Were I a parent, I would take great offense at the presumption that I’m irresponsible and incompetent, sending my kid to school with an unhealthy lunch. Granted, based on the lunches I make for myself, I probably would (a Pop Tart, a juice box, and a handful of Fritos is a healthy lunch, right?), but the presupposition is insulting.
Nonsense. British Airways can accommodate many special meals (Lacto Ovo vegetarian, Vegan vegetarian, Asian vegetarian, Hindu, Muslim, Jain meal, Kosher, seafood meal, Baby meal, bland, diabetic, Fresh fruit platter, Gluten intolerant, Low calorie, Low fat, Low salt, Low lactose). If they can do it, I’m sure that school catering services can manage.
As an option? Great. The first kid who dies of anaphylaxis will determine the limit of the requirement. And yes, I’ve seen a student die of anaphylaxis because the server was wrong about the ingredients–I was one of the crisis counselors who got to respond to that lovely situation.
Sure, but I honestly don’t think people are as stupid as that in our multicultural society. Bear in mind this is a system that already exists and already makes accommodation for special dietary needs. I imagine some schools would choose to buy in some of their special meals if they can’t make them on site - and for extreme cases where no practical accommodation can be made, an exception would be made.
Nobody is going to force anyone to eat food inappropriate to their needs, or leave them to starve.
Where is this menu coming from? I’ve never heard of butter pie.
This is the sort of attitude that I referred to above.
Why would you take it as a presumption of your incompetence? Would you also be offended that they are teaching your children phonics? I mean, aren’t you capable of doing that yourself?
You let your kids swing back on their chairs but the school cracks down on it, are you not offended by that?
I see it as nothing more more outrageous than requiring standards of behaviour, dress and curriculum and I do expect my child’s school to have a wider educational remit than just the academic subjects.
In the “this” link above. I haven’t heard of butter pie either.
I’ve raised 5 kids. It was my experience that elementary school kids are pretty fussy eaters and as they age they eat more variety of things. So if they have to eat the school food and even one day a week they serve something that the child will not even try, it’s going to make a long day for that kid. I would prefer an optional system where the kids can either eat the school food or bring in his own stuff. If the kid will have a better day by having a little comfort food at lunch, then I don’t see the harm. Three meals a day is 1095 meals, having 180 of those be nutritionally correct school lunches isn’t going to shape the kid’s future health, it’s the 915 meals he eats at home.
Teaching my child math and English and spreading peanut butter and jelly on a slice of bread and throwing it and an apple in a bag are not the same thing.
People saying school lunches aren’t significant are wrong, flat out. There are kids whose families are food-insecure, who may not eat hot meals at home, who might otherwise have (as one of my students had) nothing but Diet Dr. Pepper for breakfast. Kids with parents who for whatever reason can’t or won’t feed them adequate nutritional food at home. A single hot meal a day–or two hot meals, assuming the school also offers breakfast–can make a world of difference for the kid.
I would love to see schools in the US empowered to limit certain foods in lunches. I’ve had students come to school with lunches consisting of cookies, Tostitos, Hawaiian Punch, and candy. Those kids? Not so great at the paying-attention part of school. If I could use judgment to limit those kids to, say, one sugary item at lunchtime, it’d do a lot for the kids’ academic performance.
I’m not a parent, but I will chime in anyway. I don’t have a problem with it as long as there are enough options available so the kid has a choice between gagging and being hungry.
So if the kid doesn’t want to eat chicken masala for whatever reason, the school should provide peanut butter and crackers as a back-up. If the kid doesn’t want to eat the fruit salad with all that dreaded melon in it, the school should have some bananas and apples kept on reserve. And if the kid is that particular that none of these choices are good, then they should be able to get a waiver on the requirement, just as long as the food they do bring to school is still nutritious.
I wasn’t a picky kid growing up. But I always knew that if I didn’t want to eat what was being served (and my parents weren’t being dicks by forcing me to eat it), I could always make a PB and J sandwich and not go to bed hungry.
Kids around the world eat school lunch and manage not to starve. I’m sure our kids can figure it out.
I’m all for it. As a good-intentioned-but-overextended parent, I Like anything that makes it easier to be a good parent.
When I was in Arviat (Nunavut) they served a high protein soup twice a day to all of the kids. They did this because a lot of the children got nothing to eat at home. I would have no issue if the schools served a healthy, hot lunch .
I’m already filling out the application for the talmud torah. If the boychik doesn’t want to wear tzitzis and a kippah every day, I’ll tell him about the fishcakes and butter pie. That should change his mind pretty quick.
Not just no, but heck no.
Since my kids are picky eaters at least half of the days would result in a hungry kid and a healthy meal being thrown away. So my kid wouldn’t be as ready to do schoolwork, all the money and effort that went into the meal would be wasted, and even on days when they do eat it there would be a waste since I can afford to have them buy the meals they want. Lose, lose, lose.
On the other hand I could give my kid a good educational opportunity by sending along a backpack full of doritos to sell to the other kids. It would keep him in pokemon money, teach him business skill, and teach him contempt for government busybodies who think they know best. Win, win, win.
Pie crust, into which goes:
3 Large potatoes a King Edward/Maris Piper type
1 Large onion
50g/2oz Butter, plus 100g/4oz for softening the onions
THIS is a “nutritious” lunch?! I mean, it sounds delicious, and I may very well try making one, but this is a Sometimes Food if there ever was one.
How is the free lunch free? Let’s be honest here, it is nothing of the sort. It gets paid for via taxes.
It’s only a good idea if school lunch consists of something healthier than the fried slop that was available when I was in school…I’m confident that what Mom (and later, I) packed was much better for me than anything offered in that cafeteria.
I’m fine with it as long as a parent can sign a waiver stating that they wish to send their child with lunch rather than eating the hot lunch if they wish. In my experience the schools have a hell of a time making their school lunches appealing or tasty and it doesn’t matter how nutritious it is if my kid won’t touch it. She would be much better off with a ham and cheese sandwich and orange slices from home than she would with chicken masala from the school that will just get thrown in the garbage, so I would advocate heavily for the ability to bring a sack lunch from home on days when the menu in the cafeteria doesn’t look very good.
On the other hand, I’m remembering back to when I was in elementary school and the occasional weird-ass lunch that was occasionally in my lunchbox. Normally I’d have a sandwich, drink and fruit but there would be days when I’d open my lunch box and find a cheese quesadilla and a granola bar or some weirdness. As a parent I now totally get that my mom was putting together a lunch for me at 11 p.m. after a long day of work, cleaning, cooking, etc. and if she reached into the breadbox only to find that the last few slices of bread went moldy or that the fruit she bought 2 days prior went bad she had to send me with something. It would have been nice if she could have thrown up her hands and said, “Screw it, the school will serve her something healthy enough and she won’t have to get through half a day without losing her lunch money since it is already paid for. Good enough!”