Parents: School Lunches

CountryMom03

The school lunches are terrible. I started packing my kids lunches about halfway through the yr last yr. I have a son who has ADHD and we found that by removing any and all food or drinks that contained any kind of artificial colors, dyes, flavors, or preservatives or msg's that his symptoms drastically subsided alot. So we changed our diet at home around and after looking into the schools lunches seen that just about everything they served was loaded with *toxins*. It was more of a financial burden on us because I then had to buy stuff for lunches but the pay off was worth it. I do not believe a lunch has to be "hot" Most of the time I sent my kids with a turkey wrap or sandwich with some fruit and carrots and PB. Sometimes I would send them in with leftovers from supper the night before and their teachers were very kind enough to warm it up for them in the microwave. I also would send them with lemonade or water to drink. I actually was scolded once...I thought it was quit funny and begged them to try and force the issue because I was ready lol, but one day I sent my son in with a 100% natural turkey sandwich on homemade whole wheat bread with a slice of white american cheese and tomato, a orange and some carrots and PB (he likes to dip the baby carrots into the PB and eat it), and a water. My son came home saying his teacher pulled him aside and said she was worried about him...that he wasnt being fed properly and that maybe he needed to start eating the schools lunches. ROFL...this went over REAL good with me. Apparently they were saying he wasnt getting enough breads and grains to their liking! I was ready to come at them to compare our two lunches and just SEE which one was the most healthiest! But there are lots of options for lunches you just have to be creative!:)

dad106

I'm a substitute teachers aid(I work with high schoolers) and their food is pretty nasty.

At the one school, the students get a breakfast(it rotates from cereal, ham/egg/cheese bagel/biscuit, chicken biscuit, or bagel and cream cheese) with a side of juice and milk. Lunch time it's some form of chicken or pizza 95% of the time, with a side of fruit, juice, milk and some sort of pasta/potato salad or coleslaw. They also have a mini school store, where the kids can buy ramen noodles, gatorade, chips, soda or candy. 95% of the time, they opt for school store because the lunch is disgusting and they only have one option(it's an alternative high school, so their lunches are brought in from another high school that has the capability of making food).

The second school has a full cafeteria, that has the regular hot lunch and a couple other areas that serve things like pizza, candy, cookies, ice cream novelties, ice cream shakes, etc. Teachers here get the option of the hot lunch the students are being served, soup, some boxed salads/sandwiches, or some special"staff only items". Most of the time the special staff items are a slice of pizza or bosco sticks. If you do buy the normal hot lunch then you get a choice of the main entree, a version of a potato, a vegetable, fruit, milk and juice. Other wise you bring your own lunch or go out to eat.

Personally, I never ever buy lunch at school unless I absolutely have to. If I don't want to eat the food, then why would I let my future children eat the food? When I'm subbing during the school year, I pretty much live on sandwiches, fresh fruit, yogurt, and string cheese. I bring my own water bottle with a filter in it, and the only thing I buy is a cookie..if that.

KellyMirth

School lunches are an absolute joke, the schools are generally more interested in heating up fake food than actually making and feeding our children healthy food. I highly suggest reading "Lunch Wars", it's a good read with a lot of information and not too extremist.

The back story for us: our son was labeled as having ADHD when he was in 2nd grade. Prior to that I had noticed that when he was given certain "foods" (and I use that term loosely) he acted as though he were on meth, all twitchy, crazy and generally out of control of himself. When his school psychologist tested him (without our knowledge) he said our son was the worst case he'd ever seen. After speaking with my son, we figured out that there had been a party going on just prior to the testing. He was fed a bunch of junk (oreos, donuts, etc.) and juice and then tested. I can't imagine why he would be all twitchy during the testing. Their solution was that we needed to medicate him immediately and I suspect they were floored when I flat out refused.

I tweaked his diet, playing around with different foods until I figured out what worked best. For him, he needs to avoid highly processed foods, especially those containing fake sugars. Real sugar does not affect him. He also needs protein with every meal to keep him level. And he needs to eat frequently. His meals are as follows:

1.) I generally start his day with a high protein breakfast such as scrambled eggs with cheese & ham or bacon, english muffin and milk. This starts him off on the right path. I'm not opposed to feeding him leftovers such as spaghetti for breakfast either.

2.) I send a snack with him for mid-morning, usually things like cheese, a homemade protein bar, or an apple with peanut butter.

3.) For lunch, I try for meat on whole wheat bread, another fruit, cheese & something fun like pretzels. I've found that while he doesn't love most meats, if I add a slice of pepperoni to the sandwich, he'll eat it. The fat is increased and I don't love the processed nature of it but it's a compromise I'm willing to make. Yogurt is a good side item that he'll eat. He does buy milk with his lunch. I don't care if he has chocolate milk, but he's banned from strawberry milk. I wish they served whole milk but everyone is convinced that skim is better for some reason.

I've also found that even though my son is 11, if I make the parts of his lunch easy to pick up (such as cutting the apple/oranges into wedges) he tends to eat it more readily than if it's whole. If I follow this general plan, he has good days and doesn't get in trouble and he avoids eating the processed crap the school serves. He usually doesn't like what they serve anyway so that's a plus.

Sorry this is so long and drawn out, I tend to write novellas most days

MelMena

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?

Says who? A nut and cherry kashi bar is better than a chocholate chip cookie any day. Nutella, 1 TBSP is 5g of fat, 11 carbs and 10g of sugar. LESS sugar than a TBSP of strawberry jelly.

mommy2AR

Yep agreed completely that school lunches arent the way to go. I pack my daughters and will continue to do so for her and my son when he starts up school

gchutson

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.

A naked Tinkerbell? That's just wrong.

gchutson

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?

Says who? A nut and cherry kashi bar is better than a chocholate chip cookie any day. Nutella, 1 TBSP is 5g of fat, 11 carbs and 10g of sugar. LESS sugar than a TBSP of strawberry jelly.

I did qualify my statement by openly admitting that I'm a big dumb male.

gchutson

School lunches are an absolute joke, the schools are generally more interested in heating up fake food than actually making and feeding our children healthy food. I highly suggest reading "Lunch Wars", it's a good read with a lot of information and not too extremist.

The back story for us: our son was labeled as having ADHD when he was in 2nd grade. Prior to that I had noticed that when he was given certain "foods" (and I use that term loosely) he acted as though he were on meth, all twitchy, crazy and generally out of control of himself. When his school psychologist tested him (without our knowledge) he said our son was the worst case he'd ever seen. After speaking with my son, we figured out that there had been a party going on just prior to the testing. He was fed a bunch of junk (oreos, donuts, etc.) and juice and then tested. I can't imagine why he would be all twitchy during the testing. Their solution was that we needed to medicate him immediately and I suspect they were floored when I flat out refused.

I tweaked his diet, playing around with different foods until I figured out what worked best. For him, he needs to avoid highly processed foods, especially those containing fake sugars. Real sugar does not affect him. He also needs protein with every meal to keep him level. And he needs to eat frequently. His meals are as follows:

1.) I generally start his day with a high protein breakfast such as scrambled eggs with cheese & ham or bacon, english muffin and milk. This starts him off on the right path. I'm not opposed to feeding him leftovers such as spaghetti for breakfast either.

2.) I send a snack with him for mid-morning, usually things like cheese, a homemade protein bar, or an apple with peanut butter.

3.) For lunch, I try for meat on whole wheat bread, another fruit, cheese & something fun like pretzels. I've found that while he doesn't love most meats, if I add a slice of pepperoni to the sandwich, he'll eat it. The fat is increased and I don't love the processed nature of it but it's a compromise I'm willing to make. Yogurt is a good side item that he'll eat. He does buy milk with his lunch. I don't care if he has chocolate milk, but he's banned from strawberry milk. I wish they served whole milk but everyone is convinced that skim is better for some reason.

I've also found that even though my son is 11, if I make the parts of his lunch easy to pick up (such as cutting the apple/oranges into wedges) he tends to eat it more readily than if it's whole. If I follow this general plan, he has good days and doesn't get in trouble and he avoids eating the processed crap the school serves. He usually doesn't like what they serve anyway so that's a plus.

Sorry this is so long and drawn out, I tend to write novellas most days

No apology necessary. I have feeling that novella may help someone.

barbaratracy

I could not agree more!!!! School lunches are full of junk. I have been packing my sons lunch from day one. If parents actually took the time to look at a menu I think they would think twice about allowing kids to have "hot lunch". I do not understand why schools feel its ok to sell chips or even juice. I believe if schools only offered healthy choices then kids would have no choice but to make good choices. I have been a fat person all my life, when I had children I was determinded that I would only buy healthier snacks. My kids are not allowed to have soda or juice regularly ( only at friends birthday parties).

bm99

School lunches are an absolute joke, the schools are generally more interested in heating up fake food than actually making and feeding our children healthy food. I highly suggest reading "Lunch Wars", it's a good read with a lot of information and not too extremist.

The back story for us: our son was labeled as having ADHD when he was in 2nd grade. Prior to that I had noticed that when he was given certain "foods" (and I use that term loosely) he acted as though he were on meth, all twitchy, crazy and generally out of control of himself. When his school psychologist tested him (without our knowledge) he said our son was the worst case he'd ever seen. After speaking with my son, we figured out that there had been a party going on just prior to the testing. He was fed a bunch of junk (oreos, donuts, etc.) and juice and then tested. I can't imagine why he would be all twitchy during the testing. Their solution was that we needed to medicate him immediately and I suspect they were floored when I flat out refused.

I tweaked his diet, playing around with different foods until I figured out what worked best. For him, he needs to avoid highly processed foods, especially those containing fake sugars. Real sugar does not affect him. He also needs protein with every meal to keep him level. And he needs to eat frequently. His meals are as follows:

1.) I generally start his day with a high protein breakfast such as scrambled eggs with cheese & ham or bacon, english muffin and milk. This starts him off on the right path. I'm not opposed to feeding him leftovers such as spaghetti for breakfast either.

2.) I send a snack with him for mid-morning, usually things like cheese, a homemade protein bar, or an apple with peanut butter.

3.) For lunch, I try for meat on whole wheat bread, another fruit, cheese & something fun like pretzels. I've found that while he doesn't love most meats, if I add a slice of pepperoni to the sandwich, he'll eat it. The fat is increased and I don't love the processed nature of it but it's a compromise I'm willing to make. Yogurt is a good side item that he'll eat. He does buy milk with his lunch. I don't care if he has chocolate milk, but he's banned from strawberry milk. I wish they served whole milk but everyone is convinced that skim is better for some reason.

I've also found that even though my son is 11, if I make the parts of his lunch easy to pick up (such as cutting the apple/oranges into wedges) he tends to eat it more readily than if it's whole. If I follow this general plan, he has good days and doesn't get in trouble and he avoids eating the processed crap the school serves. He usually doesn't like what they serve anyway so that's a plus.

Sorry this is so long and drawn out, I tend to write novellas most days

Good for you! :flowerforyou:

TeachTheGirl

I've always loved the concept of the 'bento box' lunch, I just think they look adorable. Which might not mean they're nutritious. But they're cute so maybe that evens it out? :>

Seriously, though. I'm concerned for when my son starts Kindergarten in the fall, I hope they give out lunch menus so I can see what they're feeding my kid when I'm not there to make good choices for him.

gchutson

I've always loved the concept of the 'bento box' lunch, I just think they look adorable. Which might not mean they're nutritious. But they're cute so maybe that evens it out? :>

Seriously, though. I'm concerned for when my son starts Kindergarten in the fall, I hope they give out lunch menus so I can see what they're feeding my kid when I'm not there to make good choices for him.

We get "menus." By "menu" I mean "Tuesday = pizza, Wednesday = corndogs, etc"

starcatcher1975

My children's school is the same way. If he wants just a drink to go with his lunch he has to buy the whole lunch which makes me crazy! They doesn't want the lunch. When they do get a lunch they usually give most of it away or throw it away because they say it's just gross. There are a few items they like but not many. My oldest son is excited about going to high school next year where he'll get better tasting food. I'm thinking it's the pizza he's after.

We tried packing the lunch too but at their ages (12 and 14) I tell them they have to be responsible for that so most the time they don't do it. And I think they get bored with eating just sandwiches all the time. But next year we're going to have to come up with a better plan. My youngest has a bunch of food allergies/intolerances and the school can't (and shouldn't) have to cater to that.

I know my kids eat like pigs when they come home to make up for the fact they don't usually get enough to eat at school. I don't think I actually have a point except to say it seems to be normal for school lunches to be horrible and the alternatives of packed lunches aren't that much better nutritionally...but at least they taste better to the kids so they'll get eaten instead of thrown away.

cowgirlashlee

I know when I was in school, the processed crap was all we really had, because even the "eggs" and "meat" on the salad line were powdered or came from a can.

I honestly ate better once going to college than I did in high school, because my college offered better, healthier options on campus such as a sub bar, a fresh salad bar (which was always at least a 10 minute wait...totally worth it), lots of fresh fruit and veggies, etc.

I am also employed by a state-licensed daycare center, and we are required to follow the state's food guidelines, but some of the stuff that they allow us to serve astonishes me. Processed chicken nuggets, corn dogs, pancake-wrapped sausages, etc. We do serve a lot of fruit (canned, not fresh usually) and vegetables, but it's all canned, super salted, and just doesn't strike me as generally healthy. But, we follow what the state says because it's what they reimburse us for on our program. We do have kids that pack their lunches for special dietary needs, but other than the few of them, we feed around 100 kids a day. Most of us staff members pack our own meals because we don't like the sluggish, blah feeling from the overly processed crap.

Our elementary school offers free lunches for kids all summer, and we will take the daycare children over to partake in that, but it won't be much better. Hotdogs, flash-frozen hamburgers, greasy slimy pizza, fake egg omelettes that taste like the plastic bag they come in, sugary cereals, ugh. The kids dread it as much as we teachers do!

KatKatatrophic

When I was in school ( college now ), the middle school and highschool lunches were really different. They were both unhealthy, but healthy at the same time. I mean, the food was disgusting. I refused to eat it because of the repulsive smell and taste. So, because of money, I could only bring my lunch to school one day a week. So, I had lunch once a week. That was the middle school lunch. About 7th grade, 8th grade, you could get seconds for free, but...just ew, they gave you such a huge second portion to get rid of the food. It was so gross.

Then highschool, they had a taco bar, a salad bar, and a baked potato bar. No one ate the taco bar because it was disgusting. I think it's the meat they use in all their food. And then salad bar, the lettuce was just...greasy, wet, and really processed tasting. I could never eat salad after that. The potato bar was about once a week. The difference was in the food was they gave you a lot more, and most of the "a lot more" was pure junk. I eat a lot of junk food, but never that much. So, because of the potato bar I ate twice a week. Brought my own lunch once a week, then had the baked potato during the week whenever it was open.

In middle school, my mum packed my lunch. Usually it was soup in a thermos, or a peanut butter sandwich. Then it was either carrots and ranch or chips. And usually water/soda/some kind of juice packet. And a snack. Basically it was based off what we had at the time.

In high school, I packed my own lunch. And it was carrots and ranch, ramen noodles or peanut butter sandwich ( at this time my anorexia was forming without me knowing, I used one my slice of bread and made a half sandwich ), and some kind of granola bar with water.

I honestly didn't like the system at our school. The breakfasts were better, I have to say that. They were really good, but no one ate the lunch because the smell made you lose your appetite or the food was just...gross. They had at least one good lunch every two weeks. I still don't eat it though, usually you find hair, or ants in your food. It was just NASTY.

I can't believe...just...
Ew.

lyttlewon

My daughter's school likes to point out to you that they offer fruit for lunch. What they offer is fruit cocktail or peaches packed in syrup in a plastic cup or sweetened apple sauce. They serve pizza at least twice a week and some hot dog based product at least once a week. Every entree comes out of a box.

Another thing that bothers me is the amount of time they are given to eat. Seriously she says it takes too long to eat hummus and carrots because you can't gobble it down in the time they give you. The other day she tells me "Mom have you ever tried eating carrots fast? It doesn't work so well".

thefreebiemom

I have a first grader. Kindergarten was only half day so this is her first year having lunch at school. 95% of the time I make her lunch. She is picky like me so she doesn't eat most of the stuff offered at school anyways. I have seen some pretty nasty stuff on her menu. Twice a month they have something called a tater dog. For months I have been wondering what the H is that? One day I took a Subway kids meal into school for her to have for lunch to change it up from what I normally give her and a bunch of her friends had the "tater dog" it was a hotdog....cut in half lengthwise....and smothered with some concoction of cheesy butter mashed potatoes. Really??? Gross. We go over the menu each week and there are sometimes she wants to buy lunch and I will let her have it every once in awhile. Nacho day is one (I actually saw the nachos the other day and it looked like something you get at a ball game but only like 6 chips and cheese on it) She does get pizza each week on Wed. I work at Papa Johns and have delivered to the Private school in town for their lunches before. We don't deliver to my daughters school so I have been curious for awhile where they get their pizza from, but they are only allowed 1 slice and they cut it themselves into 10 slices instead of 8 so they get smaller slices that are perfectly even. Last week was nacho day and she didn't even want it that time, she asked for home lunch.

My home lunch is pretty boring. Its either PB or lunch meat on bread. Fruit and something chippy like pretzels. She takes a water bottle that she can fill up at school if she drinks it all. She also has a snack recess in the morning because her lunch time is so late in the day. For that I always give her a banana or an apple. If I give her pretzels or something snacky then she won't eat the fruit at lunch.

One thing that really ticks me off about school is how many junky snacks the teachers give them each week. They get a piece of candy for getting their planners signed. They get treats for getting so many math problems in a minute. They get candy or snack cakes for any number of other reward reasons. My daughter is learning that doing well in school equates to junk food. One time she brought home a can of grape soda as a reward for completing 26 timed math sheets within the allotted time.

I've always loved the concept of the 'bento box' lunch, I just think they look adorable. Which might not mean they're nutritious. But they're cute so maybe that evens it out? :>

Seriously, though. I'm concerned for when my son starts Kindergarten in the fall, I hope they give out lunch menus so I can see what they're feeding my kid when I'm not there to make good choices for him.

They will give you a menu every month or you can find it online usually at the school districts website. That doesn't mean it has nutritional info on it or that what is on it makes sense. Half the things on it when I actually see what it is I'm like WTF!!!

gchutson

My daughter's school likes to point out to you that they offer fruit for lunch. What they offer is fruit cocktail or peaches packed in syrup in a plastic cup or sweetened apple sauce. They serve pizza at least twice a week and some hot dog based product at least once a week. Every entree comes out of a box.

Another thing that bothers me is the amount of time they are given to eat. Seriously she says it takes too long to eat hummus and carrots because you can't gobble it down in the time they give you. The other day she tells me "Mom have you ever tried eating carrots fast? It doesn't work so well".

That's something I forgot to mention... our kids have 20 minutes... that includes the time it takes to get to the cafeteria, get through the line, sit down and actually eat.

That just flat-out pisses me off.

saraann4

As a future educator (I have a degree in Math education to teach middle school and high school math, just don't have the license yet), the school lunches suck! In my area, they serve pizza, nachos, fried chicken, preztels & cheese, anything!! The breakfasts are probably the worst because they are loaded with sugar. Great way to start off the day! When I was student teaching, this school had a baked potato bar where they could put anything they wanted on it! Sounds good right? yeahhh, not for kids! In the morning, they are sooo full of energy! It's insane. After lunch...they are like zombies. Literally. I had to teach Geometry right after lunch to high school students and it was sooo bad. They all wanted to fall asleep and I tried the best I could to keep them awake by getting them involved. I understand the feeling though because I was in their shoes once and literally ate nachos w/ cheese everyday.

The best advice I could give is send your kids to school with a healthy breakfast and lunch.

saraann4

My daughter's school likes to point out to you that they offer fruit for lunch. What they offer is fruit cocktail or peaches packed in syrup in a plastic cup or sweetened apple sauce. They serve pizza at least twice a week and some hot dog based product at least once a week. Every entree comes out of a box.

Another thing that bothers me is the amount of time they are given to eat. Seriously she says it takes too long to eat hummus and carrots because you can't gobble it down in the time they give you. The other day she tells me "Mom have you ever tried eating carrots fast? It doesn't work so well".

That's something I forgot to mention... our kids have 20 minutes... that includes the time it takes to get to the cafeteria, get through the line, sit down and actually eat.

That just flat-out pisses me off.

So very true. I remember being in high school and having 30 minutes to eat for lunch. It was nearly impossible unless you brought your own lunch. Going through the line took you atleast 15 minutes so you are scrambling to eat your food.