Quorn the only veggie option at nursery!?

[SassyPants87]

My 9 month old is starting nursery next week and we've chosen a nursery that is so fab! However when I asked to be sent the menu for the week every single meal was meat based but the veggie option was replacing the meat with quorn

DD is being raised vegetarian but at home I'm mindful of giving her nutritious meals with great veggie protein options e.g ground seeds, nut butters, beans and pulses, eggs, tofu, quinoa etc.

Is it unreasonable of me to ask the nursery to not give her quorn all the time and give her some really great high calorie good fatty proteins instead?

I also read quorn isn't recommended for under 2 year olds on a regular basis and DD will be going to nursery 3x a week

Any advice would be great!

DS goes to a nursery where they only have meat once a week (fish twice a. week and veggie twice a week). I'm really surprised that's not more typical because veggie meals are generally cheaper. Tofu is sometimes offered as a veggie alternative but I've never seen quorn. I've just got next week's menu through and lunches on the veggie days are pasta with tomatoes and chickpeas and Turkish style couscous. It's not hard to be a bit more imaginative with veggie food and there's no reason the whole nursery can't eat it!

Not what you asked, OP, but I was under the impression that advice from anaphylaxis charities was not to have a “nut-free” environment, but to support the children who are allergic to manage their allergy, so as to reflect what they will inevitably come across in life outside of the home.

Obviously if the child is a toddler that support will take a different form from if they are a teenager, but to me it makes sense not to build a false sense of security by saying an environment is nut-free. We all know children bring all sorts into school in their packed lunch and not all of it is visibly not-containing. Another argument is that children have allergies to many other foods, but I’ve never heard of a dairy-free school or a celery-free school.

It's definitely worth speaking to the nursery and perhaps give them some examples of what your DD eats at home so they can see what a good vegetarian diet consists of. If they are unable to change the menu maybe provided a packed lunch for 2 out of the 3 days.

Glad to hear that OP.
My DD went to a nursery that only served vegetarian food..
We're not vegetarians so this wasn't why we chose the nursery. But it certainly made feeding the children easier! The meals were fab and the kids got to try things they may not have had at home.

That's great to hear OP, I might have a chat with mine and see if they can get more variety in. Our nursery is definitely nut-free, and they don't allow packed lunches (it's a chain).

For reference our last week's dinners were:

Quorn roast dinner (which he loves)
Veggie bolognese
Bean hotpot
Rice bake

No Quorn in any of the teas.

@TheUnexpectedPickle

IMHO you shouldn't be raising a baby as a vegetarian. It's a lifestyle choice and one she is too young to make.

It is unreasonable to expect the nursery to cater for dietary requirements you have decided on, unless you are willing to provide food yourself. It would be different if this was a food allergy, but it isn't. Either send her in with food or suck it up.

Eh? How is this ANY different to choosing to raise your child eating meat?

Do you realise how many people around the world have different diets by way of culture and religion and accessibility to foods?

It’s incredibly ignorant to assume your / our way of life is the correct stance.

YOU are also making a lifestyle choice for YOUR children every single moment of the day until they are old enough to choose for themselves. Every single person does this for their child regarding every single element of life.

YOU are choosing to feed your child meat - that is a lifestyle choice. Your way isn’t the default choice btw. Its just what you have been exposed to by guess who, your parents!

I've just looked back at our nursery menus, as well as quorn once, maybe twice a week they have a vegetarian pasta or stir fry for everyone on one day a week, a bean chilli on the day when the others have beef chilli, a veg and lentil fritter sometimes (I might actually ask for DD to have that one her days now as she loves things like that!), and jacket potatoes with cheese and beans. I know they have boiled eggs at tea sometimes too, although understand about allergies. The teas tend to be lighter and are quite reliant on cheese but I expect that's not uncommon for a quick vegetarian meal at home?

So I really can't see why any nursery would need to be using quorn every single day when there's loads of naturally vegetarian, or very easy swaps, meals for kids, many kids don't like meat initially anyway!

I know you've already resolved this now but honestly I wouldn't worry about this at all anyway. Chances are by the time your child is my child's age (3) you will have a lot of other dietary worries than 3 sets of Quorn-based dishes a week unfortunately...! (Although I hope not for all your sales ofc!).

My DD is also veggie and started nursery at 9mo. They don't have Quorn every single day and she has also always gone 3 days a week, I'd say she does tend to get 2 Quorn meals a week. We eat it at home probably another couple of times a week too tbh though. I've always been a lot more concerned about the fact that she's always refused to eat almost all vegetables, all beans except baked beans and so on...sigh .