DO your kids buy lunch at school? What kind of options do they serve? Is it healthy? DO you prefer to send lunch from home?
Re: What's your take on school lunches?
They are ok. We let M eat from there once a week sometimes even less. She gets food from home.
If I was a stay-at-home-Dad I would so go to her school to give her hot lunch every day but since that is not happening, I would rather give her food from home, primarily so that I can see what she is eating and what she is not. (She is not allowed to throw away if she didn't finish anything)
The school lunches where we live now are ok, they don't have a lot of vegetarian choices but still enough to be considered 'diversified'. Back in Colorado, they did use to put in a lot of effort to making school lunches healthy.
Re: What’s your take on school lunches?
There was a story in the papers this week about a mum who sent her kid to school with Smarties sandwiches 
Re: What's your take on school lunches?
^lol. any kid would love that
Re: What's your take on school lunches?
I don't like the lunch our school serves, my kids are getting lunch from home i'A!
My previous school had slightly better lunch but still not something I want as an everyday lunch option for my kid.
Re: What’s your take on school lunches?
this is a topic very near and dear to my heart…read my latest blog entry…lol!!!
i work in adminstration at my childrens’ school. we are a small public charter school, appx 450 students in grades k-7. we do not prepare/cook on premises..breakfast and lunch is delivered daily from an offsite catering company. overseeing the food service department (catering contract, government nutritional compliance, qualifiying free/reduced students & claiming for federal reimbursement) is a part of my job description.
our school has a very diverse ethnic makeup…indo/pak, arab, chinese & hispanic. my caterer does a FABULOUS job of providing good, nutritious foods. fresh fruit (apples, bananas, grapes, pineapple, melon) is served daily depending on what is in season.he’ll also do really fresh salads using baby spinach leaves instead of lettuce, and cucumber & garbanzo bean salads… we offer two entree choices everyday, either meat or vegetarian. in fact, i helped them source out bulk zabiha chicken and he uses that in various meals about 3 times a month!
based on our menus, I’m in the process of procuring a $7000 healthy school challenge federal grant!
i agree that most american school lunches do not appeal to ethnic palates…my boys will get school lunches maybe 2 times a week, depending what’s on the menu.
ok, i know i sound like a total dorky goober here, but i am very passionate about getting kids to eat right…so i have to tell you guys about this…
Domino’s Pizza has rolled out a new program for schools only called “smart slice pizza”. They have developed a pizza with low sodium sauce, whole wheat crust & skim mozzerella cheese..and it meets all the USDA nutritional requirements. I did a test day right before we left for winter break, and the participation was unbelievable! I usually have 190-200 schools meals served on normal pizza days, but on Domino’s days I get about 350! So since Jan 3rd, I’ve started offering it every other friday. We’re actually making money off of it because it costs me about 30% less than my catered lunches…so I’m fundraising to boot!
Ok, ok, i’ll quit boring you guys now with my babble, thank you for indulging me in my nonsense! 
Re: What's your take on school lunches?
Oh it was not boring at all..:)
So generally the reason why American school lunches do not appeal is because they are not too healthy or is it because there is the issue of halal meat and vegetarian meals not being available all the time?
Re: What's your take on school lunches?
Sorry for being ignorant, but for those of you who send their kids with lunches (because you can pack halal lunches and so on) how do you stop your kids from eating from their friends plate.
This thing freaks me out in N. America. Any insight
Re: What's your take on school lunches?
Oh it was not boring at all..:) So generally the reason why American school lunches do not appeal is because they are not too healthy or is it because there is the issue of halal meat and vegetarian meals not being available all the time?
I think it's a combination of reasons...the biggest complaint I think is in most mass produced school cafeterias, the food is bland and visually unappealing. By adding flavor with fresh ground black pepper, garlic and other spices, you can add oomph without compromising nutrition. Also, I've learned that if the food looks good, kids will try it. Fresh ingredients vs preservative laden frozen stuff does wonders in enticing kids to eat the lunches.
Sorry for being ignorant, but for those of you who send their kids with lunches (because you can pack halal lunches and so on) how do you stop your kids from eating from their friends plate.
This thing freaks me out in N. America. Any insight
I've never had that problem. I'm born and raised here in the US, a product of the public school system and I don't think it ever even dawned on me to eat off of someone else's plate. We knew what we were allowed, and what was off limits. It all starts from home. If your child learns from an early age what is permissable, and you keep open dialogue in non-paranoid manner, you shouldn't have any problems.
Re: What's your take on school lunches?
The lunches that I've seen in school cafeterias are not the healthiest (pizza, hamburger, chicken nuggets, etc) ....stuff that's fried and greasy. The public school that I worked at provided the option of getting a salad or a veggie sandwich. The school that I work at now..doesn't have many options. I think that when you make lunches at home...you have more control with the ingredients, their quality, etc.
Re: What's your take on school lunches?
When I was in public school, Ammi packed our lunches MOST days, but we were occasionally allowed to buy lunch.
My private school included lunches in its tuition. The food was good and pretty healthy, featuring a hot lunch and an extensive salad bar.
When I was student-teaching at a public school, I was able to purchase school lunches and I would on days I wasn't able to pack a lunch. It was so yummy! But I gained weight :(
There's a lot of reforms going on regarding school lunches, but most schools have not yet been touched.
Re: What's your take on school lunches?
I always liked having proper warm cooked meals at school and this might sound stupid but I'd feel a bit sad if my kids never experienced that..
We never had fast food.. chicken pie and gravy, yorkshire puddings, stuff like that..
Re: What's your take on school lunches?
M's school gives her 4 choices each day. At least one is vegetarian, and at least one is without pork, the question becomes, is she going to eat it or not. Plus if the veggie entree is 'mac & cheese' ... how healthy is it for her to eat that ... say twice a week?
Also we tend to buy organic for home but nothing at her school is organic.
Re: What's your take on school lunches?
Noor's private school (in Canada not USA) provides catered lunches for those who choose this option.....Tried it for a few weeks and she just didn't like the food so I send food from home everyday. This way I know exactly what she is consuming....can ensure that it is halal.
The school does provide a heat-up service so I'm assured that her main entree is always hot.
The supervisors during lunch time are vigilant and don't allow sharing so there's no fear that she will be eating off anyone else's plate......
Re: What's your take on school lunches?
Sorry for being ignorant, but for those of you who send their kids with lunches (because you can pack halal lunches and so on) how do you stop your kids from eating from their friends plate.
This thing freaks me out in N. America. Any insight
Kids cannot eat from each others plate. We are pretty strict about it. I have many non Muslim parents sending packed lunches because they don't like the food provided by school or their children have allergies.
Re: What's your take on school lunches?
I grew up in the ME, and we all shared our lunches or a lot of kids did. And at times I would even ask ammi to make extra lunches coz others ate my lunch.
And some ppl I have come across who grew up in the UK and USA in 1970s and 80s said they had had pork coz they had picked something off of their friends' plates during lunch time.
This is one of the reasons I am even afraid to send Jr. to a daycare/ baby sitter coz of the food that gets served in their home. Even if they make vegetarian stuff it might be cooked in a pan that has been used to cook pork in.
Am I crazy/paranoid, do/did any of you go through these feelings prior to sending your kids out to school or daycare ?
Re: What's your take on school lunches?
^ i'm sure if you specify what your rules are, daycares and babysitter's will comply with your requests. i don't see any reason why they would slip pork to jr. and call it chicken. as well, they would be washing pots and pans between cooking different foods- doesn't everyone?- so i don't see that being an issue, but again, communicate your concerns and i am positive they will be respected. why wouldn't they be?
but also, when jr. goes to school iA, he'll be old enough to know what he is and is not allowed to have, and he will also know not to eat off other people's plates. its just not done unless its off yours or hubby's and that's a different story entirely. don't discount your ability as a parent to teach him these things or his ability to follow along with what you teach him :)
Re: What's your take on school lunches?
only sometimes. They have options like salad everyday along with non healthy options like pizza, nachos and pancake. kids lean towards that than the salad bar.
90% of the time, I send in lunch from home. I feel like I know what they are eating and it's a more healthier option.
Re: What's your take on school lunches?
I grew up in the ME, and we all shared our lunches or a lot of kids did. And at times I would even ask ammi to make extra lunches coz others ate my lunch.
And some ppl I have come across who grew up in the UK and USA in 1970s and 80s said they had had pork coz they had picked something off of their friends' plates during lunch time.
This is one of the reasons I am even afraid to send Jr. to a daycare/ baby sitter coz of the food that gets served in their home. Even if they make vegetarian stuff it might be cooked in a pan that has been used to cook pork in.
Am I crazy/paranoid, do/did any of you go through these feelings prior to sending your kids out to school or daycare ?
automne, the approach toward sharing food (and really anything) is very different now than it was 40-50 years ago. school teachers and administrators are hyper-aware and hyper-sensitive to issues relating to hygiene, disease, allergies, religion, etc. I'm sure kids can manage to share if they really want to, but the administrators do keep an eye on it. I'm sure no one cared if little Jimmy shared with Wally in the 60s. It's a different world now.
Re: What's your take on school lunches?
My kids have never bought lunch at school. I've always packed their lunches from home, the main reason being I can monitor how much they've eaten and what they've eaten. They are well aware of their dietary restrictions [halal/non halal] and are also very careful about other kids' allergies, etc. Noone shares food in their school so that's not an issue.