Parents: School Lunches
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gchutson
Posts: 657
Ok, time for a real string...
I have four kids, ages 8 months to 10 years. My experiences with school lunches have been a bit disturbing, at best. The meals provided for our children, at least around here, are notably terrible. They're frightening unhealthy. The staple and standard appears to be "if it can be fried and placed on a stick, it's fabulous."
When I was kid, school lunches were terrible. They were unhealthy and tasted like crap. It appears that not much has changed in 30 years.
Pursuant same, my wife and I decided it was best to pack lunches for our kids. There are some drawbacks, not the least of which that the lunches are not "hot." (At least, I've always heard that a lunch being cold is a drawback. Any input on that issues would be nifty.)
At one point last year, we received a phone call from the school stating that we needed to put more money in our first grader's lunch account. We were confused by this request, as we had put enough money in his account to last the entire school year (at one "hot lunch" per week).
Apparently, the lunch staff had been allowing our six year old to go through the lunch line, get a chocolate milk and a snack cake (unbeknownst to us), then charging him for a full lunch... for nearly a month.
Those of you that have read my previous posts and strings can likely imagine, this did not go over "well" with me and the school system. (The teenage colloquialism "epic beatdown" barely does the exchange justice.)
Thus, I'd like to hear from other parents, educators and lunchroom ladies about school nutrition and lunch-time ideas for our babies.
I have four kids, ages 8 months to 10 years. My experiences with school lunches have been a bit disturbing, at best. The meals provided for our children, at least around here, are notably terrible. They're frightening unhealthy. The staple and standard appears to be "if it can be fried and placed on a stick, it's fabulous."
When I was kid, school lunches were terrible. They were unhealthy and tasted like crap. It appears that not much has changed in 30 years.
Pursuant same, my wife and I decided it was best to pack lunches for our kids. There are some drawbacks, not the least of which that the lunches are not "hot." (At least, I've always heard that a lunch being cold is a drawback. Any input on that issues would be nifty.)
At one point last year, we received a phone call from the school stating that we needed to put more money in our first grader's lunch account. We were confused by this request, as we had put enough money in his account to last the entire school year (at one "hot lunch" per week).
Apparently, the lunch staff had been allowing our six year old to go through the lunch line, get a chocolate milk and a snack cake (unbeknownst to us), then charging him for a full lunch... for nearly a month.
Those of you that have read my previous posts and strings can likely imagine, this did not go over "well" with me and the school system. (The teenage colloquialism "epic beatdown" barely does the exchange justice.)
Thus, I'd like to hear from other parents, educators and lunchroom ladies about school nutrition and lunch-time ideas for our babies.
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Replies
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I am an elementary teacher and our school lunches are horrible!! They even offer bags of chips for 50¢ each. One of my students came back from lunch with 5 (!!!!!!!) bags of Doritos and put them in his locker. First, WHY would our cafeteria staff allow him to buy that many at one time and second, this is a child from a very low socio-economic home so why is he bringing $2.50 to school to buy 5 bags of chips? This money could be used for something a lot healthier (no clue if he got it from his mom, took it, it was his own, etc.).
I feel your pain, trust me.0 -
for me, its a double edge sword, we get free lunch. so it is better financialy if my kids eat the school lunch.. however, my oldest will not touch school lunches (not sure if it is the food or the line.. he is on the autism spectrum.. so could be either) and my twins will eat maybe one a week. (pizza, nachos). I have to hand it to my school this year they have added a great deal more vegtables and fruit to the list and always offer some sort of salad bar. tofu has even snuck its way on the menu. it has a LONG way to go but they are giving it an effort. and i have eaten there on several occasions.. (i am a sub teacher) and the food taste is ok.. lacking salt for sure!. as far as the charter school goes, all there lunches are provided by an outside restaurant. the food is alright, the portions a bit small for high school kids.
the elementary school has one big thing that gets to me.. they offer snacks. i have seen kids toss their meal to get an icecream cone or some other sugary snack. (and a snack already came with the lunch so they are eating two). i don't think snacks should be offered at all during lunch. there is plenty of raisins, bannanas, salad etc on the salad bar.
so.. what it comes down to .. is i mostly pack lunches. and that way i can make sure they have what i feel is a good lunch.0 -
I am an elementary teacher and our school lunches are horrible!! They even offer bags of chips for 50¢ each. One of my students came back from lunch with 5 (!!!!!!!) bags of Doritos and put them in his locker. First, WHY would our cafeteria staff allow him to buy that many at one time and second, this is a child from a very low socio-economic home so why is he bringing $2.50 to school to buy 5 bags of chips? This money could be used for something a lot healthier (no clue if he got it from his mom, took it, it was his own, etc.).
I feel your pain, trust me.
According to the food log, that's 700 calories of pure crap, sold to a child. That borders on endangerment in my humble opinion.
Unrelated side-note, Kermit rules.0 -
I have a degree in elementary ed and did my student teaching in an elementary school. Although the actual hot lunch at the school wasn't usually great, the school did have a salad bar with fresh veggies and a fresh fruit that the students who purchased a lunch could help themselves to. When warmer times came, the fruit was usually locally grown. Many of the students would load up on the broccoli and add some ranch to it (not excellent, I know). For Oklahoma, I considered this pretty good.
Many of the home packed lunches were good, but many were also awful: lunchables, chef boyardee, chips, fruit snacks, just junk.
I don't really know what my overall point is with the above post, but I just find that most kids are eating terribly, even if their parents think they are doing good things for them. Lunches, home packed or otherwise, are sugar and carb laden, causing students to have energy for recess (if they have it) and crash about an hour later.
School breakfast is even worse. Pancakes, toast, cereal, "juice." With breakfast at 7, most of my students were starving and misbehaving by 8:30, even though snack was at 10:30. God forbid it was ever late.0 -
Yeah those lunch ladies will rob you blind! My 8 year old wanted to buy a cookie that costs 50cents, I only had a $5 bill to give her- lunch lady took the $5 bill and gave her NO change back! For a 50cent cookie! They are horrible and I am sure they pocket all that extra cash from kids who dont have the exact change. When I questioned it they said they dont give change. Oh really now.
As far as bringing a hot lunch from home, we pack a thermos with chili or soup or some kind of casserole packed with veggies.0 -
Well, I cannot speak for the school system, but I will say I agree with you whole-heartedly!
As a mom, I have found that I get better cooperation when my kids are in on whatever activity it is I want some control over. In this instance, maybe you can get the kids involved in making their lunches and they will be more likely to want to eat them. For younger children, it is best to put things in simple terms and give them choices. For instance, if you say "Every day, we have to pack a fruit in your lunch. Tomorrow, do you want me to pack an apple, strawberries, or grapes?" And my reasoning is, if they are the ones that picked it, they have no excuse not to eat it.
If your kids like soup, that's a hot lunch item. You would just need a thermos. Dinner leftovers like chili can be kept hot in a thermos as well. My kids really like sandwich wraps, and my daughter always thought dipping apple slices in peanut butter was a great treat. And chocolate milk - once in a while - is not necessarily a bad thing.
Don't know if these suggestions were what you were looking for, but hope it helps!0 -
i work in a school and the lunches are so nasty. the stuff that some parents send isn't much better (lunchables, etc).
when my mom packed my lunch, i got the following:
- sandwich (pb&j, lunch meat and cheese, tuna, egg salad, etc)
- veggies (carrots, celery, cucumber slices, green pepper slices, etc)
- sometimes i'd be lucky and get pretzels or chips, but not very often
- fruit cup, applesauce, or fresh fruit (or a Juicy Juice, lol)
- a sweet treat - maybe some pudding or fruit snacks or a couple Oreos.
i think it was, overall, a pretty balanced lunch and i still eat stuff like this to this day.
does your school district have a farm to plate program? my little brother and sister go to public school, and their menus consist of a lot of locally grown produce when available as well as a lot of local restaurants providing some portions of the meal (the spaghetti sauce, for example). they also have a little garden outside of the school that helps supplement the food in the cafeteria.
i only had a good experience with food at school a few times. my favorite was when we had a salad bar in elementary school!0 -
I have a degree in elementary ed and did my student teaching in an elementary school. Although the actual hot lunch at the school wasn't usually great, the school did have a salad bar with fresh veggies and a fresh fruit that the students who purchased a lunch could help themselves to. When warmer times came, the fruit was usually locally grown. Many of the students would load up on the broccoli and add some ranch to it (not excellent, I know). For Oklahoma, I considered this pretty good.
Many of the home packed lunches were good, but many were also awful: lunchables, chef boyardee, chips, fruit snacks, just junk.
I don't really know what my overall point is with the above post, but I just find that most kids are eating terribly, even if their parents think they are doing good things for them. Lunches, home packed or otherwise, are sugar and carb laden, causing students to have energy for recess (if they have it) and crash about an hour later.
School breakfast is even worse. Pancakes, toast, cereal, "juice." With breakfast at 7, most of my students were starving and misbehaving by 8:30, even though snack was at 10:30. God forbid it was ever late.
I think your point is wonderfully graphic and all encompassing. Basically, we as a society are feeding our children pure *kitten*. This theory is supported by the fact that the government now refers to "childhood obesity" as an actual "epidemic."0 -
Yeah those lunch ladies will rob you blind! My 8 year old wanted to buy a cookie that costs 50cents, I only had a $5 bill to give her- lunch lady took the $5 bill and gave her NO change back! For a 50cent cookie! They are horrible and I am sure they pocket all that extra cash from kids who dont have the exact change. When I questioned it they said they dont give change. Oh really now.
As far as bringing a hot lunch from home, we pack a thermos with chili or soup or some kind of casserole packed with veggies.
That's just wrong. Fleeced by an elderly woman in a hairnet. Is there no justice? (Ha.)0 -
If you haven't already seen it, I suggest watching Jamie Oliver's "Food Revolution" (it's on Youtube). Shows some incredible insight into how the school lunch programs work around America.
As a mom-to-be, it makes my skin crawl a little bit.0 -
agree as well, i see some of the snacks and lunches the kids are bringing from home and they are not any better.
at my house, i prepackage all portions out. so when they go to the fridge to pack lunch.. they know they have to take something in the dairy section, a fruit of somekind (ill have cut up and washed fruit ready to go) and they make take a sweet.. again portioned controled. i make the main meal.. we do thermos food alot, stews, soups, stirfry, my daughter likes shrimp. next year at the charter they have microwave ovens for the kids to use.. so i can pack a larger varity of leftovers and things.
but i have to admit.. nacho supreme.. is awesome.. and i will buy every time all 700+ cals of it! my one school food weakness..0 -
i work in a school and the lunches are so nasty. the stuff that some parents send isn't much better (lunchables, etc).
when my mom packed my lunch, i got the following:
- sandwich (pb&j, lunch meat and cheese, tuna, egg salad, etc)
- veggies (carrots, celery, cucumber slices, green pepper slices, etc)
- sometimes i'd be lucky and get pretzels or chips, but not very often
- fruit cup, applesauce, or fresh fruit (or a Juicy Juice, lol)
- a sweet treat - maybe some pudding or fruit snacks or a couple Oreos.
i think it was, overall, a pretty balanced lunch and i still eat stuff like this to this day.
does your school district have a farm to plate program? my little brother and sister go to public school, and their menus consist of a lot of locally grown produce when available as well as a lot of local restaurants providing some portions of the meal (the spaghetti sauce, for example). they also have a little garden outside of the school that helps supplement the food in the cafeteria.
i only had a good experience with food at school a few times. my favorite was when we had a salad bar in elementary school!
What I find most disturbing is that most of the "naysayers" on this string are SCHOOL EMPLOYEES. This is bad. I figured you guys would be arguing against me, claiming that I'm an idiot and school lunch programs are really awesome.
Yikes.
I'll look into the farm-to-plate program. However, I know my kids very well. If my 7 year old is given a choice between broccoli and a Little Debbie Snack Cake... the broccoli is safe.0 -
As the daughter of a teacher, I hear about this a lot from my mother. The school system is passing new rules about health standards, but since Pizza is now a vegetable, I don't know what to do about that. At my mothers school they require kids to get salad and a fruit with their meal, but they didn't do that at my school 20 minutes away. So it varies from district to district.
Honestly, I would not put more money on there for your kids to buy school lunches. I would pack lunches for them and teach them how to make their own with good food, but also a nice sweet snack thats not terrible for them.
So all natural fruit rolls are better than other snacks, along with apples, a good sandwich, any fresh berries, maybe a muffin or something with a bit of sweet so they can get that craving.
But in the end, its up to them. They could trade lunches, or not eat the healthy stuff. Teaching your kids nutrition is the best way. It will take a while, but it works. My mother's students always shock me with their healthy eating. During party days, they bring in fruit and fresh juices, not doughnuts and ice cream.
Its shocking.0 -
agree as well, i see some of the snacks and lunches the kids are bringing from home and they are not any better.
at my house, i prepackage all portions out. so when they go to the fridge to pack lunch.. they know they have to take something in the dairy section, a fruit of somekind (ill have cut up and washed fruit ready to go) and they make take a sweet.. again portioned controled. i make the main meal.. we do thermos food alot, stews, soups, stirfry, my daughter likes shrimp. next year at the charter they have microwave ovens for the kids to use.. so i can pack a larger varity of leftovers and things.
but i have to admit.. nacho supreme.. is awesome.. and i will buy every time all 700+ cals of it! my one school food weakness..
Lunchables are the devil. And I will admit, I have given them to my children out of desperation.
I feel so dirty.0 -
My son is in preschool, so not too many issues lately, but I'm dreading it. They do have some grant for snack time that involves "healthy" snacks. Many times it is fruits or veggies, but my only drawback is that they often give them ranch with the veggies. But, choose your battles..... 40 calories of ranch isn't going to hurt a kid during a nearly no calorie snack.
They had pulled chocolate milk, but the parents fought to GET IT BROUGHT BACK, which is horribly disappointing to me. Milk or water.... That should be the choices as far as I am concerned. Some of the chocolate milk is so bad...
Lunches are a bitter disappointment from what I can see. I wish we lived near a school that actually cooked food from scratch instead of stuff out of boxes and bags. They do exist, but are so few and far between.... It's very sad.0 -
My daughter gets a salad every day. She loads it up with nuts, eggs and chick peas and a good amount of veggies. Yes, she probably puts a ton of ranch, but better than a slimey pizza.
My sons will not touch the elementary lunches. My 11 year old is a big kid - 5'5 and 110 pounds and growing like a weed. I have to send him with a couple of boiled eggs, PB&J, apple or banana, a kashi bar and a homemade cookie for snack. He does have access to a microwave because he is in special ed and he will take chicken fajitas, leftover meatloaf and roast potatoes if he is "super hungry" He eats all day long!
My 8 year old likes a PB and nutella, banana and a kids cliff bar.. SAME thing EVERY day. Makes life easy.
I also pack my boys 2 cartons of almost frozen milk. By the time they get to lunch it is good to go.0 -
My son is in preschool, so not too many issues lately, but I'm dreading it. They do have some grant for snack time that involves "healthy" snacks. Many times it is fruits or veggies, but my only drawback is that they often give them ranch with the veggies. But, choose your battles..... 40 calories of ranch isn't going to hurt a kid during a nearly no calorie snack.
They had pulled chocolate milk, but the parents fought to GET IT BROUGHT BACK, which is horribly disappointing to me. Milk or water.... That should be the choices as far as I am concerned. Some of the chocolate milk is so bad...
Lunches are a bitter disappointment from what I can see. I wish we lived near a school that actually cooked food from scratch instead of stuff out of boxes and bags. They do exist, but are so few and far between.... It's very sad.
Chocolate milk is absolutely terrible for you. It's basically sugar and fat. However, I can't really blame kids for wanting it. If I could, I'd run an IV of chocolate milk straight into my arm.0 -
I share the horror.
We are vegetarians, if not vegan (try to do 80% vegan) so it is pretty easy for me to say to the kids that they have to pack a lunch. Of course I am sure they wil reach an age when they will want to eat meat, but haven't gotten there yet.
If we did eat meat it would be harder, I think, because then all the junk like chicken nuggets would be appealing.
Our district is pretty good, they locally source veggies, etc. they also provide gluten free meals to anyone who wants them due to a couple kids having celiac. But sadly they are still no where near what I would call healthy.0 -
Im glad theres not lunches served at our schools. We either send a lunch or bring the children home for lunch.
DDs lunches are different eveyday some things I include
a sandwich usually turkey
or a wrap
some carrotts and cucumber
and apple, pear or banana
strawberries and bluberries
crackers and cheese
juice and or water
goldfish
granola bars
yogurt
and once in a while a brownie, cookies or chocolate pudding.
Its hard because our school is nut and fish free so it limits alot, but I work around it.0 -
My daughter gets a salad every day. She loads it up with nuts, eggs and chick peas and a good amount of veggies. Yes, she probably puts a ton of ranch, but better than a slimey pizza.
My sons will not touch the elementary lunches. My 11 year old is a big kid - 5'5 and 110 pounds and growing like a weed. I have to send him with a couple of boiled eggs, PB&J, apple or banana, a kashi bar and a homemade cookie for snack. He does have access to a microwave because he is in special ed and he will take chicken fajitas, leftover meatloaf and roast potatoes if he is "super hungry" He eats all day long!
My 8 year old likes a PB and nutella, banana and a kids cliff bar.. SAME thing EVERY day. Makes life easy.
I also pack my boys 2 cartons of almost frozen milk. By the time they get to lunch it is good to go.
Maybe I'm a big dumb male... Ok, I'm a big dumb male... but... I though Kashi Bars and Nutella fell into the "bad" catagory?0
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