Engayne food policy
Contact the author of the petition
I don't agree with the schools decision to dictate what we as parents can put in our own children's lunch boxes. It seems to me that we are being encouraged to give them more school dinners consisting of pizza, chips, burgers and cakes etc...but aren't allowed to choose what we put in our childs lunch. My daughter's have packed lunch on many occasions as they don't always like the school menu. I personally don't like being told what is best for my children and will carry on giving them exactly what I want and that food had better not be taken off of them.
2. Most of us already make balanced lunch boxes with the odd treat.
3. Demonising sweets and crisps makes them "forbidden" and children crave them even more. We need to be teaching our children that sweets and crisps are OK in moderation.
4. Growing children need a good lunch so I will decide how much food they get to eat and what portion size is appropriate.
Re:
I am with poster no 8. They recommend rice. Since this is a packed lunch policy they must mean cold rice. Rice that by lunchtime will have been unrefridgerated for around 3.5 hours. Clearly the authors have never heard of Bacillus cereus. This bacteria creates toxins that can cause serious food poisoning. The toxin, once created, cannot be destroyed by reheating.
Maybe unqualified School Governers, Teachers and the few parents who have apparently authored this, should stay out of subjects they clearly have insufficient knowledge to advise on, let alone set rules about!
Donna Campbell
I'm not being told what my children can and can't eat at school,I send both my children in with a healthy enough pack lunch, I no they will eat most of it which make me happy rather them not eating nothing, My kids have a very good diet.
This comment has been removed by the person who wrote it.
I agree with all of the above posters. I am constantly shocked by the councils apparently ' healthiest ever menu' which is made almost entirely of food that our children only get as a treat.
The school seems to say that it is against sweets and cakes, amongst other things, and yet I am regularly asked for extra money for cake sales, and the teachers running around the playground selling biscuits and cakes. A bit hypocritical.
I therefore assume that the motive is entirely financial. Make dinners more attractive than packed lunch so that the kids prefer it? Not good enough.
I reserve the right as a parent to provide my child with a healthy and balanced diet of my choosing. None of my children are unhealthy or obese (or anywhere near it) and I would hope that if there were concerns, I would be approached individually and respectfully by the school nurse. This set of rules is inappropriate and interfering for the vast majority of families, as well as extremely inconsistent with the school dinner menu. I agree that some families may need advice - as mentioned in a previous comment, that can be seen clearly when accompanying classes on a school trip, although surely the expectations should also be applied to staff, particularly when they are eating with the children? I hardly think drinking a bottle of coke is setting a good example, but it happened last week.
Just looking at the school menu - pizza, cake, cookies... Surely there's more sugar/fat in those than in the odd KitKat or Penguin (even if they are hand-made & organic)
Re:
I can tell you exactly how much sugar there is. For sugar read Carbohydrate. Homemade Toffee cookie (school dinner) 37.2g Kitkat 2 finger (packed lunch) 13g! Or Homemade mandarin sponge & custard (sd) 43.7g Bag of crisps (pl) 13-15g Which would you rather your child ate?
I believe in healthy balanced diets, my son is year 6, but feel it important to comment and sign for students of the school I have always loved. A healthy balanced diet includes fat and salt aswell as protein and fibre. Through heath conditions some children require salt and sugar in their diet. I believe the right sort of nuts are a healthy snack, yoghurt etc and there are healthier crisps these days too. Really white bread is not healthy due to the high starch etc. I also agree that the school dinner options are not very healthy. The guidelines are set however different schools have different rules within this. I hope the teachers will be having lunchboxes to adhere to the rules!
I'm signing this for several reasons but mainly because it's hypocritical that dinners can have cakes, biscuits etc but not packed lunches and as a well educated parent I am fully aware what a healthy packed lunch is.
If my child could also be guaranteed their choice of food at lunchtime then life would be easier and i wouldnt have to provide a packed lunch but when their choice of food is vegetarian and is replaced with a meat dish!!!!!!!! Not ideal.
Children should be taught that some foods should be eaten in moderation and a blanket ban is not appropriate. Young children should not be saying "I can't eat that it's bad".
I'm really unhappy about this policy . Poppy has a sandwich yogurt fruit breadsticks and raisins . Today I was told by my daughter to put something different in her lunch bag . Getting really cross about it now . Silly rules
| This discussion has been closed. |