School Lunches

I graduated in 1981 and our schools always served lunch, I didn't know there were schools that didn't.:confused3

Not too far behind you and my schools were the same. I went to school in MA so maybe it is a regional thing??? I remember getting excited looking at the menu. I would buy for pizza and chicken patties. :cool1:
 
Not too far behind you and my schools were the same. I went to school in MA so maybe it is a regional thing??? I remember getting excited looking at the menu. I would buy for pizza and chicken patties. :cool1:

Yep same here, oh and those nasty things they called hamburgers, can't believe I actually ate them. Oh and let's see so, far, DS, has had an Almond bar, Greek yogurt with granola and is now working on a single serve container of Bob Evans mac N Cheese that I bought for them to snack on before they headed out to their individual sporting activities. We don't get to eat dinner until fairly late. Not much of a fruit guy, except for cantaloup, watermelon, sometimes apples and peaches, loves strawberries and most other berries. The yogurt did have blue berries. WE haven't even begun to talk about dinner. I need to take out a loan in order to feed him.
 
bettymae1121 said:
Maybe it's just where I grew up but WHEN did schools start serving lunch? I grew up in the 80's and there wasn't "school lunch" until High School. K-8 you had to brown bag it. And we didn't even have a cafeteria, you ate at your desk.

The only thing you could get from the school was milk. Your mom sent you in with money every quarter and you'd get milk tickets. Every day you'd hand in a ticket and get your milk. But it was optional, you could just bring milk from home in a Thermos, or no milk at all if that's what you wanted.

The school I'll be sending LO to (if we don't move and if we don't do private) has school lunches. Last I looked on their website, I think I'll be sending her in with a brown bag like I had growing up. Even homemade PB&J has to be healthier than some of the stuff I saw on their menu. For sure it would be better tasting!

I also grew up in the 80's and we had school lunch k-12.
 
My big complaint is that next year my children can not purchase a chocolate milk because it is no longer on the al a carte menu. If they buy lunch, they can have a chocolate milk.
My oldest can't purchase lunch because she has a celiac disease.

My petty complaint of the day.

I don't know exactly how much my kids eat when at school, but I do know I feed them a huge second lunch when they get home.

Find out if your DD has a friend that buys lunch and normally drinks white milk. Get that friend to grab chocolate milk, your DD grab white, then switch when they get to the table.


So you feed them a 2nd lunch and then proceed to feed them dinner a few hours later? I can't see why a "huge 2nd lunch" could possibly be needed when dinner would likely be served within a few hours of returning home (here kids get out at 3:30..we eat dinner by 5:30-6pm at the latest Maybe I am misunderstanding your school start/lunch/stop and dinner times?

DD15 eats multipule meals a day. She has something before she leaves at 6:45 in the morning. She eats lunch at 10:30. Her 1st class after lunch is Dance I, so most of what she just ate gets burned off right away. After school, 2:30 release time, she has marching band from 2:45 until 5-5:30ish. She will scarf down cheese and ham/turkey cracker sandwiches in the 15 minutes she has to get to the band room, changed and be on the practice field. On monday, tuesday, and wed after band, she goes to the dance studio, for 3 hrs, 2.5 hours, and 45 minutes. On monday and tuesday, she does eat, yet again, in the car on the way to the studio. On wed, she has a 3 hour break between band and dance, so she just eats a normal dinner on that night before going to dance. But monday and tuesday, she's not home to eat dinner until 9:30 and 9:00. She doesn't get to eat anything heavy or greasy on those nights. And thrusday and friday nights and competition saturdays, you don't want to know how and when those kids get to squeeze in eating.

And oh yea, she's 5'7, 130 lbs and solid muscle. She needs every single on of the meals that she is eating.


I have this same vent - no meal, no milk. I have one with celiac, so of course she never buys. It would be nice to send her in with some gf cereal, and have her be able to at least buy milk. There is no milk for sale in the elementary school.

That just blows my mind. So, if you brown bag your lunch, you can't purchase a cold milk to drink?? Even back when I was in school, you could buy as many milks as you wanted for a 10-15 cents each, now they are a quarter each. DS17 drinks 2 milks almost every day at lunch. Buying just milk is an option in all of our schools.

Wait until your kids are teens. You'll have mutiny on your hands if you limit their food:rotfl:. My dd is 13 and a string bean but she can out eat me and sometimes even dh. I agree with limiting junk but when she's hungry she's free to eat almost anything. I believe in teaching kids to read their own cues when it comes to what their bodies need. Controlling doesn't work in the long run Imo.

There are times when I would swear both of my kids have hallow legs they are trying to fill up. I can't keep up with their intake. Then a couple of months later, they have slowed back down. And I can track it by what their current activities are. DS intake jumps way up during marching band season. For DD, she is more year round, as she dances 10 months out the year. By adding marching band this year, she didn't have a slack off time this summer. She's actually eating more, but wearing the smaller sizes in her jeans.
 


Graduated from high school in 1974 (so started 1st grade in 1962) and they always served hot lunch at school. They were usually pretty good- and everything was cooked right there in the kitchen, freshly made every day.

I can't abide whole wheat anything. It gives me the most horrendous heartburn, so unfortunately no school lunches for me anymore. That's OK, the prices on the teacher lunches are three times what the kids pay... way cheaper to bring leftovers from home, or Lean Cuisines!
 
Maybe it's just where I grew up but WHEN did schools start serving lunch? I grew up in the 80's and there wasn't "school lunch" until High School. K-8 you had to brown bag it. And we didn't even have a cafeteria, you ate at your desk.

The only thing you could get from the school was milk. Your mom sent you in with money every quarter and you'd get milk tickets. Every day you'd hand in a ticket and get your milk. But it was optional, you could just bring milk from home in a Thermos, or no milk at all if that's what you wanted.

The school I'll be sending LO to (if we don't move and if we don't do private) has school lunches. Last I looked on their website, I think I'll be sending her in with a brown bag like I had growing up. Even homemade PB&J has to be healthier than some of the stuff I saw on their menu. For sure it would be better tasting!

I started Kinder in 1980 and there were school lunches even then.
 


Maybe it's just where I grew up but WHEN did schools start serving lunch? I grew up in the 80's and there wasn't "school lunch" until High School. K-8 you had to brown bag it. And we didn't even have a cafeteria, you ate at your desk.

Graduated 86 and we had cafeteria's starting in middle school, 6th grade. Before that, we didn't have cafeteria's in grade school, but we did have a lunch room.

But even with out a cafeteria in grade school, you could still buy a lunch from the school. The grade school lunches, and ever still to this day, are all made at the nutrition center, packaged up and shipped off to each school. You got a hot and cold pack with each meal. One of the first things we did each day, was take a count on how many kids were going to eat a school lunch that day, so the order could be sent over to them.

Also, you could order extra meals. For whatever reason we had, the pizza they served was the BOMB to us kids. If it was pizza day, it wasn't unsusal for kids to order 2 to 3 hot packs, we love the stuff that much. The pizza today, neither of my kids would touch with a 10 foot pole.
 
This is not directed toward anyone here but I just wanted to mention that just because someone is thin does not mean they are healthy. I have one family member that is super thin but very unhealthy. They eat nothing but carbs all day, no fruits, veggies, protein (well maybe a little). Cereal, pasta, bagels, pizza is about all they eat.

That was a great idea the PP posted about trying to switch milks with another student. Seems foolish to even have to do that though.
 
This is not directed toward anyone here but I just wanted to mention that just because someone is thin does not mean they are healthy. I have one family member that is super thin but very unhealthy. They eat nothing but carbs all day, no fruits, veggies, protein (well maybe a little). Cereal, pasta, bagels, pizza is about all they eat.

That was a great idea the PP posted about trying to switch milks with another student. Seems foolish to even have to do that though.

We had friends, a couple, both tiny and young. Loved red meat, didn't eat veggies, unless you count a baked potato loaded. They went to give blood, their cholesterol was through the roof.

I am the exact opposite, I am chunky, but my blood work is fantastic. Go figure. But I love all food, junk and healthy. I do eat mostly healthy, just too much of it. But I am working on it.
 
Re: the milk issue. They make these straws that have little beads that flavor the milk. My kids love all the flavors but I know they have chocolate. They are individually wrapped so you would have no problem packing them in a lunchbox.
 
Maybe it's just where I grew up but WHEN did schools start serving lunch? I grew up in the 80's and there wasn't "school lunch" until High School. K-8 you had to brown bag it. And we didn't even have a cafeteria, you ate at your desk.

I graduated high school in 2000 in the Chicago area. We had school lunches the whole time I was in school. At least 1st grade on... I can't remember about kindergarten.

This is not directed toward anyone here but I just wanted to mention that just because someone is thin does not mean they are healthy. I have one family member that is super thin but very unhealthy. They eat nothing but carbs all day, no fruits, veggies, protein (well maybe a little). Cereal, pasta, bagels, pizza is about all they eat.

Agreed. My best friend LOOKS to be in great shape. He's very slim and well muscled. However, he has high blood pressure and is pre-diabetic. Size does not always mean healthy, which is why BMI is a horrible measure at the individual level (it can be used well when discussing populations because outliers will average out over time and sample sizes).
 
I just asked DS11 some questions about the school lunch (he started a new school this year). He says they make him take everything (example part of the lunch was minestrone soup, he does chicken only, so he didn't want it) even if he throws it out, which he things is such a waste and stupid. He does have other options then the main lunch, he can get a sandwich, pizza, burger, salad and other things, but he has lunch so early he is starving when he gets home at 3:30! They have what they call a farm stand at his school (he had it last year too), where they have apples and other in season fruits, bagged carrots, and they are allowed to take items from there. He always takes it, but he says he doesn't always have time to eat the apple and they will only let you take bagged items out of the cafe. I am like, its an apple, it won't go bad, try next time to leave with it and see what happens.

He also said that one time they ran out of tater tots, and they had the entire line stand there and wait for them since they HAD to have them on their tray. DS was so poed, lol..he didn't want them, doesn't like tater tots!! Seems kinda silly wasting all that food, just so you can say the kids had it. :confused3
 
DS isn't big about the lunches at school. (elementary)

When they serve spaghetti, it is overcooked pasta and a flavorless sauce.

When they serve pizza, the whole grain crust wouldn't be a problem, but the fact it isn't completely cooked is.

The cheese quesadillas have jalapenos in them...they may give out at most 10 or so of these when they have them, because those jalapenos can be spicy for little ones! I like them, though...

The chili is not chili. It is tomato sauce with ground beef and beans...the spice was just shown over the top and not actually applied.

The veggies are usually overcooked green beans, collard greens, carrots or peas. The only one he'll eat are the peas, because mushy peas are ok, but the rest need to be crunchier for him.

He can get the 2nd option (spinach salad, sometimes a southwestern version, sometimes with chicken, or caesar) but he doesn't like salad dressings (not even ranch) and they overdress the salads to the point they are almost soupy.


So, most days he takes lunch. A fruit (apple/grapes/raisins); carrot or celery sticks; bag of chips; juice box or water bottle; a snack (cookies/jello/cupcake) and a sandwich--either ham, cheese and lettuce (no mayo) or pb&j (natural pb--only nuts--and the "all fruit" blackberry jelly) on whole grain bread. He also grabs a milk at lunch.

And he's not my super picky kid. He'll eat pork chops (but not bacon :eek:); loves sushi (not just California rolls--the only rule is no head); meatloaf and mashed potatoes are his current favorites; and the only veggies he doesn't like are asparagus, brussel sprouts and onions.
 
We had the uber "healthy" lunch plan last month and it didn't sell well.

For example- Fish taco. My kids love a fish taco- fresh fish fresh guacamole tomato salsa- mmmm served in a soft wheat tortilla.

School version of the "healthy" fish taco- Whole wheat oven fried taco shell- frozen fish sticks black beans and some low fat cheese-

So while I am sure the intention is good the execution has been weak. This month they are switching to a happy medium plan. With fresh fruit- GREAT! Fresh Veggies! GREAT! Whole grain breads - Great! Now if the main course would be less processed my kids would give it a go!
 
I think it is ridiculous to think a 17 yr old boy would be filled by 2 nuggets and 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes. That is like 2 bites for a teen. Oh and some vegetables that would be burned off in nothing flat. A teen boy needs 2500 calories plus a day, that makes for some huge snacks to make those calories up with that lunch.


If I read that correct and that high school amounts are the same as elementary that is really nuts.

The calorie counts are different in elementary (650), middle (700) and high school (850). You say a teen boy needs 2500 calories a day - so if lunch is 850 calories, they are getting 1/3 of those calories for lunch and should get the remaining for breakfast and dinner. The problem is, so many of these kids have not been taught to eat fruits and veggies so they are going hungry. Why can't these kids bring snacks with them to school to supplement.
 
Maybe it's just where I grew up but WHEN did schools start serving lunch? I grew up in the 80's and there wasn't "school lunch" until High School. K-8 you had to brown bag it. And we didn't even have a cafeteria, you ate at your desk.

The only thing you could get from the school was milk. Your mom sent you in with money every quarter and you'd get milk tickets. Every day you'd hand in a ticket and get your milk. But it was optional, you could just bring milk from home in a Thermos, or no milk at all if that's what you wanted.

The school I'll be sending LO to (if we don't move and if we don't do private) has school lunches. Last I looked on their website, I think I'll be sending her in with a brown bag like I had growing up. Even homemade PB&J has to be healthier than some of the stuff I saw on their menu. For sure it would be better tasting!

I graduated HS in 1983, they served lunch the whole time I was in school. Plus we were able to buy milk for snack time.
 
I don't ever see that happening. Too many allergies out there and like mine she has diabetes, I will say what she eats for lunch, not a school board. Low calorie and low fat isn't the answer, good fat is along with other healthy choices.

Watch out. Allergies are used as the justification for the banning of brown bag lunches. It gives the school total control over what food comes into the school. The kids who have special diet requirements are accomodated with special meals. My 9th grader has been in school for years with a kosher vegan with food allergies. :eek: He gets his own specialized meal every single day.
 
I guess I still don't get it.

If your kids don't like school lunch, pack their lunch.
If your kids aren't getting enough lunch at school, pack their lunch.
If your kids want something they can't buy at school, pack it.

850 calories is more than adequate for any one meal. I know on the DIS everyone are perfect parents, and all kids are skinny and super-active, and only eat healthy food, but in reality, a lot of kids, if given their choice, will only choose the junk. Maybe it's because that's what they prefer, maybe because it's what's "cool" to eat, maybe it's because that's all they are used to.

I'll be honest. My younger 3 kids will pick the junk if they are given their choice. If they have to choose between fries and broccoli, it will be fries. If it's greek yogurt or ice cream? The ice cream wins every time.

So, yes, I think you do need to limit kids. I will be honest. My kids will eat a bag of Doritos or a package of oreos if they are allowed.
 
I guess I still don't get it.

If your kids don't like school lunch, pack their lunch.
If your kids aren't getting enough lunch at school, pack their lunch.
If your kids want something they can't buy at school, pack it.

850 calories is more than adequate for any one meal. I know on the DIS everyone are perfect parents, and all kids are skinny and super-active, and only eat healthy food, but in reality, a lot of kids, if given their choice, will only choose the junk. Maybe it's because that's what they prefer, maybe because it's what's "cool" to eat, maybe it's because that's all they are used to.

I'll be honest. My younger 3 kids will pick the junk if they are given their choice. If they have to choose between fries and broccoli, it will be fries. If it's greek yogurt or ice cream? The ice cream wins every time.

So, yes, I think you do need to limit kids. I will be honest. My kids will eat a bag of Doritos or a package of oreos if they are allowed.

I think the bold is totally normal and common and you are right..it's why kids need limits. Plenty/most kids would eat the ice cream over yogurt or french fries over broccoli if given the choice..hence the reason I don't understand all the talk of "compromises" in regards to food choices. IMO there isn't a compromise..if you want healthy food consumed you offer healthy food. That has been my philosophy since my children have been eating "real" food.

Most kids will always choose the sweets over the veggies or the fries over the broccoli...we as the adults teaching them food options (and the school serving food) need to provide them with the best and most appropriate choices not say "well they like pizza so we should just have a lot of pizza".
 

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