free fruit in schools. but no nuts allowed

[stitch]

another rant i'm afraid.

dc school has decided that they dont think the chidlren get enough veg and fruit, so will be providing evry child with a free piece of fruit. the school is a state school, in an affluent area, so full of poncy wannabe, organice lentil weaving moms, who frown on jam sandwiches and fruit as being not healthy enough for their lo's. needless to say that ballet lessons and gym memberships are almost derigeur.

but the same school declares itself a nut free zone. yet nuts are an extremely healthy snack. they are full of essential oils. minerals, etc. tiny packets of energy, they will be far better at keeping the kids going, than half an apple, or whatever.almonds are chock full of calcium, essential not only for good bone developement, but boossts immune systems wonderfully. etc etc etc.
the kids come out of class at least twice a week clutching crappy sweets full of artificial flavourings andcolourings becuaes it is someones birthday. a practice theschool positively encourages. and of course, the siblings also get given the artifical crap by the birthday childs mother.
surely a bar of chocolate would be healthier than the crappy chewy maom they come out with?

Well unless your children go to a very odd school, then they do not spend 70% of their lives there. Nuts are not a food group - protein is a food group and there are many other sources of protein.

When (vegetarian) DD1 started school I did worry about what she was going to take for a packed lunch because a peanut butter sandwich was something I knew she would eat. She couldn't take them (one of the teachers had a nut allergy as well as some pupils). She has however survived without them and eats a balanced diet outside of school.

Fruit at school is a government initiative, not just limited to your DCs school. How do you know all children have fruit anyway? Some don't - even in leafy suburbia.

the only child who had a nut allergy, left two years ago. at the time it used to drive me mad, because the only thing it did to him, was to make his face go a bit red for about half an hour. at the time ds would eat only peanut butter sandwiches and i had to move him onto school dinners as he would not eat anything else at all. it annoyed me that for the sake of this fat bully (and yes, that is what he was) ds either had to go hungry, or i had to spend a fortune. but, i bit my tongue. because if he did have a serious allergic reaction, then i would never ever be able to forgive myself for saying what i had only ever thought in the deepest darkest parts of me.
true, i dont know for definite that their are no allergic children, adn i will be happy to be corrected. but with three children in a smallish school, i am fairly confident that i would have heard of any allergy sufferers.

its just the hypocrisy of the school that is getting at me.

What is the point you are trying to make to the school? "No thanks to free fruit we would rather have nuts." Clearly not going to happen. Your issues are all confused. The issue regarding sweets is something separate and you should complain about that independant of the other points.

independent

we have a child who is allergic to dairy

he is never allowed any chocolate buttons (which they give out occasionally for things) and he cries every time

poor love

Mention the fat bully bit in your complaint. That would go down well.

chop chop, the school could try spending money on things that actually benefit the children. instead of flashy sounding things.
i dont know, perhaps fans when the classroom temperatures reach 34 degrees celcius?
not sodding fruit.
nuts provide protein tetchy. and fats, and minerals. all very very important for growth. instead the school is sending out the message that they ar ebad for you. here have some artifical sweeteners instead

I don't think they are sending the message that they are bad for you.
Fruit does benefit the children.

bamboo, the fat bully bit was regularly mentioned by the parents whose children this child regularly beat up.

the nuts issue is the important thing. the hypocrisy of the school in providing fruit, but depriving of nuts is important.

please dont get on my case. give me some advice on how to put my point accross, without sounding the way i know i am sounding right now, which is unreasonable

OK well re the child whose face used to go a bit red, sometimes the reactions get worse the more exposure the child gets, so even if his reaction was relatively mild at that stage it was not wrong to protect him by banning nuts. I think those of us who are lucky enough to have non-allergic children should do what we have to to protect the allergic children with a good grace.

However. My take on this is that there are many different allergies that we need to be aware of - sesame is getting more and more common and apparently just as dangerous as nuts; there was a thread recently with someone who had a dangerously dairy-allergic child, and when I was at school there was a boy who was dangerously allergic to wheat.
I think it sends the wrong message out to ban nuts all the time even when there are no allergic children. What we should actually be doing is learning to be constantly asking 'what do allergies do the children around my dcs have?' and adjust accordingly.

I don't really see what you can do about it . I would feel stronger about the sweets in school thing than the fact they are giving out fruit but won't let you have nuts . Just because you don't know of a child with a nut allergy doesn't mean their isn't one . My son is allergic but thankfully I don't have to tell anyone (unless he is going to someones house ) because the school has a nut free policy . That way my son isn't pointed at for being different (he isn't a fat bully though )

then why ban something form the school if it isnt considered bad?

Eniddo mine has that (ds3), it horrid and I hate doing it to him . he doesnt get a drink at snacktime any more either as they only sell flavured soya in individual serve sizes and theya re not healthy enough , he ahs to sit and watch.

there is no point stitch

I sort of agree with you, but the fruit is free, there may be a child with a nut allergy - you dont really have a leg to stand on.

(* healthy enough by school rules)

ALlergic attacks can increase in severity or come on suddenly, so just because a child has only had mild attacks before, it doesn't mean they won't have a life-threatening one next time.

Nut allergies are the most common life-threatening allergy in children, so I would think it makes sense for primary schools to be nut free, regardless of whether there are any known nut-allergic children on the roll in a particular year.

yes kathy. i know . that is why i never said naything when the allergic child was there because i was aware that it could becomde more severe.

so i should drop it hten?

yes

you will regret making a big deal out of it I promise you

I don't think you will get anywhere with it, because it's becoming standard for primary schools to be nut-free.
Can you give seeds for a snack - pumpkin, sunflower etc? They're high in energy and other nutrients too.

No one is one your case and everyone is trying to help you make a point when actually you do not really have a good one.

could do.
i shall go buy some seeds.

I think what most people are saying is that there is no reasonable way to complain to the school about this. I would be more inclined to complain about the giving out of sweets.

bamboo. i disagree. i have a very good point and that is
nuts are extremley healthy for you........
provided you are not allergic to them.

please get your head around that.

enid and kathy, i shall take your advice, and not mention this to the school.

soya nuts are really good for you and as far as I know arent actually nuts although I could be completely wrong

they do give me rather terrible wind though

I find you rcomment re the allergic child rather harsh and uncaring tbh. OK he had a mild reaction, but still! It reads as my child's lunch preference is a damn sight more important that some other childs medical condition, he doesn't react to badly so he should have just lumped it so my child could eat peanut butter for lunch