Does your school have rules about lunches?

EliseB0323

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/lunchbox-lunacy-a-back-to-school-special/2011/08/22/gIQAtpRsWJ_story.html?hpid=z5

Link is to column about school lunch rules that sound ridiculous to me. Among other things, cold pizza is considered a bad lunch, schools are banning character lunch boxes and dictating what kind of containers you can pack foods in. (Frankly, I don't see how a school can tell you what you have to pack your kid's lunch in or what you can or can't feed your child, as long as your kid's lunch is not a danger to other kids.)

As far as I know, our school district does not have lunch rules. We can send nuts, and kids with allergies have a special table. Most of the younger kids have character lunch boxes, and as far as I know, no one patrols the cafeteria checking out the nutritional content of lunches. The school lunches actually seem to be pretty balanced and nutritious, but DS will pack a lunch most days.

ghm

I don't think we have rules about lunches here.

Aside from allergies, I don't see how a school can really say what parents can/can't send. The gov't requires that you feed your child, but doesn't regulate WHAT we feed our children (thank goodness!). Yes, I think what some kids get fed on a daily basis is sad, but that's really not my business.

What is wrong with character lunch boxes? Perhaps it's to keep older kids from having inappropriate ones?  A K kid came walking out yesterday with a WWE backpack and it seemed inappropriate, but it really just made me side-eye the parent. 

EliseB0323

ghm:

I don't think we have rules about lunches here.

Aside from allergies, I don't see how a school can really say what parents can/can't send. The gov't requires that you feed your child, but doesn't regulate WHAT we feed our children (thank goodness!). Yes, I think what some kids get fed on a daily basis is sad, but that's really not my business.

What is wrong with character lunch boxes? Perhaps it's to keep older kids from having inappropriate ones?  A K kid came walking out yesterday with a WWE backpack and it seemed inappropriate, but it really just made me side-eye the parent. 

Apparently violent themed character lunchboxes are banned in some places. "Violent themed" includes super heroes, Transformers, etc.

shouldbworkin

No, not for lunches.  The only rule they have is about bday treast (can't be food, should be little trinkets/toys, but no one listens).  I don't mind that rule, partly b/c as a mom of kids with food allergies, it should make my life a little easier.  I know one school in our district has some self impossed lunch rules.  IMO, these things seem to come from parents and not necessarily the administration.  Personally, I think I can handle providing as healthy a lunch as possible for my kids and dealing with questions about why they don't have junk in their lunch like someone else.  I don't really need the school to police this for me.

AggieCouple

She sounds like a real b*tch.  A lot like the lazy people around me who label anything they don't want to do as "politically correct."  Sometimes, it's just "correct."  Just because you don't like kale doesn't make it a left-wing foodie staple.  Kale is, like, southern ghetto.

IMO, asking parents to help with encouraging conservation is not overstepping boundaries.  Yes, there are definitely the helicopter crazies and maybe I'm defensive because I may be one of them.  But com'n.  Brown paper bags?  Is it really OK, with the condition of our planet, to trash a brown paper bag per kid per school day?  And getting healthier lunches at school is a "political issue?"  Are there really parents on either end of the political spectrum who want their kids to eat greasy pizza with french fries and a couple of ice cream drumsticks everyday?  And we have to add chocolate to milk to get kids to drink it?  Can we say First World Problem?

 

ashleyaugust7

They have a rule against sending candy/dessert but otherwise no.

DandRAgain

No rules at our school..not even for allergies...they just make the allergy kids sit at their own table, which I think sucks..way to make a kid feel terrible/isolated about something out of their control!!!  I would be fighting that fight if my kids were segregated like that!!!

HOWEVER---the aides that watch the kids during lunch are AWESOME...they make sure kids eat their healthy food first.  The first day of school I sent a "treat" with each of the girls...and neither of them ate it because "we had to eat the other stuff first and we ran out of time."  The school also has a salad bar out in the cafeteria area, and kids are allowed to get up and get more veggies from there if they eat everything.  Doesn't make the "main courses" of the hot lunch healthier...but its good to know that my kids can get more carrot sticks or apple slices if they are having a hungry day.

shopgirl78

No.  They ask that the cupcakes I brought yesterday for DD's school "party" were store bought. 

I don't think that our school has the healthiest lunch options--actually, I know they don't but she is allowed to purchase her meals when she desires.  I made her lunch this AM.   She chose a PBK backpack/lunch box this year but she is one a few in the school who has one...most have characters.  I know no one personally who does Bento.  It's "super cute" but I don't have the time...

buffalo_buckeye

I don't have a kid in K yet, but the whole allergy kids sitting at their own table really irks me. I have a kid with a milk sensitivity. He does fine with all other allergens, so I could definitely send him pb&j (if the school allowed it), so why would he sit with a kid with a peanut allergy. And same with the kid with whole milk sitting next to my kid. How is this any different than sitting at another table where the kids will be around allergens?

katie277s

For lunch, we do not have any limitations.  They have tables specifically for kids with allergies (egg, peanuts, etc).  I can send him with a pb&j for lunch, but not for classroom snack time.  

Where they get picky is in the classroom.  L was only allowed to bring in fresh fruit or veggies for his snack.  Fruit cups weren't allowed because the syrup could spill and they didn't have utensils in the classroom.  Bringing in snacks for parties had to be off a specific list as well.  

As for character lunch boxes, L has a Star Wars lunchbox he picked out last year that he loves.  I would be very annoyed if they suddenly wouldn't allow that.  And cold pizza?  Personally, L's favorite lunch is when he gets a slice of cold pizza! 

superslug

The only "rule" is they can't have any carbonated drinks. I haven't heard anything about allergies so far, either.

 

ETA: R has an Angry Bird lunch box so I guess that would be considered violent, lol!

EliseB0323

AggieCouple:

She sounds like a real b*tch.  A lot like the lazy people around me who label anything they don't want to do as "politically correct."  Sometimes, it's just "correct."  Just because you don't like kale doesn't make it a left-wing foodie staple.  Kale is, like, southern ghetto.

IMO, asking parents to help with encouraging conservation is not overstepping boundaries.  Yes, there are definitely the helicopter crazies and maybe I'm defensive because I may be one of them.  But com'n.  Brown paper bags?  Is it really OK, with the condition of our planet, to trash a brown paper bag per kid per school day?  And getting healthier lunches at school is a "political issue?"  Are there really parents on either end of the political spectrum who want their kids to eat greasy pizza with french fries and a couple of ice cream drumsticks everyday?  And we have to add chocolate to milk to get kids to drink it?  Can we say First World Problem?

 

I don't think public schools (i.e. the government) have any right to tell people they can't use a brown paper bag or feed their kid pizza for lunch, for that matter. If people feel it's "right" to only use reusable bags or only feed their kids organic food, that is their option. But if they want to feed their kids cold pizza in a brown paper bag with a Transformer on it and a Sprite, I don't care. Schools should not be regulating what a child brings from home for lunch, unless the lunch could somehow hurt another kid. (Like with severe allergies.)

ghm

Plus--like what if a parent sent homemade whole wheat crust pizza with organic cheese and sauce and lots of veggies on it? Is that acceptable? What if they serve all healthy meals and one day just need to send pizza because they were too busy to cook the night before and that's what was available to send? I really don't want the schools micromanaging that stuff. 

penguingrrl

Julia's school is "nut aware." They refuse to promise to be free because things can come packaged in a plant that processes, etc. so they don't want the liability to claim being nut free, but ask that parents refrain from sending anything with nuts. That's the only restriction though.

I can understand why they are getting stricter on what people bring given the childhood obesity epidemic, but I'm not a fan of a nanny state (if it's a public school, private is free to put whatever restrictions they want). Educating people about nutrition is a positive thing, legislating what they eat is crossing a line. And I'm pretty anal about my kids getting healthy foods and balanced meals and snacks, but what other people want to do is up to them. Plus we do have pizza or chinese food as an occasional treat and if there was some leftover that Julia wanted for lunch I'd be happy to offer that.

Also, have they improved the nutritional value of school lunches? Because otherwise they're saying no junk food except our overpriced, nutritionally devoid nastiness.

EliseB0323

My favorite sandwich as a kid was lebanon bologna (kind of a cross between salami and bologna) on Wonder Bread with potato chips crushed inside the sandwich. It was awesome. The cafeteria monitors would go nuts over that now.

DandelionMom

I find that beyond ridiculous. 

The closest thing to a rule we have -- Our schools recently won some kind of "green" award and part of that is that they ask parents to try to reduce waste with lunches by using reusable or recyclable packing materials when possible. 

ETA: and if there is a nut allergy in the classroom all snacks need to be nut free (but not the lunches).