on pasta and breads and the taste of gluten free is an aquired one

I am not aware of any of the main caterers offering gluten-free as a matter of course

it bites that it's your daughter but to be honest state schools do not have the funding to accomodate every need and the parents have to work in partnership

in the nicest way - stop whinging about it

YANBU, but a bit naive to expect it to be catered for, TBH. I say that as somebody with a coeliac DH, and DSD - she goes with packed lunches. it sucks, but that's the way it is

I think a bigger problem is hospitals not catering for it, because you can't always take your own food in and you may have to stay there for weeks! my DSD had a biopsy to investigate how much damage the gluten had done, under general anaesthetic. when she came round she had to eat something and keep it down before she was allowed home. what did they offer her?

toast.

YABU- you can't cater for everybody. It would end up costing too much and they would either have to stop them all together or hike the prices up. Would you want that?

Riven- I am so on your behalf! I can't believe all the shit you have to put up with. I also can't believe how its so under reported.

YABU.It'd be nice but it isn't realistic.

I wouldn't be too happy either with my hypothetical coeliac daughter having school dinners because there's such a risk of cross contamination when food is being prepared on that scale.

It is a pain making up packed lunches of course but I think it's your only,and safest,option.

YANBU to think they should provide a safe lunch for your dd. I spent many years in catering and really, providing for coeliacs wasn't difficult at all.

However, since the repercussions of them getting it wrong are so dire, I understand the school's position. For sure vegetarianism is a choice - so perhaps vegetarians have less of a right to expect to be provided for (I don't agree with that btw!) than coeliacs or nut allergy sufferers, but if the average vegetarian child inadvertantly eats a pork sausage, they are unlikely to keel over.

see here

"Special Diets FAQs

Are schools required to provide special diets when requested?

School lunch menus are designed for the majority of the school population, so some pupils with special dietary needs may need to be catered for individually. It is up to the school to decide whether this is feasible, although every effort should be made to cater for all pupils' needs. Schools are not required by law to cater for children with special dietary needs but they are encouraged to do so.

We would recommend that schools develop a policy and procedure to ensure that a request for a special diet is handled in an efficient and appropriate way. It is good practice for these requirements to be written into any contracts that are developed with caterers. Catering providers and local authorities may already have policies and procedures in place."

YABabitU but you have my sympathy, DMIL is a coeliac & I continue to be amazed how many people think it is a "preference" to avoid gluten, rather than medically necessary...

PixieOnaLeaf - my point was that I do have a dietary requirement, so not coming from a 'mainstream, no problems pov' & if it wasn't able to be catered for, then I would do packed lunches.

Not that it is any of your business and I feel you are being quite rude (but hey, veggie bashing is still a pretty acceptable mentality ), but yes, actually - meat does cause me physical pain & distress.

Otter - Yes, of course, for people who just choose to be vegetarian and for some children who have never in their lives had meat, a pork sausage isn't really a problem . FFS. Would you say the same of a child who doesn't eat a particular food due to their religion? Someone with Coeliac's wont keel over either - so does that make it ok then?

I think YANBU - when I was at school aeons ago, a friend of mine was a suspected coeliac sufferer and she got gluten free meals.

However - they weren't always very nice, I have to say.

These days though I think you probably are better off sending a packed lunch in with your DD - so much of the cheap end of the market (used by caterers for cost reasons) involves wheat somewhere, it's better for you to check your DD has some good quality GF food to take with her.

YANBU.

DS2 was lactose intolerant when he started school (he has since grown out of it). He was provided with a dairy free school dinner. They even got him soya milk to have at breaktime when the other children were having milk.

There are quite a few children who have school dinners there who have different dietery needs, eg through religion, or are vegetarian, or have allergies. They are all catered for with no problems at all.

YANBU in my opinion but then our schools do cater for all alergies.

We have coeliac children and those with nut allergies who have school meals, Their menu is published in advance and they have to notify at the begining of each week if they want a meal(which is the same as the ordinary menu), some have it everyday, others just when they fancy whats on offer.

I have sympathies as this must be frustrating but I think you just have to get creative with the lunches; there are some brilliant lunchboxes/flasks out there now that you cand send hot food in so it's possible to send in pasta/soups/stews etc.

Still might be worth checking your Local Authority's policy on this though and seeing whether you can push the school a little on it. Nothing to lose.

PixieOnaLeaf - what medical qualification do you have? I have now told you I do get ill if I eat meat - why do you feel better able to judge that than I am?

By PixieOnaLeaf Sat 10-Apr-10 13:04:54
"I say this as a vegetarian" - and is that in any way the same? Does eating meat cause you horrible physical pain and distress?

Your post was rude and unnecessarily confrontational/attacking. I never said being a vegetarian was the same as having coeliac's disease.

Many a time the worst veggie bashers are the lapsed ones - so it's no suprise to hear that you used to be a vegetarian.

What happens of you are entitled to free school meals and need nut free/gluten free or something?

Riven, that is beyond stupid - is it some backward thinking on their part because they don't "believe" in the diet your DD is on? Or they just can't be bothered to do it?

Glad you have sympathetic nurses, at least!