And while we're on kids lunches, why do so many parents send packed lunches?

[Monkeybird]

...not being controversial, just actually want to know. My school offers pretty good quality meals with good, balanced, healthy options. We can afford the cost and it's much less hassle than making sarnies etc.

I've never understood - other than the cost issue (is that it for everyone?) - why so many parents don't use the meals. The service at my school is actually at risk I reckon because fewer and fewer kids use it.

cos teh kids won't eat whats on offer?

because dd1 wouldn't eat it

it does add up, tbh. at my school: £2 a day. two kids = £10 a week, three kids, £15.
anyway, probably also down to child's preferences.

My mum used to make the most fabulous packed lunches - big fat sandwiches stuffed with lovely fresh things, sometimes a slice of homemade fruit cake, always a couple of things like apple, satsuma, etc, and some orange juice. Perhaps explains why I'm now a sandwich junkie...

personally - because school dinners used to make me sick (physically - I stopped having them after a week of vomiting every lunchtime) and that horror remains with me!
Hence ds started on packed lunch. I have asked him if he would prefer hot dinners - he says no.

i would love my kids to have hot dinners but they wont......

i hate making packed lunch and even worse sorting out the mayhem in the lunch box they bring home!!

good question.
when i was at primary it was the norm, 100%.
perhaps it wasn't so expensive (relatively) then.
although i have read that what we spend on packed lunches equates to the same in the long run.

Because I don't want my DTDs to have 2 cooked meals per day, and I have to cook for DD3 (preschool), DP and I so I may as well cook for them in the evening or I would be preparing them seperate food which would be more of a pain.

HC do you want a calulator ???

Def the cost for 4x£1.70 per day that is £6.80 which is more than my budget for out evening meal for them plus 2 adults!!! Plus they get small portions so they are still hungry for a large evening meal it's not like you could then get away with a light tea!

its the loose change that is a bummer.

I have no choice, dd has to have hot lunches and isn't allowed to take a packed one. Most days she comes home hungry, as she doesn't like the lunch. In fact very few of the kids like the food but it is a good money spinner!

We are considering it as my dd is having strange mixes of beans and sandwiches or sandwiches and mash or the junk choice most days - we asked if they could guide them more into making choices that go together or are healthier and then she got refused a sandwich two days running and was told it was because her daddy rings in (he has emailed once). We were very at this as she is only 5 fgs.

We are considering it as my dd is having strange mixes of beans and sandwiches or sandwiches and mash or the junk choice most days - we asked if they could guide them more into making choices that go together or are healthier and then she got refused a sandwich two days running and was told it was because her daddy rings in (he has emailed once). We were very at this as she is only 5 fgs.

Solely on cost for me. School meals are £1.75, for 2 children that would be £3.50 per day, IE £17.50 per week. That's quite a slice of a lowish income and people who say that sandwiches cost the same must be sending their kids to school with lobster thermidor sarnies!

It's too expensive.

£1.90 a day here (I think) and you have to have either hot meals or packed lunches for half a term minimum, so no odd days.

For nearly a tenner a week I can feed 5 of us for lunch for 2 weeks!

Ds takes packed lunch to nursery because they do not supply any food, and he has to eat lunch there.

When he starts school, as long as he wants to, I will probably continue to send him with packed lunch.

In the evening, we eat together as often as possible, and even when DH doesn;t make it home in time, DS & I always eat our main meal together.

It's a part of the day that I really enjoy and I think it's important for DS too. At the moment he helps me prepare it which I hope means he might actually grow up being able to cook things unlike his father

So I would rather continue with it...perhaps when he is older it will seem less important..

Dd has school cooked meal but ds has a packed lunch as he has a terror of "the pudding lady"

oh god you know what I mean

They are expensive and DS leaves food that he would normally eat at home. At home DC will eat a whole sandwich, at school, they leave the crusts. I bought that white bread without crusts, to test. They still came home with little L's of bread in the box. I cut the crusts off, still little L's of bread in box. I suppose it's what the others do. Peas at home, don't like peas at school. So it's easier to provide food you know they like and enjoy every day. (really can't face a crabby, hungry 6yo at 3.10)

My DS1 is in reception and they were all told to start on packed lunches. He then decided to stay with them because "the school dinners don't smell nice" . Also he is still quite messy at eating and packed lunches result in less devastation to the surrounding area...

DS takes a packed lunch so I can monitor what he eats as he is soooo fussy.

However, at his school, if there is something he does fancy then I can send the money in for just that day as everything is cooked fresh.

On Monday he had a chicken wrap and flapjack because he likes it. He is not keen on the other choices this week so he has packed lunch.

If he was a brilliant eater then I would let him have hot dinners every day but the money would be wasted.

We've had a go with school dinners, but the dinner lady told me it was a waste of money as far as dd is concerned as she just picked through it mostly.

Ds1 just prefers a sandwich at lunchtime.

I can see what they've eaten with packed lunches and they eat well in the evening. I have to say though that making the lunches every day is a pita, and also keeping it so they don't tire of what's in them is a chore too! I'd be happy to pass this burden on the school, but they just prefer what I make for them.

I'm convinced about the cost issue, I'm still not sure how it gets to a 'the kids won't eat it' issue...

At our school, they organised a tasting for the lunches and they were excellent. They have completely 'Jamie Oliver-ed' and moved away from nuggets, chips etc and towards 2-3 healthy choices. They don't use mechanically recovered meat, they use organic veg, they don't use colourings, hydrogenated fats etc.. they even try to source produce locally, and they are cooked on site.

But the meals are under threat - because parents are pulling their kids out of the scheme (and I know most parents at our school can probably afford them).

I asked my son how many in his class of 28 have school dinners. It is 6 kids.

TBH, if he came home saying he didn't like it, I'd just ignore it and know he'd eat it eventually because he'd be hungry. And because I've tried the food myself, I know there is good quality tasty stuff there. So if he doesn't like it, erm, tough!