elem: how many choices for "hot" lunch at your school?

DandR

I'm annoyed at our district.

A. they have FIVE choices for hot lunch for th elementary kids....yes FIVE!!!!

B. One of them is healthy (but usually a salad....my kids won't eat salads every day), the rest are the typical greasy pizza, fatty chicken nuggets, tacos, sloppy joes etc.

C. PIckles count as a veggie, apparently.

Needless to say my kids are allowed to eat one school lunch a week (but chosing from 25 choices is a 30 minute process for my kids on Sunday evenings).

Plus, it just annoys me that I have a "you get what you get" attitude at home...no choices for dinner (a couple of choices for breakfast on school mornings...like cereal or toast)....and here the district has decided they need to have something for everyone.

Carol*Brady

They get one entree choice & salad is always available.  She goes to a small private school though so not much choice.  She'll rarely eat it though--it's $4/day & I rather her eat what I pack. 

angiepangie

One. Their entire lunch is the same for everybody and the entree is usually crap.

DandR

yeah, I guess I can see having one vegetarian choice (which would also cover those who don't eat pork if the meat choice happens to be pork like corndogs or whatever) and one non-veg choice.  But 5 seems insane.  Our school is nut free so the veg choice is never peanut butter. 

Our lunches are $1.90 I think..not horrible.

But the kids do like bringing their lunches.  Last year my oldest went from a size 5t to a size 7, she doesn't seem "fat", but definately on the overweight side of things, and towards the end of the year, she was pretty sick and her blood pressure was high at several appointments.  I blame the school lunches, because at home we are fairly healthy.....so I'm really hoping this year gets better for them.

 

ali-1411

They have two entrees and a few different sides to pick from.  Its typical school lunch stuff.  DS usually brings his lunch, we'll let him get school lunch when its pizza or nachos or something else that he really likes.

clp1027

DS's school has 3 choices per day and always has PB&J available too. DS eats school lunch everyday because I've learned to pick my battles with him. He eats the PB&J most days, but he likes pizza Fridays and chicken strips too.

heyitsme

Last year? One. And it was very unappealing to me... chicken nuggets, burgers, etc. usually accompanied by Goldfish or graham crackers and a fruit cup or popsicle (!!).

Lunch in our district is EXPENSIVE, too--$3.50.

This year, they've brought in Sodexho to do lunches. Same price, but there are 4 options (ex. on the first day of school DD can pick from a turkey sub sandwich, a hamburger on whole wheat, a multigrain bagel with cream cheese, or something else I can't remember) and there is also an all-you-can-eat salad bar with fresh fruits and veggies. Entree comes with fresh fruit (which is awesome--where we live fresh fruit is ALWAYS in season, so I always hated the prepackaged fruit cups, applesauce, etc.) and a choice of juice, milk, or water.

Marcilyn0812

Carol*Brady:

They get one entree choice & salad is always available.  She goes to a small private school though so not much choice.  She'll rarely eat it though--it's $4/day & I rather her eat what I pack. 

This. (My son is going into 6th but they are PK-8)

littlemermaid

One choice per day.

ali2005jason

They usually get a choice of 2-3 "hot" entrees and then 2 regular choices per day plus 5 "side" choices.They get to pick one entree and two sides. Our lunch is $2.10.

Example from today:

Supreme Nachos

Tony's Cheese Pizza

Yogurt with bread basket (always available)

Smuckers PB&J Uncrustable (always available)

Sides:

Pintos and cheese

Fresh fruit(always available)

Chilled canned fruit (always)

Fresh veggies with Ranch (always)

neverblushed

Hmm...

5 seems like a lot to choose from!  That would make me crazy.  Lunches in our county are pretty standard lunch fare: nuggets, pizza, cheeseburger, etc.  They do offer some fairly kid-friendly veggie options like celery and carrot sticks, or sweet potato bread, occasionally.

My DD has a few school lunches that are her favorite, and I allow her to buy whenever they come up.  This usually works out to about 2 days a week, maybe less.

DS will just be packing until he gets the hang of kindergarten.  Other moms who help in the lunchroom at school have reported that the buyers line during K lunch at our school is really slow, especially at the start of the year.  Kids whose teachers bring them to the cafeteria last get about 2 minutes to eat.  My guy is a slow eater anyway, and needs to get used to the faster pace of lunch at kindergarten.  No need to pile waiting in line on top of that!

blueshirt2003

There are 3 choices a day in our school district. They are so not healthy though so we are doing a lunch box this year instead. 

RedHeadedLeo85

Wow...this is what I have to look forward to? Hmm, I remember being in school and having whatever they made that day. Ex. Meatball sub on a wheat roll, salad, fruit, and milk. If you didn't want the sub, you got peanut butter sandwiches and our meals were 1.85 a day...

SassyBookWorm

There is a rotating first choice (mini corn dogs, pizza, taco wedges, ect) and second choice (generally a ham sandwich, hot dog, or burger) OR they can choose a chef salad or "pretzel boat" daily.

We don't buy lunch because the milk choices (reg. 2%, chocolate, and strawberry) are "Gross Momma and they taste like sugar."

PS. I hate the pretzel boat.  It's a "baked" pretzel covered in salt, a tiny string cheese, and a yogurt (Trix). 

Angela814

I just checked the school's lunch menu online. There is a choice of 2 main entrees and then a veggie and fruit and milk. It actually looks like the menu is the same for middle and high school.

In my home town there is a hot lunch, a "bag lunch" (sandwich & chips), salad bar, and then food that can be purchased a la carte. That's for high school only. (I was just home visiting and looked at the school info.) Elementary school was just one choice. I can't remember if middle school had a "bag lunch" choice or just the hot lunch.

Five choices is ridiculous for elementary.