What is your K-12 school lunch menu like?

In My Humble Opinion
1

What’s the food like and what does it cost at your school or your kids’ school (K-12)?

I’m trying to compare what our local school serves and charges to other places. Here’s the menu for last Friday for the K to 12 grades:

It’s called a “hot lunch”, but 3 of the four non-beverage items were cold.[ul][li]corn chips with nacho cheese dip[]cold pears in syrup[]cold raw carrot pieces[]warm breaded chicken fingers (4-5, I think)[]milk (white, chocolate or 2%)[/ul]The kids have a choice of this “hot lunch” or the taco bar where they make their own Mexican whatevers with tortillas. [/li]
The charge is $1.75 per student. Some students who qualify get free lunch thru a subsidized (federal?) program, but the free lunch choice does not include the taco bar.

Students must be paid up in advance in a deposit account (“Power Lunch” computer program). If there is no money in their account, they do not eat (but the superintendent allows them to have peanut butter and white bread. Mighty generous of him, don’t you think?) If a student is caught sharing with someone who doesn’t have lunch, he/she is punished.

Of course they can always bring lunch from home. I don’t know if they are allowed to share that.

I was treated to the cafeteria last Friday as a guest and made the wrong choice of the hot lunch. The taco bar probably would have been better. Now I am feeling sorry for the students. As you might imagine, the top administrators drive to a nice restaurant in town for their lunch; they don’t eat in the cafeteria.

So how does this compare with other parts of the country/world? I’m dying to know!

2

During my time as a K-12 student (more than 20 year ago in NSW, Australia), schools did not provide lunch to students. Students were expected to bring their own from home. There was however a canteen/tuckshop that sold very basic stuff (e.g. ham, cheese, vegemite, salad sandwiches) to students if an order was placed first thing in the morning. It was staffed on a voluntary basis by students’ mothers and was most popular on Mondays - usually because there wasn’t any fresh bread at home for mothers to make their kids’ school lunches.

Boarding schools did provide lunch each day to those students who were boarders. Day students still had to bring their own.

I gather that the situation is still pretty much the same nowadays, although the fare available in school tuckshops has become a bit more sophisticated.

3

The menu I gave in the OP was from experience. Here’s the official lunch menu, which says for April 29, the day I was there, the food is

[quote]
[ul][li]Chicken Strips[]Suace [sic][]Nacho’s [sic] & Cheese[]Crunchy Carrots[]Pears[/ul][/li][/quote]
I post it here, as I expect, eventually, the web site will be updated to show upcoming lunches instead of past ones.

Judging by this entry, neither spelling nor punctuation is this school’s strong point. Hard to believe academic excellence is high otherwise, isn’t it?

The only good thing I can say is they didn’t seem to limit how many carrots, pears or chips I took. But that generosity might not extend to the children.

4

The menu items you posted above are typical of my son’s school lunch menu, but his is only .65 a day (it’s elementary school).
I imagine it will be more when he starts middle school this fall, there they have the choice of menu or ala carte (sp?) items.

5

Could that be a subsidized price?

Is your son happy with the menu choices? How does he pay for lunch? Is he prohibited from eating if there is no money in the account?

6

Below is this week’s lunch menu for my district. The cost to students is 1.50. The program is, indeed, a federal program that subsidizes for free or reduced cost lunch. The food is low quality and horrible. Teachers pay 2.00 and get the same amount on the tray as the children (I have yet to figure out why teachers pay an extra .50 for the exact same thing). I despise the head lunch lady at our school for many good reasons, but I won’t go into that here. Suffice it to say that I, as well as 95% of the staff at my school, boycott the cafeteria. I also chuckle daily over the uproar about obesity in our children, and yet our district sees fit to serve two dessert items almost every day and three on Friday! (all the “fruit” they mention is served in heavy syrup out of a can) Morons.

MONDAY
2
Chicken Fajita
Pinto Beans
Pineapple
Cookie
Milk

TUESDAY
3
Spaghetti w/Meat Sauce
Green Beans
Dinner Roll
Peaches
Cake
Milk

WEDNESDAY
4
Chicken Fried Steak/Gravy
Baked Potato
Dinner Roll
Cherry Freeze Bar
Cookie
Milk

THURSDAY
5
Cheese Nachos
Salad
Apple
Cinnamon Roll
Milk

FRIDAY
6
Max Stix/Dippin’ Sauce
Potato Wedges
Mixed Fruit
Chocolate Cookie
Vanilla Pudding
Milk

7

No, the subsidized price is .40 a day. He did receive the subsidized for a short while after my divorce till we got on our feet.

As far as his happiness, he barely eats anything, anytime, anywhere. So, I really can’t gauge that. They do get to choose between the menu item or a pb sandwich.

We do have the prepaid accounts. If the money runs out they send a notice home and just start charging anything he eats until I refill his account.

8

Wow, FaerieBeth, your menu looks as bad as ours! How on earth can they justify serving “Baked Potato, Dinner Roll, Cherry Freeze Bar, Cookie” in the same meal to anyone who wants to live to adulthood? And what, exactly is a “Max Stix”? Processed, imitation meat substitute? It must be meat-ish – nothing else on Friday’s menu qualifies.

No wonder kids want to go to MacDonald’s.

Cunctator – interesting from an Australian point of view. I think I know what a vegemite sandwich is (thanks to Men at Work) but what is a tuckshop? (It thought you misspelled “truckstop” at first.)

Would your observation be typical only of a rural area in Aussie-land or more general?

That sounds reasonable, and a bit more compassionate.

9

Are you sure you want to know? Ah, well…

A “max stix” are greasy breadsticks filled with pasteurized processed cheese stuff. Did I mention they’re greasy? I personally have witnessed the puddle of orange-tinted grease on the styrofoam tray under these things. It’s vile.

10

I’m in college and don’t have children, so I don’t really have any reason to care about this topic other than it’s a nice distraction from the fact that it is finals week and I don’t want to study any more. I checked out the website for my former elementary school and here is this week’s lunch menu:

Monday
Turkey Corn Dog
Nuggets w/Roll OR
Thick Crust Pizza
Choice of Two:
Green Beans, Chilled
Peaches, Fresh Fruit
1/2 pint Milk
OR Chef Salad Lunch

Tuesday
Chicken Sticks w/
Whole Wheat Roll OR
Hamburger on Bun OR
Yogurt w/Crackers
Steamed Rice
Choice of Two: Corn,
Chilled Pears, Fresh Fruit
1/2 pint Milk
OR Chef Salad Lunch

Wednesday
Taco w/toppings &
Animal Crackers OR
Hot Dog on Bun
Choice of Two: Baked
Beans, Chilled
Applesauce, Fresh Fruit
1/2 pint Milk
OR Chef Salad Lunch

Thursday
Pork BBQ on Bun OR
Sliced Turkey on Bun
OR Yogurt w/Crackers
Pretzels
Choice of Two: Oven
Roasted Potatoes,
Fruit Cocktail, Fresh Fruit
1/2 pint Milk
OR Chef Salad Lunch

Friday
Steak Nuggets w/
Roll OR Fish Sandwich
Choice of Two: Tossed
Salad, Chilled Pineapple,
Fresh Fruit
1/2 pint Milk
OR Chef Salad Lunch
The lunches are pretty much how I remember them, two different main course choices every day and always a fall back of a Chef Salad. The salads, if I recall correctly, were quite large, but made with iceburg lettuce and not a wide variety of other vegetables. I think I brought my lunch from home maybe twice in elementary school and I was never horribly disapointed with my meals. I’m not sure of the price, but I would guess under two dollars.

The real value in my school system was at my high school. For a dollar and seventy-five cents you could get “the special”, two sides, and a sixteen ounce drink. The special ranged from a big plate of spaghetti to a rueben sandwhich to beef-a-roni (I don’t know anyone besides myself who actually ate the beef-a-roni, but I loved it!). Being the cheap-skate that I am, I always marvaled at how heavy my tray was and how all the food only cost me $1.75! It doesn’t compare at all with my current meal plan. :frowning:

-Mosquito

11

A tuckshop is a canteen, food shop etc. The word is derived from the slang term “tuck”, meaning food or sustenance and originally a British term, I suspect. My invariable order every Monday morning throughout my school life was two cheese and vegemite sandwiches and an apple.

My observations were based purely on my experience of school in suburban Sydney. From what rural cousins used to tell me, it was no different in the country.

12

Sheesh. What can I say. Subject verb agreement is a last quarter skill in first grade :smack:

13

I don’t have this month’s menu yet, but last week they had the choice of a Beef and Bean Burrito or another entree every day. The other entree varied: PB&J, Teriyaki Burger on a bun, grilled cheese, sloppy joe, or “mananger’s special,” which we are all somewhat afraid of.

The sides stay the same for a whole week and I think they get to pick two. Last week’s were green beans, chilled pears, jicama, fruit turnovers, or corn bread. There’s only one dessert available and they can choose between juice or milk.

All for $1.25, but I’ve seen this food, and I wouldn’t choose to eat most of it. They don’t care to buy lunch unless it’s pizza week either, so I make their lunches most days with a sandwich, fruit, a cracker or cheese, a juice, and a dessert.

14

Well, what I remember from high school three years ago (and last time I visited, it hasn’t changed), the basic lunch options were the same every day:

KFC (Legs and breast meat with a side of corn and mashed potatoes)
A chicken sandwich thing from KFC (I think it was called the Twister or something)
Arby’s roast beef sandwiches
Pizza Hut mini pizzas
Chinese plate (Orange chicken, beef and broccoli, teriyaki chicken, with rice, and chow mein)
Mexican “Fiesta” plate (Tacos with beans and rice)
Fries
Hamburgers or hot dogs (this was all prepared fresh on a BBQ grill)
Crispitos: an absolutely delicious tacquito like thing filled with some creamy and cheesey meat concoction

I might be missing something, but needless to say, our school lunches were far from healthy, but really good. When Senior year came around and we were given “Senior off-campus priveleges”, I never really cared to get lunch off-campus- it was already delicious enough at school!

By the way, the elementary school lunches were far more sensible, typically very basic things like chicken nuggets, vegetables, and/or spaghetti.

15

I will try to get my friend to post here. She is in charge of the lunches in a school district in Ohio. She has a degree in nutrition and tries very hard to make menues that kids like and that meet the federal and state guidelines. It is a major balancing act that, as a parent, I was unaware of. In addition, the meals have to be, CHEAP, to meet the school’s budget.

16

Here’s ours for the week:

5/2

Hamburger on bun
Oven-Baked Fries
Lettuce & pickle
Sliced tomato
Barbecue Baked Beans
Assorted Fruit / Milk

Tacos
Seasoned Corn
Lettuce & Tomato
Assorted Fruit
Cinnamon Crisp
Milk

Spaghetti w/meat sauce
Italian Bread
Steamed Broccoli
Tossed Salad
Assorted Fruit / Milk

Chicken Filet on bun
Lettuce & Pickle
Sliced tomatoes
Cream of Broccoli Soup
Veggie Dippers /Milk
Assorted Fruit / Cookie

Toasted Cheese Sand.
Tomato Soup
Celery Sticks w/ PB
Assorted Fruit
Cookie
Milk

Though not ideal or perfectly healthy, it doesn’t look too bad to me. The funny part: the last three days of school for the year they are serving “Chef’s Choice Smorgasbord”. Anyone else think that’s code for “cleaning out the fridge”? :slight_smile:

17

For most of my school years I went to a friends house or home for lunch (up until grade 7). The school I went to in grade 7 had a fry vendor park outside the school at lunch or you brought your own. Grade 9 we would usually bring our own lunches or they had hot dogs or pizza pops for a dollar at the canteen along with soda and candies. Some of us would run down to the Subway or KFC about 3 blocks away, or go buy chips and soda at the convenience store across the street. If we had permission from our parents to be off school property during hours of course.

High school we were about 5 blocks from a DQ and Subway so we’d go there or just downstairs to the cafeteria which would have daily specials along with sandwiches, fries, burgers and that sort of thing.

18

Susie Derkins, that sounds like a nice menu. How much do the kids pay for it? And what would happen if the kid’s account ran low? Would they be told to starve?

Baronsabato, it sounds like the fast food franchisers have invaded. A kid’s dream, a parent’s nightmare, right? Has it worked out?

MissMossie, your list looks a tad better than ours, but maybe it’s just in the imaginative food naming. Your high school menu reminds me of mine many decades ago, when each food item was 9 cents. The school boasted you could get a complete meal, less drink, for 27 cents. And they were right and it was HOT. (The Coke cost a nickel extra.) Ah, memories!

Sinjin, I sure would like to hear from a nutritionist. Do any of these menus provide anything remotely resembling good nutrition? Or is there insufficient description to tell?

Let’s tally up our mystery food list so far:

Manager’s Special :eek:
Chef’s Choice Smorgasbord :eek:

19

Musicat, it’s $1.50 per day, and our setup is exactly as Stillwell Angel describes. You pay in advance, but if the account runs low they still feed the kids until you send more money. It goes into the negative, of course, but they don’t let the kids starve.

20

It always makes me chuckle that I give my 7th grader more lunch money than I generally use in the work cafeteria. Official meal price is 2.50 (and .40 for reduced) but he very rarely gets the ‘real’ hot lunch. The lunchroom is set up with one cashier line dedicated to hot lunches and one for side items or ala carte stuff, he goes for the shorter ala carte line in order to have time to actually eat.

This weeks menu:

2 for 1 coney dog with potato loops

Beefy enchilada with mexican rice

French Bread pizza

Stuffed shells with meat sauce and garlic bread

Mozzarella cheese bread with dipping sauce

Each of the above comes with a juice or milk and either a fruit or vegetable choice, to balance out all the carbs and fat I guess.

Ala Carte items include salad, chicken nuggets, fries, pizza, soft pretzels or corn chips with nacho cheese, cold sandwiches and various non-soda beverages. This stuff’s priced substantially higher, so for a chicken patty sandwich or pizza and a beverage, he’ll pay $4.

They just instituted the credit account things in my district recently, and I was so geeked! The accounts only work for regular hot lunches, not ala carte items, so it’s a non-issue for my son. Hell, they can’t even get lunch if they’ve forgotten their school ID, my former alma mater has multiple lunch issues. :rolleyes: