School lunches VS. Daycare lunches

[wdmmom]

I don't know about your public school system but I'm really disappointed in the quality products they are serving our children today. Everything is frozen or on a stick. When I was in school, our meals consisted of ground beef and gravy over mashed potatoes, turkey and gravy with mashed potatoes, spaghetti, and much more.

Today they are feeding corndogs, cheese sticks (as a main course!) pizza, etc.

As I scan across the 7 out of 21 days, it is a food prepared at the school
The remainder of the days, the products are shipped in frozen.

Isn't that SAD?!

I understand serving Macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, pizza, hamburgers and hotdogs but isn't once every 2 months more than enough? We're seeing pizza on the menu at least twice a month!

And they're charging $2.50 for an elementary lunch! Granted I don't think this is too exensive but at the same time, I find it to be obsurd for what they are serving! I'd be a lot more apt to paying $2.50 for a lunch if it wasn't some type of frozen food tossed on a sheet and chucked into an oven.

If I wanted my kids to consistently eat that, I'd buy pizza rolls and Kid Cuisines.

I'd like to think my daycare children eat better than what the children are fed in school and I'm not an extravagant cook.

I offer things like...Spaghetti, goulash, meatloaf, homemade pizza, quesedillas, tacos, hamburgers, and of course I do macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, and fish sticks but I'm not serving them every week, let alone every month.

I've seen a lot of other people on this forum post their menus and they are far more extravagant than school lunches.

It's comparable to McDonalds vs. a 5 star restaurant.

What happened to our children getting fed good quality products at school rather than what's easy?!

[littlemommy]

I think when my son goes to school I will be packing his lunch every day. That's the only way I'll really know he's getting a quality meal.

School's say they want to fight childhood obesity, but look at what they serve. Fried/frozen meals full of preservatives, sugar, and fat. Ick.

[Cat Herder]

What happened to our children getting fed good quality products at school rather than what's easy?!

IMHO, It is budget cuts and the dificulty involved with getting motivated/qualified employees at the salary they can afford.

[Blackcat31]

Here is the September lunch menu for our school. Is it similar to yours?

Notice how once per month each of the schools gets Dominos Pizza for lunch!

[Zoe]

Mine is actually pretty good! The kids get things like grilled ham and cheese, submarine sandwiches, etc. NOWHERE on the menu are chicken nuggets or pizza. My daughter is very picky with food, and while I know she'd eat the fruit as a side dish, the main entree would just go in the garbage. So I pack her lunch (peanut butter sandwich on wheat bread, apple slices, and carrots, with skim milk).

If the school served the stuff you're talking about, she'd eat it, but I don't know if I'd allow it!

[Meyou]

I have to send my dd's lunches so they eat healthy...thank goodness! My older dd dances after school and packs enough food for a football player everyday. My younger dd has the option for a sub once a week that's brought in from a local place but its on whole grains and the choices are limited to turkey, ham or veggie so that's great. Our old school however brought in pizza once a week. *sigh*

My kids tell me that most other kids have lunchbags full of packaged things and alot have those lunchables everyday so it doesn't seem to matter if it's the school offering or mom and dad. No fruit or veggies to be seen and my kid's lunches are considered "wierd" by thier friends with whole grains, fruit, veggies and one "treat" per day.

[wdmmom]

When my kids pack a lunch, they are required to take one of each food group and 1 snack.

For example: Sandwich will cover both protein/meat and grain.

They must take a vegetable: Whether it be carrot sticks and ranch or a cucumber cut up or whatever.

They must take a fruit: Apple, orange, grapes, banana, etc.

They usually take a juice pack but are welcome to milk too. Either or...

And, I let them take a snack...whether it be chips, goldfish, a muffin, cookies, etc.

I'd like to think that's a well balanced lunch.

[Meyou]

That's pretty much what I require too but they also pack another snack for recess and normally two pieces of fruit and a veggie for lunch. They're hungry girls.

When my kids pack a lunch, they are required to take one of each food group and 1 snack.

For example: Sandwich will cover both protein/meat and grain.

They must take a vegetable: Whether it be carrot sticks and ranch or a cucumber cut up or whatever.

They must take a fruit: Apple, orange, grapes, banana, etc.

They usually take a juice pack but are welcome to milk too. Either or...

And, I let them take a snack...whether it be chips, goldfish, a muffin, cookies, etc.

I'd like to think that's a well balanced lunch.

[nannyde]

Here is the September lunch menu for our school. Is it similar to yours?

Notice how once per month each of the schools gets Dominos Pizza for lunch!

Oh Geeze

[meganlavonnesmommy]

Our school lunches are terrible. $2.60 and they get crap. Pizza is every friday, and 3-4 days a week is french fries, oven baked, but still! They do offer fresh fruit and veggies every day, but the veggies are usually really soggy and sad. The salad and carrots look like they have been cut up weeks ago.
I would much rather pay more and have them have higher quality meals than what we have now.
What I dont understand is we in daycare have to follow USDA guidelines and serve healthy meals, why dont the schools have to follow the same rules?
We can only serve sandwiches once a week, and "breaded" items like chicken nuggets, corn dogs and fish sticks once a month. The schools dont have those same restrictions, not fair.

Our lunch menu for Sept was
Chicken Nuggets every Monday
Hot Dogs every Tuesday
Breaded Chicken on a Roll every Wednesday
Pizza every Friday

Thursdays are Tacos, Pancakes and Sausage, roasted turkey and gravy,

Each day is either french fries, rice, and either canned or fresh fruit. They always have apples, bananas and oranges, and cut carrots or salad. But like I said, they are really sad looking, not something you would be excited to eat. My son LOVES salad, its his favorite food, and he always says its yucky.

[meganlavonnesmommy]

HAHA!
I just looked at our menu for October.
One week the menu items are this:

Chicken Nuggets on Monday
Popcorn Chicken on Tuesday
Breaded Chicken on a bun on Wednesday
Crispy Chicken wraps (chicken nuggets in a tortilla), on Thursday
Pizza on Friday

ARE YOU FLIPPIN KIDDING ME? That is so horrible!

[melskids]

its garbage here too.

and the other issue is that by the time my 9th grader gets to lunch at 1:30, there's never anything left, and they are just putting whatever on his tray. sometimes there's fruit and veggie, sometimes not. sometimes there isnt any main entree left, and he gets 3 chicken nuggets if he's lucky.

i went out this year and bought thermos' for my boys, and now send them with a hot lunch everyday. usually left over casserole type meals or chili, soups, that sort of thing.

they come home and tell me how the other kids BEG for some of their lunch...especially my famous venison chili!

now i have to figure out how to stop my kids from trading "scoops" and "tastes" of their lunches for the junk their friends are bartering...

[littlemommy]

its garbage here too.

and the other issue is that by the time my 9th grader gets to lunch at 1:30, there's never anything left, and they are just putting whatever on his tray. sometimes there's fruit and veggie, sometimes not. sometimes there isnt any main entree left, and he gets 3 chicken nuggets if he's lucky.

i went out this year and bought thermos' for my boys, and now send them with a hot lunch everyday. usually left over casserole type meals or chili, soups, that sort of thing.

they come home and tell me how the other kids BEG for some of their lunch...especially my famous venison chili!

now i have to figure out how to stop my kids from trading "scoops" and "tastes" of their lunches for the junk their friends are bartering...

Would you mind sharing your recipe for venison chili? I've been looking for a good one!!

[nannyde]

Would you mind sharing your recipe for venison chili? I've been looking for a good one!!

I love venison chilli

I'll take that recipe too.

[nannyde]

its garbage here too.

and the other issue is that by the time my 9th grader gets to lunch at 1:30, there's never anything left, and they are just putting whatever on his tray. sometimes there's fruit and veggie, sometimes not. sometimes there isnt any main entree left, and he gets 3 chicken nuggets if he's lucky.

i went out this year and bought thermos' for my boys, and now send them with a hot lunch everyday. usually left over casserole type meals or chili, soups, that sort of thing.

they come home and tell me how the other kids BEG for some of their lunch...especially my famous venison chili!

now i have to figure out how to stop my kids from trading "scoops" and "tastes" of their lunches for the junk their friends are bartering...

I've had horrible luck with thermoses. My son lost TWO aladin ones on the first day of school last year.

What brand do you use?