# School Lunches



## megailsa (Jul 24, 2013)

Hi all, 

I’m writing a blog article for a back to school campaign based around providing a healthy lunch. 

What I’m hoping to find out is whether you provide a packed lunch, pay for school dinners or give your children dinner money each day, and why? 
If you give them a packed lunch, what sort of things do you put in there? 

I’m also curious about how whether the cost or nutrition is more important to you, or if you’ve found that you can offer something healthy for less?

Thanks in advance.


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## Stalyvegas (Oct 14, 2007)

Hello - I have already done both school lunches and packed lunches for my 2. 

I hate making packed lunches so convenience (laziness   ) is my primary reason for paying for a school lunch, and my 2nd would be that I like to know they are getting a warm/filling dinner in the middle of the day, packed lunches were largely ignored - however there appears to be more supervision for plate clearing for the school dinner tables, additionally there are stickers awarded for scoffing it all. Im afraid, for me, that nutrition is probably last on the list.
That said, we do get a menu planner and I get to choose the main component - the child then gets to pick WHICH vegetable (not if). At our school 65% of the meals are 'home made' and there are no chicken nugget etc options available.

The cost is £10 per child per week and its starting to feel a bit pricey so I have been debating recently whether to revert back to packed lunches.

When I was making packed lunches they started off with sandwiches, however my youngest child would come home day after day eating nothing - so I tried various different things and the picnic format was much more successful.
Tubs of carrots and hummous, little pots of potato salad, cocktail sausages and a squirt of ketchup, mini scotch eggs, strips of cooked chicken etc...

So lunch would typically be 2 of the above choices, a small yogurt (muller stars or petit filou size) I would then include some fruit (usually a tub of soft fruit/grapes worked best) and a small biscuit/cake bar/flapjack or packet of crisps.
Drinks are only ever water as I dont 'do' cordial.

I am in control of what my children eat most of the time and they are learning about cooking, food choices and nutrition (subliminally) at home so my primary concern at lunch time is getting them to eat a reasonable volume in order to keep them sustained for a long day at school, nutritional value is not top of my list. If I wasnt in charge of their other meals then maybe I would feel differently....


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## KG (Jan 13, 2007)

Hi, we started off with mostly packed lunches and, over the year, have moved up to packed lunch two days a week and school dinners on the other two. The reason for the school dinners was initially for ease when we had after school activities and it was easier not to cook in the early evening. Ds really enjoyed the dinners and requested to stay more often, so I worked out that, at £2.15 a meal, it wasn't significantly more than making packed lunch, plus he was coming home and telling me he enjoyed eating things he wouldn't have touched if I'd served them up at home.

On packed lunch days I would give him sandwiches, fruit, yogurt and a little treat, usually a flapjack. There are no restrictions at his school as to what you can put in the packed lunch, but they are encouraged to eat everything and he found it too much, so I cut down a bit.

I do not consider that the school dinners are particularly healthier than what I provide (and I am very cross at the recent government suggestion that all children should have school dinners - and the insinuation that we cannot be trusted to feed our own children healthily). I get to choose the main part of the meal, he gets to choose the veggies etc on the day. There seems to be a good choice, there are chips and nuggets once a week, also roast dinner, pasta etc and a jacket potato option. There is always a proper pudding, though - ice cream, sponge cake, custard etc, although there's a fruit alternative, which Indon't think he's ever chosen.

I don't necessarily consider the nutritional value of the meals, although I probably would choose less if it was chips all the way. I also quite often give him a hot meal in the evenings as well, if I am cooking for the rest of the family anyway.

Kx


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## megailsa (Jul 24, 2013)

Thanks so much for your detailed responses - really useful stuff! I'll come back and let you know when it's written so you can take a look  

Thanks again!


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## Sheilaweb (Mar 21, 2006)

My little girl is such a fussy eater these days, although she's only at nursery - so she gets a meal and snacks during her session (which I pay for within my childcare fees)....if she is sitting with her peers and teachers, with a nutritionally balanced healthy meal - she is more inclined to eat it there...if I offered such food at home, I'd just be given the plate back with the words DONT LIKE ringing in my ears.

And when i collect her at hometime I know what she's been given, how much she's eaten and whether it got a happy face sticker or a sad didn't like sticker.

Sheila


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