School Lunch

dawnsday · Sep 10, 2010

Today my daughter can choose between mozzerella sticks or nachos for her entree?

one choice of veggies, milk or juice.

since when do elementry school kids get to choose their lunches?

I remember we got what we got, it was a real meal, meat, starch and veggie and we ate it all or didn't get to go to recess...

However, on the other end - another school in the area, here, is all organic, has a veggie garden and feeds the kids tofu...(they still get to "choose" what they want though)...

anyone else think school lunches have gotten crazy?

kat69 · Sep 10, 2010

Yes indeed!!! I wish my son's schools offered more healthy choices beside pizza, chix nuggets and fries. It's disgusting. I'm like you...we didn't get a choice either you were served what was offered or go hungry...however, lunches seemed more balanced years ago then it is today.

pgp_protector · Sep 10, 2010

Today's menu (If I'm reading it right)
◊ PIZZA SLICES
◊ CHICKEN NUGGETS
◊ BURRITO OF THE DAY
◊ SUB SANDWICHES
◊ CHICKEN BURGERS
◊ WRAP OF THE DAY
◊ GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH
◊ CHEESEBURGER

Robinsegg · Sep 11, 2010

Where I went, there were usually 2 choices and you chose one of them or brought your lunch.

There were some things I wouldn't touch, and others, like their pizza, I remember liking.

1st day of freshman year, I bought a ham & cheese sandwich. It was so greasy, the bread was mushy. Yuck! I never bought from the "regular" school lunch line again. I would only buy from the "ala carte" area that had pizza and such.

I'd say the schools are offering what the kids will eat . . .esp. as they have some kids on assistance that *have* to eat what's offered, and *won't* eat anything healthier.

Rachel

illudium_phosdex · Sep 11, 2010

Yeah, the lunches are pretty bad but I can't say that as a home schooling mom, I'm doing much better. Our lunch menus consist of pizza, ham sandwiches, spaghettios, ramen noodles, microwave burgers, microwave egg rolls, hot dogs, mac and cheese... They have a box of Juicy Juice to drink.

I do try to make it somewhat healthy by getting them to have a piece of fruit with it or some raw veggies. I add a small can of peas and carrots to their ramen noodles. And we have those single servings of cheese or yogurt.

For me, it's a matter of picking my battles. I've tried to make them eat more healthy things for lunch but I end up with hungry, cranky kids in the afternoon. I don't let them have sugary cereals in the mornings and I try to make sure that dinner is healthy and that they eat it and they take a multi-vitamin.

Singermom · Sep 11, 2010

My girls' school only give you one choice for hot lunch, or you bring in a bag lunch. One of the recent choices was:

Ranch Grilled Chicken on Whole Wheat Bun with Lettuce and Tomato
Baby Carrots Snack Pack
Fruit of the Day

...and another...

Egg Frittata with Roasted Vegetables
Pancakes with Syrup
Apple Juice
Assorted Fresh Fruit

This is typical. Occasionally when they have pizza, it's actually delivered from a local Papa Gino's. Every lunch, whether it be "Chinese Pie" or chicken nuggets, comes with veggies and fruit; when Cheese Sticks are the choice, it comes with a salad. I really can't complain about our school's lunch menu.

When I was in school I was such a finicky eater I would never sign up for it, because you either had it ALL week or none at all (not like today, where you just pay for the day). The one thing I remember loving was their bread & butter. For some reason a lot of other kids didn't care for it, so on days when I knew it came with bread & butter I wouldn't even bother bringing a lunch...they'd give it to me! It was easy, because we had to sit by class, but if I sat with my class, my lunch would end up thrown across the room or they would make it impossible for me to eat, so I always ended up sitting with the monitors...right by the hot lunch line exit. The non-B&B kids would slide their bread to me on their way out.

We didn't have lunch choices until jr. high.

CrystalBrooke · Sep 11, 2010

You don't get a choice at my daughter's school. But you certainly don't get recess taken away from you for not eating..that's just unreasonable, IMO.

They don't send a lunch menu, but I'm not worried about it being unhealthy because Emily's morning snack (they don't serve breakfast) and evening snack have to be healthy. You can't send candy, gum, soda, kool aid and such. Milk, 100% Juice and water are acceptable drinks, and if you still send some type of kool aid, then the rest of the snack has to be bread, fruits, grain, dairy or veggies. They're pretty strict about the kids eating healthy Just another reason I love her school.

lucypevensie · Sep 11, 2010

Our kids only get one choice at their school and they are allowed to turn down one item on the menu. Quite naturally, most kids turn down the offered vegetable. They don't make the kids eat everything on the tray, but they do have to eat most of it. As a parent who pays $3 per meal this makes us all think extra hard about what hot lunches are worth the money or not. Generally, I allow them one hot lunch per week.

Birbitt · Sep 11, 2010

My children are homeschooled and we try very hard to eat healthy for meals. I'm glad they don't attend the local schools and eat lunches there. All the lunch foods are processed and not very healthy, honestly you can't add carrot sticks to macaroni and cheese and call it healthy.

When my children attend special events where lunch is provided at the schools I always pack a lunch for them.

NotHardcore · Sep 14, 2010

Not a parent, but just wanted to say that kids being able to choose their lunch isn't new. When I was in elementary school, I think there were 4 meals to choose from every day (Option 1: changed daily, Option 2: changed daily, Option 3: bagel, Option 4: salad). It wasn't very healthy though. The options that changed daily were things like chicken nuggets, pizza, nachos, etc.

This blog is very interesting (though you may have to go back in the blog's history to get to the posts about school lunch): Fed Up With Lunch: The School Lunch Project

dawnsday · Sep 14, 2010

NotHardcore said:
Not a parent, but just wanted to say that kids being able to choose their lunch isn't new. When I was in elementary school, I think there were 4 meals to choose from every day (Option 1: changed daily, Option 2: changed daily, Option 3: bagel, Option 4: salad). It wasn't very healthy though. The options that changed daily were things like chicken nuggets, pizza, nachos, etc.

This blog is very interesting (though you may have to go back in the blog's history to get to the posts about school lunch): Fed Up With Lunch: The School Lunch Project

thanks for the link.

I don't see how Nachos can be a meal. I mean...then there is a salad, but it's iceburg lettuce and cheese at my daughter's school...that's no good either. We are going to try sending lunch from now on. PB&J is better then greesy nachos.

FaithPrevails · Sep 14, 2010

I pack lunch for my kids every day and they get to choose one day/week to buy lunch. They usually choose the day they serve pizza or a hamburger.

My younger son actually doesn't like to buy lunch - he prefers that I pack it.

I typically send a sandwich, crackers (goldfish, cheezits, etc), and a fruit. Gogurt and CapriSun's Roaring Waters rounds out their lunch.

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