School lunches have been a hot topic lately. Everyone from Michelle Obama to Jamie Oliver has been calling out the often horrible stuff served to schoolkids under the guise of a healthy lunch and trying to help schools make better lunchtime choices.
That leaves health-conscious parents, not to mention budget-conscious ones, with a dilemma: Let your child buy the school lunch or have them bring it and set yourself up for the hassle of packing lunch daily.
It's a tougher decision than you might think.
Here are some of the offerings at my daughter's school this week (and based on a quick look at school lunch menus in other districts, this is pretty typical):
- Popcorn chicken, potato "starz," corn, diced peaches
- Mexican nachos (with that orange cheese-like sauce, no less), lettuce, mixed fruit
- "Bosco sticks" (soft breadsticks with cheese and sometimes pepperoni stuffed inside), marinara sauce, fresh orange.
Not what I'd choose to feed her, to say the least. But she rarely gets food like this outside of school, and she really likes the school lunch sometimes. What to do? Here are some of the pros and cons you might face when deciding what to do for your child's lunch.
School lunch pros:
Portion sizes are appropriate
Good variety of food
Less headache for parents in shopping, cooking, etc.
Food is served at proper temperatures
It's actually less expensive (at many schools) than buying and packing food
There's always one vegetable serving and one fruit serving; not always true of home lunches
School lunch cons:
Holy processed horror! What are "potato starz" anyway?
Concerns about the nutritional value of lunches
Don't want child to develop a preference for processed food
Not much adventurousness in flavors, types of cuisine, etc.
Packing lunch pros:
Control over the preparation and variety of food offered, fruit is always fresh, not canned, vegetables are not salted, etc.
Can meet child's specific food preferences, within reason
Can send lunch notes
Can choose organic, natural food
If the whole lunch isn't eaten, child can have leftover veggies or fruit as snack on way home
Can use leftovers from previous night's dinner
Packing lunch cons:
Boredom with the same old thing
Food safety -- not always easy to keep things fresh
Peer pressure: Yes, kids can and will pick on each other for bringing an "uncool" lunch
Trading -- that apple might just be getting swapped for Rockin' Razzleberry Artificial Flavor Snacks
More expensive, especially when food isn't eaten
Hassle for already-busy parents
The horror of discovering on Monday that no one remembered to take the lunchbox out of the backpack on Friday
We do what I suspect many parents do: pack lunch most days, but let her buy lunch on pizza day or if there's something on the menu she really likes. That way, we get the best of both worlds -- knowing she's got a healthy lunch most days, while allowing her a little fun with what she eats.
Do you pack your child's lunch, let them buy, or a little of both? How did you decide?
Image via DC Central Kitchen/Flickr
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Comments 59
My daughter started this year and I've really enjoyed packing her lunches. I do allow her to eat breakfast at school every day though, because she's never really in the mood to eat anything as soon as she gets up. Their breakfastes are usually cereal, yogurt, fruit and juice/milk. Cant argue with that really, but the lunches leave a LOT to be desired! I dont think I'll ever be paying full price for that...
I would say that you pack lunch Monday - Thursday and let Friday be the school lunch day :) Or let Monday be school lunch day and Pack lunch Tues-Fri. Makes it interesting and breaks up the same thing all the time issue.
I let her pick one day a week if she wants it. So far she only wants lunch from their menu 2 times this month. Thats fine with me, we eat mostly organic & like knowing she is eating what I give her but it's ok to splurge once in a while with the crap school lunches. :)
My daughter usually picks a day of the week to buy lunch and packs her lunch the rest of the time.
It's not rocket science, so as long as you have some healthy basics at home, the kids can pack their own lunches. Mine's been doing it since 1st grade. I provide the food and clean containers and she packs it. Teaches her to be responsible and how to pick out healthy options.
I used to be a cafeteria worker at a high school. We served the same stuff every other school in our county was serving, preschool on up. I'm telling you, pack your kids' lunch. Sometimes, the vegetable serving is french fries and the fruit serving is an ice pop. And we did not always serve food at the correct temperatures, as it is quite difficult to keep certain things at 140 or above for two and a half hours. Then again, your local buffet has the same problem. You are much better off packing their lunch. Use a thermos for the hot things. Think beyond soup. Spaghetti, Red Beans & Rice, a burrito all work fine in a thermos. And two ice packs work pretty well to keep everything else cold. When my kids go to school, we will let them pick once a week if they want from the lunch menu. All of the other days, they will be bringing their lunch bags.
Here is what finally brought me to this decision: I counted the calories of what we served for breakfast and lunch one day. It was over 1700 calories.
We pack! Don't be fooled by the school lunch menu. In my DD's elementary school, they don't offer the veggies - they make the kids ask for them! I guess this is a cost cutting measure, but what happens? You guessed it - a cafeteria full of kids with chicken nuggets a "bread stick" and milk. No fruit, no veggies on ANY plates!
I think a little variety is fine. As long as they eat properly at home, a little of this won't hurt. I worked in a public school my whole adult life and if you think your kids eat what you pack them, think again. Be grateful they eat anything at all. What they waste is a crime. I've seen kids dump their whole lunch tray or lunch bag in the trash after only eating a few bites. Most of the kids want to get outside and they'll throw their whole lunch away if they can go play. Be grateful if they drink their milk and eat a few bites of something.