The school holidays may just be getting started but it won’t be long until the autumn term brings in the new school year, with new school shoes being bought, PE kits labelled up and forgotten homework unearthed from under children’s beds everywhere. But the debate that has been hot on everyone’s lips most recently is whether head teachers should consider banning packed lunches next term, in favour of school dinners.
The School Food Plan, commissioned by Michael Gove, Education Secretary, was introduced after a report at the beginning of July suggested that packed lunches were making children fat.
And whilst there is little doubt that it is essential for children to eat a good lunch, what this consists of and how it is delivered is contentious, with some teachers having warned that many parents can’t afford a daily school dinner.
In 2005, Jamie Oliver’s school dinners campaign secured a far healthier reputation, with Turkey Twizzlers sent flying along with other junk food, and research indicating that the new nutrition is improving children’s performance in the classroom.
Your Thoughts
We asked online mums what they think about the packed lunch v school dinners debate, what they give their children and what’s most important to them about in providing lunch for their little ones. Read on for the responses …
Burders: Hi, my little boy (5) has a packed lunch daily as I know he would not eat the majority of food on the school menu. In the pack up I provide a sandwich (brown bread, cheese or ham), a piece of fruit, crisps or small chocolate treat, yoghurt and a drink. He eats all of this and I’m happy with that. I don’t think school meals are for us. I couldn’t afford £40 a month for food he probably wouldn’t eat.
Packed Lunch +1
Takingitasitcomes: I started the school year paying for school dinners and now do packed lunches for my 5yr old after having a look myself at what the school is serving up. It is not appealing or particularly healthy, the portions were not big enough of the healthy food and far too big in my opinion for puddings. They also serve puddings every day which in my opinion is unnecessarily establishing an expectiation of ending every meal with something sweet, and I can do better cheaper myself. I usually do a sandwhich on wholemeal, quite a bit of fruit and veg often with something to dip it in (like humous or soft cheese), something dairy (either yoghurt or cheese) and sometimes a muesli bar or home baking if there is any.
Packed Lunch +1
Babynumber2cooking: My lo (5) started off with packed lunches but got bored easily so asked to go onto hot dinners. I therefore pay the £10 a week for school dinners. I make lunch for my work so have told her she can swap back whenever she wants and as long as she is eating I don’t mind paying the money. Before break up she was loving the school dinners.
School Dinners +1
Stalyvegas: Hello – I have already done both school lunches and packed lunches for my 2.
I hate making packed lunches so convenience (laziness ;D ;D ) 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. I’m 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.
School Dinners +1
KG: 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 I don’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.
The debate continues…
Do you pay for school dinners or pack a lunch for your little ones? What do you think about The School Food Plan? Comment below and let us know your opinions.
