Have you seen/are you horrified by the amount of waste in your child's school caf??

[pjlla]

Inspired by the school lunch price thread.....

Have you ever had lunch with your school age children and seen the incredible amount of food that is wasted? It drove me so nuts I cannot go have lunch with my DD any more!

And this didn't just include kids throwing away the remainder of their hot lunch. I have seen kids with lunch boxes throwing away new, fully wrapped foods like peanut butter crackers, juice boxes, lunchables, individual apple sauce cups, etc. Don't the parents have a clue? My DD knows that on the days when she brings a lunch box (which is actually rare) I expect her to bring home everything she didn't eat! I understand that they won't eat everything, especially on a hot lunch (DD has learned to trade with other kids (I'll eat your chicken if you'll eat my corn..type thing). But the amount of waste is just HORRIFYING!
Not sure what can be done to change this. Just wondering what you all might have seen....................P

 

[peg2001]

Yep. It is truely amazing. One problem at our local school is that the kids are REQUIRED to have so many items on their tray. So, if a child picks out 2 things they will eat, they are not allowed to leave the line until they add another item. This is just begging for extra waste as the children pitch unopened milks, juices, etc. There is a large sign by the trash cans that these items MUST be thrown away instead of re-used.

Peggy

 

[Big V]

My DW used to be a school food service manager and they are required by the Federal government lunch program to serve a certain amount of each food groups per week, so it isn't just your school peg2001. And yes, there is an incredible amount of waste in school lunches!

 

[Hillbeans]

LOL - this thread made me think of something we used to do when I was in 9th grade. About 5 of us would buy an order of "community fries" and share them. I think we all used the same ketchup also....eeeeeewwwww.

We split them up evenly (ie, 6 1/2 for you, 6 1/2 for you). What a dork I was!

 

[thatchicktrish]

I too have seen the amount of waste, my DS brings his lunch a lot because he is a very picky eater, I require that he brings home everything he's eaten and sometimes even the wrappers/baggies of things he has eaten so I know he most likely actually ate it instead of trading it or throwing it away. Soon he'll get wise to why I want the wrappers and etc brought home though lol. He sometimes brings home extra food like fruit roll-ups, lunchables and juicees because the other kids didn't want them and he took it rather than let them throw it away.

 

[Maleficent13]

My old school would not let you up from the table until you had eaten 3/4ths of your food. The only problem was, the food was horrible! My dad came to eat with my class once, and even he couldn't eat it (and he can eat anything!). He taught us how to drink our milk and then stuff the unwanted food into the empty carton to fool the lunch ladies.

My point being, if we want our kids to stop wasting food, we must make it at least somewhat appetizing for them! (obviously, this does not count when referring to packed lunches!)

 

[stego]

How many of us as parents felt guilty if we didn't provide a nice, hot lunch for our children? (I raise my hand here). As school lunches go, they offer children a choice. Most days, he picked the pizza slice or burger or chicken nuggets. Ever since kindergarten, I made it a point to go visit our son at his lunch break. The first year, I even ate a lunch or two. That got old fast. I figured: I paid my dues. This last year, however, I noticed a trend. I started going on a more regular day, Fridays, and then on a whim, stopped in on a few days when he wasn't expecting me.
Lo and behold, most of his lunch went uneaten. So basically I was shelling out all this cash for food he wasn't eating. So I got in gear and sat down with our son and figured out what to do. I would be responsible for shopping with him and letting him pick out healthy foods he would eat for lunch. Each day I make his lunch for him. So now, when I visit, he has scarfed down his food. It's the other boys who sit there, playing with their food, and most times, don't even bother opening and drinking their milk.
I realize that their are probably a lot of parents who just don't have the flexibility to visit their children at lunch time. I think it's more of an ideal I've created for myself. So now, I don't pay to much attention being the only parent in the cafeteria with 150 other kids. The best thing, I figure, is that the other boys are seeing the example. Most of the girls do eat their lunch. My wife brings him burger king, or mcdonald's once a week, if he has been behaving. She sits with him in the foyer area, where there are a few benches, so they can have one on one time. I enjoy sitting with our son, and visiting with the other children. They know who I am.

 

[DISshopkeeper]

Originally posted by pjlla
Inspired by the school lunch price thread.....

Have you ever had lunch with your school age children and seen the incredible amount of food that is wasted? It drove me so nuts I cannot go have lunch with my DD any more!

And this didn't just include kids throwing away the remainder of their hot lunch. I have seen kids with lunch boxes throwing away new, fully wrapped foods like peanut butter crackers, juice boxes, lunchables, individual apple sauce cups, etc. Don't the parents have a clue?

How would they know??? Particularly if you send a bag lunch. You really don't expect anything to come home.

I tell you what me kids used to throw out....

THEIR CHANGE!!!!! Can you believe it??

"It was just 20 cents" !!!

 

[aprilgail2]

Originally posted by DISshopkeeper
How would they know??? Particularly if you send a bag lunch. You really don't expect anything to come home.

At my daughters school anything you didn't eat from your lunch box gets thrown out, they don't want them leaving anything in their lunch box so there is no way she could bring it back home with her!

 

[ByTheSea]

My Mother used to work in an elementary school and being raised in the depression era, it would drive her NUTS to see the wasted food. They had a Free Breakfast program at her school and they would throw out cereal in plastic bowls that were wrapped, un-opened, toss out un-opened milk cartons, un-opened juice, bananas, oranges, etc.

For many years my Mom would "garbage dive" as we used to call it. She would go to the lunchroom after breakfast and collect all the un-opened foods from the garbage, dozens and dozens of items each day, put the milk and juice in a bag in the fridge, and drop everything at a food shelf on her way home.

 

[Pop Daddy]

If my dad where still alive he would tell them "there are millions of starving kids in China"

 

[Cruisin]

Wow, that is a looonnnnggg post Pop Daddy, and by the way I love your tag.


At our elementary school, when my kids were young, they only ever had lunch brought from home, except one day a week they had hot dog day.

Is spending lunch with your children a popular custom where you live. It is generally not done here.
I wouldn't think most kids would appreciate their mom coming to school and eating lunch with them.
Mine were used to me being in the school because I was there a lot but I was the exception not the rule, and I would never have eaten lunch with them in their classroom.
It sounds like a nice idea though.

 

[Planogirl]

Parents can come eat with their kids at our school but most parents only do so occasionally.

I can't really be too rigid about my son's eating habits. Some days he's starving and at other times, he has no appetite. I just pack the usual stuff and hope he eats most of it.

 

[Dopey Sharon]

I work in an elementary school cafeteria....it is a shame what goes in the trash. I have seen kids throw away lunches that weren't even touched!

 

[Cindy B]

I wont get started on what the kids in middle school are eating for "lunch".

The parents dutifully give them so much cash a day.

Most kids don't get the "whole" lunch. Most kids stand in the snack line, and get two large packs of starbursts, a soft pretzel and a slushie.

The whole lunch is only eaten if there is pizza.

The students can also buy french fries a la carte... I've seen students eat french fries and just french fries as well.

I dont think they even serve milk anymore.. no one drank it. (I bet they are required to serve it.. but no and i mean NO ONE buys it).

 

[nativetxn]

I am not exposed to a school cafeteria but the waste at my mother's nursing home is incredible.

It just seems like such a shame for all of that untouched food to go to waste but then again the liablity for giving it away is too big a chance for them to take.

Sort of a Catch 22