School Lunches

PollyPocket86

Hiya,

Not sure if this is the right board, but I'm just wondering about healthy school lunch policies.

My child won't be starting school until next year, but my friends are already telling horror stories about children being humiliated when they bring in the wrong food.. Does this actually happen?

Thanks everyone! Looking forward to posting some more from now on... (I'm a long time lurker)

January

Never happened to my mother when I was younger. School lunches are provided in my kids school so I don't have to worry about making lunches.

gmg678

kids starting school tomorrow. there is a lunch policy. no sweets or certain types of yogurts etc. I think they are allowed a treat on Fridays.

your friends child's school sounds horrible if they are humiliated for bringing in the wrong food.

PollyPocket86

Ah ok... so maybe my friend was just being dramatic. I think she probably just meant that her child wasn't allowed to eat the food or told to take it home and they got embarrassed (at least I hope so).

gmg678, did your school have their policy available to you before your child started?

SusanC10

Our School has a Healthy Eating / Food Policy. The kids are not allowed Sweets, Crisps, Chocolate, Biscuits, Cakes, Fizzy Drinks, Yogurts, Actimels, Frubes, or any Products containing Nuts, Eggs or Fish.

The School communicate this in writing before the start of each School Year with Email / Text reminders.

If a Child does bring in any of the above it is confiscated and returned home with a note to Parents.

cyning

No eggs, fish or yogurts? I get the nuts if there are kids with allergies but a child eating an egg sandwich isn't going to affect a child with allergies. I can understand most of the kiddy yogurts are full of sugar but my two both adore natural yogurt and seeing as they don't drink milk at all it's something we encourage. It seems pc gone mad?

byhookorbycrook

Yoghurts tend to spill and destroy child and books, so that may be the reason for that.Haven't heard of a fish ban in any school but I'd presume there's a reason for it.

Talk to your friend again.If a school is genuinely humiliating a child, I wouldn't be sending a child there. I know that in some places it's the other children who will remark on another child bringing something that that isn't allowed.

Why don't you see if the school policy is on the website or else ring the school and ask for a copy?

kandr10

As a teacher in genuinely shocked at what the children in my class bring in. They're not allowed to have sweets, crisps, popcorn etc. some kids bring pizza slices (leftover from a takeaway), boxes of potato wedges, a chicken fillet roll, fruit winders (they actually believe these to be nutritious!), some kids might just have 2 chocolate rice cakes and that's it. Yogurts tend to be banned for younger classes due to being messy but generally they're encouraged to bring low sugar ones when they do bring them in.
While I don't agree with a child feeling humiliated, they will be spoken to or food confiscated if it goes against rules.
It might seem a bit too much but kids can't concentrate without good food in their bellies. A lot of people give out about obesity needing to be tackled by schools by increasing pe time, but if we don't get the support from home when it comes to lunches.
Sorry rant over!! Just giving the other perspective

Just to add, in relation to banning fish, egg, nuts etc you'll probably find there's a child in the school with an allergy. Even if it's not in your child's class, a blanket ban is often easier to implement.

January

cyning wrote: »

No eggs, fish or yogurts? I get the nuts if there are kids with allergies but a child eating an egg sandwich isn't going to affect a child with allergies. I can understand most of the kiddy yogurts are full of sugar but my two both adore natural yogurt and seeing as they don't drink milk at all it's something we encourage. It seems pc gone mad?

Egg and fish (particularly shellfish) allergies can be just as dangerous as nut allergies. If there are children with egg or fish allergies in the school I can completely understand why they are not allowed.

The parents that feed their kids junk food, obviously still do it outside school hours.
School has become the only place some kids get healthy food.

cyning

January wrote: »

Egg and fish (particularly shellfish) allergies can be just as dangerous as nut allergies. If there are children with egg or fish allergies in the school I can completely understand why they are not allowed.

I have a very close family member with anaphylaxis to dairy. Should no child be allowed butter on their sandwiches? Or cheese. He's allergic to eggs too amongst a whole host of other things and I still think it's madness. Or I know an 8 year old who is a very severe form of celiac disease: even a few crumbs would make her incredibly ill. You can't ban everything.

Nut allergies are different because they can be airborne.

cyning

January wrote: »

Egg and fish (particularly shellfish) allergies can be just as dangerous as nut allergies. If there are children with egg or fish allergies in the school I can completely understand why they are not allowed.

I have a very close family member with anaphylaxis to dairy. Should no child be allowed butter on their sandwiches? Or cheese. He's allergic to eggs too amongst a whole host of other things and I still think it's madness. Or I know an 8 year old who is a very severe form of celiac disease: even a few crumbs would make her incredibly ill. You can't ban everything.

Nut allergies are different because they can be airborne.

January

Egg allergies and shellfish allergies can be airborne too.

kandr10

To be fair, banning a good due to allergies would be rare enough and not a decision taken lightly. All circumstances would need to be taken into account, such as the ability of the child to manage their allerg and know what to avoid.

implausible

PollyPocket86 wrote: »

Ah ok... so maybe my friend was just being dramatic. I think she probably just meant that her child wasn't allowed to eat the food or told to take it home and they got embarrassed (at least I hope so).

gmg678, did your school have their policy available to you before your child started?

You're much better off finding out directly from the school and a few other parents. Small kids can be notoriously unreliable when relating stories from school and if the mum was feeling offended, then the story could be greatly exaggerated.

Besides, if you stick to the school's guidelines, then the 'humiliation' can't happen.

As for blanket bans on certain foods, it's not always safe to presume that a child will not come into contact with something that could seriously affect them. Older kids might know not to take a bite out of someone else's sandwich and to sit away from kids eating certain foods, but younger kids need to be protected from a realistic chance of coming into contact with an allergen.

pwurple

Shellfish in school lunches? Yes, i can see mine now getting into the oyster shucking at lunchtime, or perhaps enjoying their prawn cocktail.

Maybe the problem is Refrigeration. Fish and eggs can be a wee bit on the stinky side out of the fridge.

Das Kitty

There's a kiwi ban in my eldest's class.

It is hard to know what to pack when younger kids are picky (as they generally are). I've just adopted the policy of a sambo and 2 pieces of fruit/veg and if he's hungry enough he'll eat it. I find they tend to eat stuff in school that they'll pick at at home because they're all there together eating at the same time.

gmg678

PollyPocket86 wrote: »

Ah ok... so maybe my friend was just being dramatic. I think she probably just meant that her child wasn't allowed to eat the food or told to take it home and they got embarrassed (at least I hope so).

gmg678, did your school have their policy available to you before your child started?

we went to a parents evening back in may/june and went through a list of things. like lunches and what not to bring.
the school was very approachable if we had/have any questions or concerns.

iguana

It happened to my friend's son. She had made savoury bread but baked it in muffin cases instead of a loaf tin as it's better for freshness. Her four year old got in trouble for it and was extremely upset for days and suffered anxiety about his lunches for weeks afterwards. The bread was made from oats, eggs and cheese so far healthier than a white bread sandwich. It's a bit messed up, imo. A teacher shouldn't be pulling a small child for something that's out of their control. A four year old doesn't pack their own lunch, so if the teacher notices a problem with what the child is eating, they should make a note and talk to the parent about it. Any perceived reprimand from a teacher could really dent a child's confidence. And the teacher should never be confiscating the child's food. Crappy food may negatively impact a child's capability to learn but not as much as hunger will.

I'd struggle with sending my son to a school with such a policy. For my son's one and only school lunch, he had (brown) pasta and fish salad, carrots, tomatoes, fruit salad and a bottle of water. So I'd have no trouble with having him comply with it. Thankfully his pre-school has no such policy because it's not a school's place to decide what my child can and can't eat. Unless his lunch could pose a genuine risk to another pupil, we should be free to decide together what he eats.

iguana

pwurple wrote: »

Shellfish in school lunches? Yes, i can see mine now getting into the oyster shucking at lunchtime, or perhaps enjoying their prawn cocktail.

Crab cakes, crab salad, sea food sticks, sushi.......... All could have shellfish or shellfish contamination.

lazygal

iguana wrote: »

Crab cakes, crab salad, sea food sticks, sushi.......... All could have shellfish or shellfish contamination.

I regularly make seafood patties for mine at home, would have shellfish in them depending on the fish available. I don't understand the dismissive nature of some posts. Almost sneering at food choices and allergies is really strange.

Das Kitty

iguana wrote: »

It happened to my friend's son. She had made savoury bread but baked it in muffin cases instead of a loaf tin as it's better for freshness. Her four year old got in trouble for it and was extremely upset for days and suffered anxiety about his lunches for weeks afterwards. The bread was made from oats, eggs and cheese so far healthier than a white bread sandwich. It's a bit messed up, imo. A teacher shouldn't be pulling a small child for something that's out of their control. A four year old doesn't pack their own lunch, so if the teacher notices a problem with what the child is eating, they should make a note and talk to the parent about it. Any perceived reprimand from a teacher could really dent a child's confidence. And the teacher should never be confiscating the child's food. Crappy food may negatively impact a child's capability to learn but not as much as hunger will.

I'd struggle with sending my son to a school with such a policy. For my son's one and only school lunch, he had (brown) pasta and fish salad, carrots, tomatoes, fruit salad and a bottle of water. So I'd have no trouble with having him comply with it. Thankfully his pre-school has no such policy because it's not a school's place to decide what my child can and can't eat. Unless his lunch could pose a genuine risk to another pupil, we should be free to decide together what he eats.

Slightly off topic, but you wouldn't know the recipe for those brown bread muffins? They sound fabulous.

Tabnabs

kandr10 wrote: »

As a teacher in genuinely shocked at what the children in my class bring in. They're not allowed to have sweets, crisps, popcorn etc. some kids bring pizza slices (leftover from a takeaway), boxes of potato wedges, a chicken fillet roll, fruit winders (they actually believe these to be nutritious!), some kids might just have 2 chocolate rice cakes and that's it. Yogurts tend to be banned for younger classes due to being messy but generally they're encouraged to bring low sugar ones when they do bring them in.
While I don't agree with a child feeling humiliated, they will be spoken to or food confiscated if it goes against rules.
It might seem a bit too much but kids can't concentrate without good food in their bellies. A lot of people give out about obesity needing to be tackled by schools by increasing pe time, but if we don't get the support from home when it comes to lunches.
Sorry rant over!! Just giving the other perspective

So it's ok to confiscate food from a young child and let them go hungry because it's not the right type of food?

Your method of implementing your schools food policy is entirely unacceptable and verging on bullying. Do you understand how much sustenance an empty lunch box has?

cyning

lazygal wrote: »

I regularly make seafood patties for mine at home, would have shellfish in them depending on the fish available. I don't understand the dismissive nature of some posts. Almost sneering at food choices and allergies is really strange.

Its not sneering or dismissive. Allergies are on the rise. Especially serious allergies. But you cannot ban all the common allergens. Anaphylaxis is a really scary thing. But if you have 4 kids in a classroom one allergic to dairy (not intolerant actually allergic), one to eggs, one to gluten and one to fish you cannot ban them all. Or one child with anaphylaxis to them all plus nuts. Unfortunately you have to teach your 4 year old they cannot share under any circumstances. And it's not fair on you, it's not fair on them. But you cannot blanket ban every allergen either. That's not fair on every other child.

kandr10

Tabnabs wrote: »

So it's ok to confiscate food from a young child and let them go hungry because it's not the right type of food?

Your method of implementing your schools food policy is entirely unacceptable and verging on bullying. Do you understand how much sustenance an empty lunch box has?

No I'd never leave a child with an empty lunchbox!
I have had kids regularly come in with a box of wedges as the only component to their lunch and of course they're let eat them, but in that case I'd still have a word. If they have a chocolate bar/ cake / sweet treat in addition to something else, these sweet things are confiscated and returned at the end of the day.
I also often offer extra food to those who only bring something small and insubstantial. I would hate to see a child go hungry.

iguana

Das Kitty wrote: »

Slightly off topic, but you wouldn't know the recipe for those brown bread muffins? They sound fabulous.

It's similar to this one, with the white flour swapped for milled oats (Ready Brek will work). And no honey. When made as muffins you only want to bake it for about 15 minutes.

pwurple

iguana wrote: »

pwurple wrote: »

Shellfish in school lunches? Yes, i can see mine now getting into the oyster shucking at lunchtime, or perhaps enjoying their prawn cocktail.

Crab cakes, crab salad, sea food sticks, sushi.......... All could have shellfish or shellfish contamination.

Ok, your schools must be a bit different to what we have around here. There are no lunch refrigeration facilities for students in any school I've ever attended, or the ones my children attend.

How are you keeping sushi or crab salad safe to eat? I can't get my head around how you would make that freshly in the morning unless you are up at the crack of dawn and down at the boats picking your fish. We make sushi all the time, but it's a lot to take on in the morning before school!


Or is this sushi deliveries to schools at lunchtimes?

Mother of god I've heard it all now if it is.

lazygal

The preschool my children attend put all lunches into a fridge.

mdwexford

Christ these places sound more like concentration camps than schools.

If I want to give my kid a chocolate bar with his lunch as a treat sometimes it's nobody else's business.

No eggs, one of the best foods around and a staple of our diet at home, madness.