what do school lunches look like at your school?

[sanguine_speed]

I'm curious whether there is a lot of diversity amongst your school's students regarding packed lunches.
I am not at the school every day, so I generally only hear from dd what other kids bring, and I think I only hear about the really yummy things, lol.
DD tells me about the great lunches the other kids get, with lunchables, fruit by the foot, candy, etc.
I'm curious whether others hear about or see similarly nutrition-less lunches at their schools.

[Pumpkin_Pie]

I have had lunch with DS a few times and the kids in his class have mostly crap for food. They have "Trix" yogurt, chips, candy, Lunchables, Chef Boyardee microwave meals, etc. His teachers always comment on how healthy DS's lunches are, and really, I am not putting a ton of thought into them.

Today he has grape tomatoes, turkey breast with ketchup for dip , corn and green beans (which will also likely get "dipped"), veggie booty, a fruit leather and a yogurt. That is a pretty typical lunch for him, although the booty is a somewhat rare treat.

The kids at the preschool that I work at tend to have much healthier lunches than the kids at DS's school. They tend to have a hot entree like mac and cheese with peas, spaghetti, or a rice dish with sides of fresh fruit, fresh veggies with a dip, applesauce, and occasionally things like booty or goldfish.

My son's school does tend to have a much higher population of folks who are low income, and I have been told that is why they tend to have junk in their lunches, but I can't figure that one out. I was absolutely dirt poor for the longest time, and still am pretty low income, but I still won't feed my child things like that. It is more expensive anyway, I just don't get it.

[velochic]

Dd attends a private school. Three years ago, they instituted a mandatory hot lunch that is included in the tuition. Only children that have food issues (like my dd... she has intolerance to processed food) are allowed to bring lunch. However, I think that what you are describing is about what I remember being the norm. I remember one parent having a hissy fit because the school told her to stop packing a Pepsi for her 4 yo ds every day at lunch. Pre-packaged food and serious waste was always issue.

These days, the menu seems not all that bad for the typical kid. It's probably healthier than what they would get in a lunch from home. Unfortunately, it's all processed, so dd can't eat it. Some examples from the menu this week:

Chicken Fryz
Chili
Bosco stix
Italian Beef sandwich
Chicken breast and caesar salad

So, some good, some bad. When all the kids brought food from home it was a lot worse. Tons of wasteful packaging and processed crap.

ETA: Dd has always had rather healthy lunches. Today she has whole wheat bagel and cream cheese, sliced pickles, dried strawberries, cottage cheese and organic milk for her lunch. Yesterday was PBJ on 12-grain bread, carrots, sliced pears, organic yogurt tube and water. This isn't super, super healthy, IMO, but all of it is quick stuff she can eat in the time allotted for eating.

[sanguine_speed]

Thanks for the replies. I feel better knowing I'm not alone. I'm doing my best to work with my daughter to offer lunches that are nutritious but also including things that she considers treats so she doesn't feel deprived.
I just wasn't sure if our school was unique. About income levels, our school is in quite a high-income area, and I was actually hypothesizing that maybe the families are more likely to have two parents working and so buy more of the expensive (and unfortunately less nutritious) pre-packaged, processed lunch foods. It's interesting to hear the idea that low-income families would be more likely to buy the same things. Maybe it's just a some folks do, some don't thing.

[Owen'nZoe]

At DS's school, DS is one of the few who doesn't take the school lunch. His school offers both a grab-n-go bag (a peanut butter sandwich, carrot sticks, string cheese, canned fruit and milk) and a hot lunch (pizza, chicken nuggets, nachos, hamburgers, spagghetti, etc. _ a veggie, a canned fruit, and dessert maybe 2 xs a week). The kids also have the option of bringing a snack or buying one (purchased ones include doughnuts, goldfish crackers, a piece of fruit, etc.)

DS does occassionally complain about not getting a school lunch like the other kids, so I do make little compromises. I let him buy a lunch once a month as a treat. I include a dessert or special treat (like fruit leather) once a week. If I'm sending something that DS really likes but the other kids might think is wierd, I make sure to send a cool treat that day - like last week I sent sushi and edamame for him. DS loves it, but as I expected, he said some of the kids at his table thought it was wierd and teased him about it a bit. BUT I had included a Yan Yan package for him - as soon as the other kids saw that, they stopped teasing him, and were begging him to share. I guess I just try to find a balance between meals I can live with and occassional treats that keep him happy and keep him from having to take too much slack from the other kids.

[SoCaliMommy]

I have a hard time making up a healthy lunch since most of the stuff i'd think to send would need to be heated up and they wont let kids heat up lunch.

The menu this week at my daughters school is

Monday~ Flame Broiled Cheeseburger sides for that day were
sides 1( select 1)carrots,broccoli,breadstick
side 2 (select 1) fresh fruit,mixed fruit with
Milk or Chocolate Milk

Tuesday~Reduced fat Macaroni & Cheese or Pizza (it was pizza day) s sides 1( select 1)mixed salad or kidney beans
side 2 (select 1)fresh fruit, trail mix, peaches
Milk or Chocolate Milk

Wednesday~Taco meat & refried beans topped with cheese
sides 1( select 1) mixed salad,corn, whole wheat roll
side 2 (select 1) fresh fruit,pears.
Milk or Chocolate Milk

Thursday~ Pasta with spinach alfredo
sides 1( select 1) mixed salad or kidney beans
side 2 (select 1)fresh fruit,dried cranberries, applesauce
Milk or Chocolate Milkk

Friday~Chicken Teriyaki with rice
sides 1( select 1) mixed salad,brocoli,physedibles
side 2 (select 1)fresh fruit,blueberries

[Drummer's Wife]

My kids buy lunch, but apparently everyone brings lunchables -- according to my DD.

I told her I'll buy her a couple to take, and try, but then I said we should make our own out of good meat, cheese, and crackers - and she thought that was a good idea. I really think she will want to switch back to school lunch - because they get to choose from, 3-4 entrees and a handful of sides. Much more variety than lunchables. I know part of it is wanting to bring what the other kids have, so we'll see.

eta: oh, and snack. I send them fruit, veggies, cheese, almonds, cookies if I baked them, etc.. and she says all the kids bring fruit roll-ups, colored yogurt, candy bars, cheetos. I feel bad for their teacher if the kids are eating this stuff mid-morning.

[sanguine_speed]

Interesting! See, I'm in Ontario, Canada and I don't know anyone whose child goes to a school where you can buy hot lunches (or cold lunches for that matter). Everyone MUST bring a lunch.

[cedoreilly]

My DD brings lunch to school and she takes yogurt and various fruits. I try to do fresh fruit but now they are getting expensive, I do throw in fruit cup often. My DS took lunch today because he HATES tacos (he usually buys) and he took Honey Nut Cheerios, some type of fruit (I wanna say it was a small pear but I forget right now) and a granola bar. I refuse to put junk food in their lunches! There is a healthy food thing going on at school but I am sure not all kids follow it!

[Emmeline II]

Originally Posted by sanguine_speed

I'm curious whether there is a lot of diversity amongst your school's students regarding packed lunches.
I am not at the school every day, so I generally only hear from dd what other kids bring, and I think I only hear about the really yummy things, lol.
DD tells me about the great lunches the other kids get, with lunchables, fruit by the foot, candy, etc.
I'm curious whether others hear about or see similarly nutrition-less lunches at their schools.

Oh, yes. The girl that sits across from ds brings lunchables nearly every day; she doesn't like the meat so she eats candy, crackers, cheese, and a capri sun for lunch. I also see other children eating cheetos, foot by the foot, and juice for lunch and occasionally their sandwich. I've been fighting it, but not allowing it at all has been causing problems with ds (long story), so I've decided to let him get the lunch on Fridays when EVERYONE else does because it's the day when the cafeteria serves ice cream . I do live in a fairly high income district (relatively; it's south Texas).

[Hatteras Gal]

I pack what they'll eat. So sometimes it's PB&J and cheeto balls and sometimes it's buttered penne and sometimes it's a pizza snack kit. I really don't care what I pack as long as it gets eaten. I see 1 lunchable regularly with dd1's class (2nd) and I've seen 1 in my dd2's class (K) and I eat lunch with her 2x a week, and I've seen one since the start of the school year. I always pack a fruit and a protein and the other stuff is calorie filler to get them through the day. I wonder what you all would think of today's lunch? PB&J, cheeto balls (like cheetos, only ball shaped), 2 pieces of Halloween candy, cucumbers, blueberries.

[Tigerchild]

Our home lunches in the kids' classes are very diverse. Sure, you have the people with lots of prepackaged stuff in their lunches, you have people buying the crappy school lunches, you have the people with their granola lunches.

No one seems to really care much. The teachers my kids have this year ask them to eat half of their main course before they break out to something junkier, but it's not like they can enforce that.

To be honest with you, I don't even really pay attention to what the other kids are bringing anymore (I help out with lunch for both classes twice a week). I'm kind of shocked at how little difference it seems to make in behavior (one of the most disrespectful kids in both groups brings a lunch that probably most MDCers couldn't top for crunch credibility, some of the sweetest and smartest kids bring things that would make most MDCers wither and die in horror). Though keep in mind my kids go to a magnet program that requires very heavy parental involvement, so perhaps nutrition doesn't factor in as much as it does with the regular population.

So yeah, we have everything from hummus, raw food 'cakes', sprouts, HiC "juice" boxes, spam sandwiches (yeah, you're reading that right!), cheetos, ect. The kids aren't allowed to share food though. I notice that everything still looks best when it belongs to someone else, though. We have a lot of kids bringing the most adorable "green" (reusable) containers and wraps though! I always like to stop and admire those. But I will tell you a secret--half the time the green lunches are full of "junk" too, it's just wrapped in very cute sustainable packaging!

[elmh23]

I honestly have no clue what the other kids are getting in their lunches nor do I care if they are eating junkier than my kid or healthier. I send food I know my daughter likes and will eat. Dd gets half a sandwich (usually PB&J or PB&Honey), a fruit (or fruit cup or applesauce) and some sort of "filler." Today it was a strawberry Nutragrain bar, but it seems to rotate between those, pretzels and pirate booty.

[sanguine_speed]

Originally Posted by Hatteras Gal

I pack what they'll eat. So sometimes it's PB&J and cheeto balls and sometimes it's buttered penne and sometimes it's a pizza snack kit. I really don't care what I pack as long as it gets eaten. I see 1 lunchable regularly with dd1's class (2nd) and I've seen 1 in my dd2's class (K) and I eat lunch with her 2x a week, and I've seen one since the start of the school year. I always pack a fruit and a protein and the other stuff is calorie filler to get them through the day. I wonder what you all would think of today's lunch? PB&J, cheeto balls (like cheetos, only ball shaped), 2 pieces of Halloween candy, cucumbers, blueberries.

I wish we could pack PB!! Or even snacks with nuts .
My concern is for my dd, certain foods to cause her to feel badly and that translates into tiredness, unresponsiveness, irritability, headaches.

[sanguine_speed]

Originally Posted by elmh23

I honestly have no clue what the other kids are getting in their lunches nor do I care if they are eating junkier than my kid or healthier. I send food I know my daughter likes and will eat. Dd gets half a sandwich (usually PB&J or PB&Honey), a fruit (or fruit cup or applesauce) and some sort of "filler." Today it was a strawberry Nutragrain bar, but it seems to rotate between those, pretzels and pirate booty.

Wow, more PB! I don't know anyone IRL who is allowed to pack PB in her kid's lunch.
I care what the other kids are eating only to the extent that it influences my daughter's preferences. She feels excluded when she doesn't eat the same foods as her friends. I realize that all I can do is try and explain why we make the food choices we do, and compromise as much as possible. She is still developing a good sense of self-esteem, and hopefully as she grows more confident she will be less bothered by having a 'different' lunch. However, I don't think it's reasonable to expect her to plain not care at her age and level of development. And as I said, she is also sensitive to food additives and spikes in blood sugar, even if some claim other kids aren't. She is also not yet able to self-regulate well or recognize the connection between eating badly and feeling badly. Someday...

[Irishmommy]

My kids have never, ever commented on other kids' lunches. I'm only in there to serve pizza, and all the kids are eating the pizza that day.

[savithny]

What I've learned first is -- what my kids SAY other kids are getting is not usually representative of what the majority actually *are* getting. One kid gets a Little Debby and the next thing, the rest of the moms are hearing "Everyone ELSE'S mom packs them!!"

My kids generally get:
a sandwich on homemade bread (PB&J or Pepperoni for DS, PB, cheese, or hummus for DD),
a crunchy thing to go alongside it (pretzels, nuts, crackers, or once in awhile, corn or potato chips - I find occasional 'bad' treats go a long way to making the good stuff acceptable),
a sweet taste of something (anything from homemade cookies to a piece of fruit to several pieces of Halloween candy).

We pack a water bottle. DD sometimes gets a cup of cottage cheese or I make yogurt cheese, they sometimes gets Mediterannean Picnic with olives and pita bread.

Our school lunches aren't too bad - they've committed to no frying, no hydrogenated oils, and all whole grains, so theres WW bread and bagels, oven-toasted chicken fingers and the like. But if my kids ate school lunch, I'm pretty sure one of them would have a PB&J every day, while the other one would have a bagel and creamcheese and a yogurt every day. I can provide better versions of all that for less than the $2/day it would cost us.

From my observation, the lunches at the school vary hugely, but so does our population. We're 40% Asian (most of that ithe children of international scholars), 40% Euro (some of that children of international scholars) and 20% African descent (where many are *not* African-American but actual African, Afro-Caribbean, etc). So you see everything from little bentos, to beans and rice, to Lunchables being packed.

Of things my kids have seen other kids get, my kids have agitated for yogurt, especially name-branded or drinkable, which I won't do for the sugar content. They've asked about fruit rollups, but I don't send really sticky things either, and plain raisins or other dried fruit tends to be cheaper (Like I said, my goal is for the lunches I pack to represent a cost savings over school lunch). Since I do buy a bag of Doritos or potato chips once in awhile (less than once a month) and parcel it out into small servings for lunches, they know they'll get a chance to be the one with the food everyone else wants. Half the time they end up trading their chips for something else, anyway!

[ecoteat]

My school has pretty good hot lunches and a lot of kids get free/reduced lunch, so there aren't many who pack a lunch. Of the 3 who regularly do on my lunch duty, one does because he is vegetarian and it is just easier than working around the school lunch. His lunches are pretty healthy. The others bring pretty good lunches too--very little pre-packaged. Another packs occasionally and brings packaged junk, but he's the only one. We are nut-free for the first time this year and that has thrown a wrench in the whole lunch operation.

My students won't bring a Lunchable within my sight, because they know they'll get my lecture about waste and unhealthy ingredients. They roll their eyes at me and chuckle now, but I think I've made an impact on them!

[mpchez]

 

Edited by mpchez - 11/13/10 at 8:55pm

[sanguine_speed]

Originally Posted by mpchez

ETA I've had kids in school for almost 20 years, various schools and we've never had a PB/nut/other allergy restriction to work around.

Lucky you! I also can't send eggs with my younger dd, and she doesn't eat meat. No pb, eggs or meat, then.