Nursery feeding little ones ready meals!

[Jeffica]

DD (4)has been at her current nursery for nearly a year now, I've been paying daily for her to have what was advertised as a home cooked and nutritional meal cooked on site every day.
But upon dropping her off this morning I spotted their Asda delivery going in laden with ready meals!! I'm talking the family size own brand lasagna here.
Surely that is to much salt and additives for small children, more to the point that is not what I'm paying for!
Am I being unreasonable to expect my child to be fed a proper meal as advertised and not processed crap?

I would be raising it, though it may be to cover when someone is off

Yes, I’d be annoyed at this. It’s not what you are paying for. I don’t eat ready meal crap at home and wouldn’t want this for anyone in my household.

Thats not good enough. But they will likely deny it.

That’s not on. YANBU.

YANBU I wouldn’t be happy with this. Worth checking it’s definitely not for staff meals or something.

Could it be an emergency because the chef is off? It's happened in some places I've worked.

I wouldn't be at all happy with this. Even if it was because the chef was off I would expect them to buy kids ready meals or just beans or eggs on toast

YANBU however with rising food costs and the need today of schools having to offer less due to costs I imagine nursery's are facing having to change what they can offer. You do need to raise this but be mindful of the current climate.

Are you sure it was for the children?
My friend runs a nursery and they used to put in two orders - one for the children out of nursery funds and a second order for staff which they paid themselves. But on the same time slot. She would buy ready meals because they only had a very limited time for breaks.

I would ask them outright who the Asda meals are for… definitely not on!!! I’d be pretty furious if I found out LO is eating supermarket ready meals.. x

YABU by making an assumption & posting on mumsnet before actually speaking to someone at the nursery. Could be staff lunches, could be a staff members weekly shop. Who knows?. Ask them. If it does turn out to be what they are feeding the kids on a regular basis then you have a point.

Can you ask your 4yo what she had for lunch? Mine would be able to tell me, although he might mix it up with another day's meal. If it's not lasagne, chances are that the food wasn't for the children.

My DH has been a Chef in nurseries for well over a decade so I hope my comments are helpful to you.

If they're marketing home cooked meals, then that's what should be offered. Is it a chain? The chains do quite a lot of due diligence and often remove items such as this from purchasing options. Similarly they usually use suppliers such as Brakes or the like, rather than supermarkets. My DH once worked for a chain who refused to use supermarkets even in emergency situations. Regardless of this rule, the Manager was still allowed to use supermarkets for staff wellbeing or meals during staff meetings.

When on holiday my DH will order in easier food for staff covering the following week but not ready meals - stuff like pre peeled veg etc. They then make things like jacket potatoes and beans etc that are easier. If however he was off ill then the staff would have to make do and with current staff storages I can well see any nursery needing to order in ready meals. However, I would hope that they'd order the child friendly ones with lower salt.

I would ask the nursery Manager about what you had seen but as well meaning as you can.

I asked her what she had for lunch when I collected her, of course it was lasagne.
I'm going to ask them next time I collect her! if that's what has been happening i feel dreadful for her, I'd thought she's been eating will at nursery!