Anyone alse make their child packed lunches?

littlerach · 01/09/2003 14:55

My daughter takes a packed lunch to nursery as she is fussy and won't eat the lunch provided. Last week I was asked to stop sending strawberries and salad as the other children wanted to have it too, instead of their whip, or blancmange. So now she is only allowed to take sandwiches - can you believe it?!

Original poster

codswallop · 01/09/2003 15:02

Thats crap. you should send in a whole punnet for all of them!

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WideWebWitch · 01/09/2003 15:13

Doesn't surprise me really. Littlerach, are you serious? I'd complain big time and ask to see their food policy!

bundle · 01/09/2003 15:18

my dd's nursery incorporated 'tasting' into their day a while back - I took strawberries (we were asked to take certain colours of food) and others took eg lemons, grapes etc to talk about colour, texture etc. blancmange etc sounds a bit bland, I agree they should be having more fresh fruit

SamboM · 01/09/2003 15:45

How appalling that you should be expected to stoop to their level rather than them improving their crappy food. I should tell them to stick it! Whip is full of sugar and chemicals, blancmange - no idea but is vile! They should be offering fresh fruit and salad and ingraining better food in children at a young age.

I would be livid if anyone shoveled whip into my dd.

marthamoo · 01/09/2003 18:10

littlerach, that is terrible. I would complain too - they should be encouraging all the children to eat more fruit and vegetables, not less.

codswallop, the article was interesting but not surprising. When I've been on school trips I have been shocked by the c**p that some kids take: those Dairylea lunchable things, CheeseStrings, at least two packets of crisps, cakes and biscuits, and Fruit Shoots/Sunny Delight.

The only thing that confused me in the article was it seemed to be pushing for low fat, low calorie foods in lunch boxes. Although I know there is a problem with obesity in children in the UK (10%?) I would have thought most children needed more energy than is provided by eg., cottage cheese, low fat mayo etc.

Have to admit that ds1's packed lunches are pretty dull: cheese, ham, tuna and sweetcorn but I get Brownie points for them always being on wholemeal bread! And sometimes I do filled pitta breads. But he does get a cake (often a scone or fruit loaf) as he will not touch fruit of any kind. Oh and breadsticks and pure fruit juice and some pieces of cheese. Hey, that doesn't sound so bad does it?

littlerach · 01/09/2003 18:27

It's rather awkward, as I work there and there hasn't ever been a food policy until we came along!! I have had so many discussions with the room supervisor and the manager and even with the owner. I have had to agree with the policy - that only sandwiches can be taken in (although these can contain salad!) as I felt my only other option was to resign - maybe a little OTT - and so move my daughter - unfair on her. I have also been promised that all the children will be given fruit at snacktimes, as well as after tea. I am waiting to see if this will happen. Fortunately, we are only part-time so I can control her food at other times. I have pointed out the high sugar, and low nutritional content of the foods served on a number of occasions, but always receive the same response: that it is difficult to feed a high number of children with a food that is good for them, and that they all like. Fair enough, but surely fruit would be one of the simplest ones?!! I have also pointed out the ingredients of the squash they are given 3 times a day, and suggested that they have water or milk. However, one parent complained when I did this, and it was eventually thought that they drank more when they had squash. What a long paragraph this has become, sorry for waffling.
Marthamoo, I thought the same about low-fat foods for children. Why can't all these health professionals agree on things?!

jinna · 01/09/2003 18:48

what great web site codswallop - its given me lots of ideas for DS lunch especially as he is very fussy and also doesn't like eatting bread
thanks

Original poster

codswallop · 01/09/2003 18:49

you can call me coddy if you say nice things like that!

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Original poster

codswallop · 01/09/2003 18:51

M MOo your lunches sound like mine - all he will eat fruit wise are bananas or grapes. Must admit that on a trip day I might give him sonething a little different.

Likes cheese scones or sausage rolls. Good to have in freezer for when you run out of bread. Philadlphia too - never seems to go off.(!)

I sometimes send cold sausages in with bread and a sachet of ketchup I got from somewhere!

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deegward · 01/09/2003 21:57

I had to send packed lunches withmy ds1 from when he was only 5mths, as we seem to chose the only nursery which didn't supply food. So got quite good at it as was doing Annabel Karmel.

Now ds1 is at preschool and is allowed to stay for a lunch club (cute huh) which give me 3/4 hrs more time so he often does. It si easy to fall into the trap of "that's all they will eat" as we did for a time, but I am being more inventive of what I give him.

I am also the chairman of our local M&T group, and challenged our policy of providing only biscuits at snack time. I was told that fruit would be more expensive, and children wouldn't like it, how glad I was to be proved wrong. Firstly as we make a sizeble profit, and are meant to be a charity the cost was not an issue, and the kids do like fruit. Sorry a bit of a rant, but I have found my hobby horse

deegward · 01/09/2003 21:58

I had to send packed lunches withmy ds1 from when he was only 5mths, as we seem to chose the only nursery which didn't supply food. So got quite good at it as was doing Annabel Karmel.

Now ds1 is at preschool and is allowed to stay for a lunch club (cute huh) which give me 3/4 hrs more time so he often does. It si easy to fall into the trap of "that's all they will eat" as we did for a time, but I am being more inventive of what I give him.

I am also the chairman of our local M&T group, and challenged our policy of providing only biscuits at snack time. I was told that fruit would be more expensive, and children wouldn't like it, how glad I was to be proved wrong. Firstly as we make a sizeble profit, and are meant to be a charity the cost was not an issue, and the kids do like fruit. Sorry a bit of a rant, but I have found my hobby horse

SofiaAmes · 01/09/2003 22:00

One of the major reasons I decided not to send my ds to nursery and to keep him with the childminder, is the absolute c**p that the nurseries that I visited proudly showed me on their menus. And at every single nursery, when I suggested sending my ds in with pack lunches with fruit instead of the fish fingers and sweet deserts they were serving, they looked at me like I was crazy and suggested that it would be very difficult to have him eating something other than what the rest of the kids were eating. I grew up in Berkeley, land of granola...I was 16 the first time I went to McDonalds (and that was a field trip to show "real" America to my Italian grandfather).

easy · 02/09/2003 15:00

Marthamoo

I agree, I thought my son should have a diet fairly high in calories, and also that young children need a fat intake for development of brain tissue (read it somewhere ages ago, can't remember where )

I really really think that the obesity problem among kids today is due equally to inactivity as poor diet.

Schools just don't seem to get the kids doing the active things they used to (in my day etc. etc. ) and working parents don't have the enthusiasm / energy to get kids out to sports or just playing out after school.

oops nearly ranting, but can someone please back up what I think about ds's diet (just 4 years old yesterday BTW)

Oakmaiden · 04/09/2003 13:53

I suspect that the low fat bit they are talking about is more relevant to older children taking packed lunches in to schools, not for the little ones. Interesting article, though. I am tempted to go back and re read it, and take notes about what to feed my child for his packed lunches - I suffer from a terrible lack of imagination!

Although today (first day of term) my ds decided himself what he would take into school - he took a marmite breadroll, carrot sticks, tomatoes, grapes, yogurt and a drink of diluted orange juice. He seemed to feel that I should bake him some rock cakes to take with him, and I may do so for tomorrow, but I didn't feel like it last night.

Pat · 04/09/2003 14:11

There was another similar article in The Telegraph this week addressing the same issue both from the persepctive of the time-strapped journalist mother and also some examples of what chefs give their children!
/linkwww.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fhealth%2F2003%2F09%2F03%2Fhlunch03.xml\telegraph article{}

Pat · 04/09/2003 14:12

Oops - so my first attempt at a link didn't work then...
You can copy and poast this I guess
www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fhealth%2F2003%2F09%2F03%2Fhlunch03.xml

Original poster

codswallop · 04/09/2003 14:21

yeah right - bet his kids take pumpkin soup to school..bet they got to a private school anyway!!

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tallulah · 04/09/2003 20:34

Well I've failed then. My 4 went off this morning with the food on the no list: white bread, crisps, Kellogs cereal bar, cheesestring & capri-sun.

When they were younger I tried making "proper" lunches- they just came home with them uneaten. I buy squeezy yoghurt so they leave it in the fridge till it goes off, ditto fruit, and anything fiddly that needs a spoon to eat it with they just don't have time to eat. They are teenagers & won't eat what they don't want.

eidsvold · 04/09/2003 20:47

that seems interesting in terms of their policy litterach -

my dd is in nusery and they have water with their lunches and they have dessert of sorts but they also have lots of fruit for snacks... today when I arrived they had sultanas and other fruit for their snack. They do not feed them juice or squash. At snack times they get cows milk. Dd has proper meals - lots of veges and fruit every day. The nursery is very flexible with your food demands - for example they do not always give dd a dessert - but often fruit instead.....they checked with me first...

Dh and I take packed lunches.... organic multi grain bread, ham, cheese, tomato, apple, banana and a nutri grain elevens bar.... is that healthy ... I have the same but had a wrap instead of a sandwich.