How do parents feel about the measures to make school dinners more healthy?

Question

I am of the view that any changes made to improve the health of our children (and therefore our future nation) are positive and should be embarked upon at any cost.
I reacted with total shock when I read a news article today about 2 mothers at a british school who are taking orders over the school fence for burgers and fish and chips, and then delivering them to kids in school. Apparently this is a protest at the new healthier menu.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18092006/344/bu...
I have given my 4 children packed lunches for years to try and encourage healthier eating, prior to the school dinner improvements.
I hadn't ever considered that some parents would hold another view.
I think they're bonkers, and infringing upon the rights of other parents to feed their children healthily. Their only right is to choose the diet of their own children.
What do you think?
I'd like to find out and then email the results to the school suffering the protest.

For psstthok.
Are you a parent? I'm interested to know.
Firstly, children are 'locked' within their schools until they reach 6th form. This is common practice and for the safety of children. When we send our children to school we want to know where they are.
Secondly, the lunch timetable was altered, but after looking further, it appears that it wasn't shortened. Thus, the kids had the same amount of time as before to collect and eat their lunch.
And last but not least, even if the parents had felt that their children 'were starving' as you suggested, they only have to right to provide junk food to their own children.
If they were that worried perhaps they should have gotten off their backsides (or out of their beds) and prepared a packed school lunch before their children went to school.
Sorry, but the carpool theory doesn't work on this one. They were providing food for several other children and not just to each others children.
Nevertheless, thankyou for your answer.

Answer 1

What they did was wrong on many levels

1) Undermining their children's health

2)Undermining other people children's health

3)Undermining the school ( these same parents will blame schools for not doing enough if their children become delinquent
_
4)If as has been suggested they are taking money from other peoples children for food then they are operating as a food supplier ( profit or not makes no difference) then they are subject to health and safety and hygiene laws which clearly they are breaking and could and should be prosecuted

and finally

If they have time to go to the school take orders go to the takeaway and deliver it back they have time to make a decent packed lunch and give it to their own kids.

They are lazy ignorant and frankly criminally negligent.

Answer 2

I have 2 children in grade school 8 & 10. I try to pack thier lunches because, I really do not like the school lunches. I do let them buy thier lunch if there is something they really like or if they prefer a hot meal. They are not allowed to heat anything in the cafertiria. I would be totally P'D off if I found out that some one was selling my child lunch like those 2 mothers. What right do they have to do such a thing. I belong to the PTA, and have since my youngest started school, many parents have tried to get the school system to change to healthier lunches. We live in CA and the school boards here consider a well balance healthy meal, any thing that consistes of the 4 major food groups. They have gotten better since my oldest started school, but I doubt very much that they will ever be as healthy as what I would feed them at home. But above all else I would hate to think that a stranger was selling my child food, over a fence that I knew nothing about. I would think that this would be against the law.

Answer 3

Your link is broken, but let me have a go anyway:
1.There have been huge campaigns to improve eating habits in the UK for a few years esp in schools.
2. Believe it or not, when they want to scare us about the obesity problem they come out with really trite rubish like "Are we the New Americans" (some, not all).
3. School meals are normally subsidied, if not fully funded, but it's not compulsory for the kids to eat them.
4. Approximately 50% of kids eat the school stuff, the rest go out into the town and buy junk (chips,burgers,coke,chocolate - heart attack material)

Now:
The horror-school you saw
a)forbade the kids to leave the school at lunchtime (locked the gates) the school food was then the kids' only option
b)changed the daily timetable in such a way that on certain days some of the kids didn't have enough time to get from class A, queue for food, eat it, and then be in class B in time). They skipped a lot of meals

Those Mothers were faced with the choice of letting their children starve at school, or giving them what they could through the bars of the school, like feeding animals in the zoo.

The parents should've spoken to the school, you may say? Sure, could've taken months to get those people around a table.
Expedition Technique? Lets get shots of this dreadful situation on every major TV news channel during Prime Time.

Now they're around the table.

THE MOTHERS WERE HEROINES.

(welcome to democracy by cable and satellite)

Answer 4

Hi, it`s madness isn`t it! Parents think they are doing the right thing by feeding their children food that is over processed and over priced, due to having some cartoon etc character on it. Real food is cheaper, more filling and so much better for anyone, but why not give our children the best food to help them grow strong etc. My children are learning this, and they still have the odd packet of crisps etc, but now we bake our own cakes etc and eat a lot of fruit, much cheaper to the people complaining about price!

Their school is now not allowing any children to leave at lunch time, and vending machines only have dried fruit, nuts and similar. There are chips still, but only on some days and with a meal....how can this be wrong ? Some parents are just ignorant!

Answer 5

its a great idea! i left school about 5 years ago, and the state of school dinners are discraseful! not only are there a lack of healthy options, there is also a lack of meat free options. as i was a vegitarian until the age of 18, i found it very hard to find food that i could eat....my choice was between fish and chips or a chip roll.

although healthier food may be hard to enforce on some children, if they do not like it they can bring their own lunch or buy something from a local shop. all children shouldnt have bad health or go hungry because of those who have a poor diet!

there are so many kids out their who eat complete and utter rubbish...when i was young my mum would let me have 1 chocolate bar a week, and would give me an apple to eat at break-time at school. she would buy a bottle of fizzy juice about 1ce a month, and when it was gone it was gone. she is against microwave meals....there are alot of healthy meals that are quick to cook for busy parents....tuna pasta takes 15 mins, reheating homemade soup about 10 mins ect.


AAAAAARG im enraged now.....how can people let their kids eat such rubbish?

Answer 6

It is a good idea that children are given the choice for healthy options and this should be encouraged. My only concern is that it is now becoming mandatory with headteachers banning crisps etc from lunchboxes. People dont like to be dictated to and we are fast becoming a nanny state. If you tolerate what is being done on such an issue as school meals then what will be next. The whole key to leading a healthy lifestyle is through education and allowing children to make an educated CHOICE. You can eat burgers and chips and be healthy it is all in the balance of living a healthy lifestyle. next they will be banning tv's and playstations and only allowing excercise for fun.

Answer 7

Most of us parents want healthier foods in our school
When children are small it's so much easier to control their junk food but when they are older it's so much more difficult even though children are getting educated about the importance of eating a balanced diet it's difficult as they are surrounded and bombarded with junk and process foods plus a lot of parents have been brought up themselves on convenience and processed foods and haven't really cooked from scratch
This is something that needs encouragement ,education and support without making parents feel lectured

Answer 8

There are bigger issues here. My son's school have embarked upon this lock down at lunch time routine too. Fine if they truly want to stop the kids just buying chips but the reality is they wanted to force them to buy school dinners. It has backfired and the schools are losing out because these kids take lunch boxes instead and many who did have school dinners have now stopped. Most kids say the new healthy food is inedible. Also If it is all about health then why is it that at my son's school those who buy school dinners get to use the dining hall. Those who take lunch boxes have no allocated place and all classrooms are taped off, the dining room is not big enough now all the kids are in school for lunch. My son takes a healthy lunchbox every day but has to sit outside on cold steps or wander around the school yard with his friends eating their lunch. Those who stay dinners have to wait in long queues and this takes up most of the 30 mins lunch break so they have to eat too quickly or leave it. Not healthy at all I say.

Answer 9

My step mom worked for the school all her life. And they always had to follow the government recipes. Some of these things are given to the goverment to pay taxes or fines. The government uses them. Our lunches at school during grade and Jr high were always well balanced. In high school you could choose lunch or salad or junk foods. I think this led to some people over eating.

I am more worried about the candy and soda machines in the schools now. The schools are advocating eating and drinking garbage between meals. This I do not like. They say they will make changes, but just not when.

Answer 10

I think you are right. This was just a protest. And a very silly one! Did these mothers think they are going to be 'cool mum dudes'? Probably they are mums who had their kids when they were 14, 15 or 16 years old so obviously they never even matured enough to have kids. This is a very teenage-like reaction to an issue that perhaps wasn't the best of ideas and they are showing a type of behaviour to their kids that they can protest or rebel against everything. This will however only slap these women in the face later on in the coming years when these kids start to think on their own and they will protest against everything that their mothers say or want them to do. Perhaps these women should go back to school themselves and be put on strict regimes of education on health issues, parenting, decency, social skills and maybe some literacy skills.