Should I be shocked?

[sunshinedays]

I'm trying to sort out a nursery place from September for my dd (West London) I asked how much a day is spent on food, drinks and stuff - they said ?1.
ONE POUND for all drinks, all meals, all snacks for a full day's supposedly quality nutrition.

Is this normal? They are a mainstream chain.....

Any idea how I check they're not serving up cheap nasties?

Don't know what's normal but I suppose small children don't eat large portions and if it's bought in bulk and made from scratch it would be quite cheap???

Have you been to look round? When i was looking for dd's place I didn't go back to the one with a lunch menu up saying 'pizza & waffles, jelly' but went for the one with a big kitchen who made a big deal of their nutrition policy.

I'd be very shocked. Is this for a full day's menu? I honestly don't see how that could be the case.
I would ask to see sample menus and speak to people who already have children there. Ask where they source their food from.
Also, could you go along for a few morning/afternoons prior to you dc starting? I did that to get a feel for a few nurseries before making a decision-helped us enormously. hth

I don't think I'd be too shocked.

If I broke down how much I spent on food for my family a day (so working out that they we use 4 wheetabix for the DS's - rather than the cost of a whole box). I'm probably pretty close to that.

£1!!! You can tell it's West London
My mum was a nursery helper last year. They spent 53p per child per day on food etc. They were giving the children lemon curd cream crackers for midmorning snack - freezing leftovers to serve another day, really cheap & nasty veg, fruit etc. And 1001 easy mince recipes seemed to be the norm.
She left after about 3 months cos she used to get so annoyed & upset. If the kiddies didn't eat their 'delicious' lemon curd cracker they got nothing instead.
Oh - occasionally they would serve each child 1/4 or 1/2 of a Smartprice crumpet.

Actually asked them to check... and they told me it was a pretty standard budget. They did have their own cook ... and also make a big deal of their nutrition policy too. The sample menu plan looked good - but how they do that for a quid I have no idea.

Your responses have encouraged me to be shocked... and a little outraged!!! I'm now off to explore further on the net.... I'll keep you posted

Oh no I haven't put food in mybusienss plan for the nursery

Oh Botheration (and other swear words)

Wasn't Jamie Oliver's campaign to increase the budget for school lunches to 50p? And they would be much bigger portion sizes than a nursery. So it doesn't seem hugely out of line.

I work in a Care Home - a very good one, where the meals are fantastic (they're that good that I'm always quite pleased when there's a plate with an unused meal in the fridge when I get to work - have a 2nd 'dinner' at 3am in the morning LOL).

And they go to places like bookers - where they can get a HUGE piece of lamb/pork/beef for about 1/4 of the price which we'd pay in the supermarket.

For tinned stuff they get the huge tins in - again costing a fraction of what we'd pay in the Supermarket for the same quantity of goods. And the vegetables (always good quality) they get from somewhere else (not sure exactly) where they do 'bulk' selling.

£1 per child per day is not as bad as it sound tbh.

If the nursery has 30 children on roll then they are spending £150 per week on food and drink, which when you buy in bulk goes a very long way.

Hmm - now I don't know whether to be shocked or delighted!!!!

Elliot - I agree if schools should have 50p then, on the face of it £1 doesn't sound too bad - but this £1 is for breakfast, mid morning snack, lunch, tea AND all drinks, rather than just lunch.

On the brighter side £1 sounds like luxury as I have just found a discussion on Nursery World web site getting excited about a 39p a day per child menu.... I kinda get the impression they are discussing using out of date food!

Hi, I have my own nursery (out of London) and we have a cook. We charge an extra 1.90 per 3-5 year old per day for lunch alone (1.00 for 18mths to 3yrs). All food cooked from scratch and meat from local butcher, also 3 veg and fruit deliveries per week. Snacks of fresh fruit, crackers, etc etc. come out of the room budgets and are therefore included for in the daily fees. Have only had one parent complain about extra lunch charge - we invite parents to lunch so they can see what is on offer. Menu includes items such as cottage pie (lamb)with 2 fresh vegs and 10-fruit salad; chicken curry - they love it - with couscous, nan bread and salad followed by individual strawberry tart with yoghurt. Not trying to make any points just let u know what we do. We are not part of a chain, 78-place nursery.

£1 doesn't sound that bad. DS's nursery has its own cook and they do everything from scratch and provdide full menu plans so you can see what they're eating and it always smells yummy!!! The only biccies/cakes they have are the ones they make themselves. If you are concerned chat direct to the nursery and they'll put you at ease.

i'd be horrified. especially as my sons nursery ask for £2.10 for lunch. i don't pay it as i'd consider it a miracle if he ate more than a mouthful. lunch boxes for us.

its more than is spent in schools .. almost twice as much IIRC