What has happened to kids school lunches?

[DodgerGirl]

When I was a little girl I rarely ate school lunches and when I would see my classmates eat their school lunches I was shocked at how little they gave kids and I don't know why kids school lunches went downhill? Another thing that my school used to do was serve hot packs and cold packs and when I would get my school lunch menus I never understood why they had foods like spaghetti and sloppy joes and on Fridays at my school they always had cheese pizza and I was forced to eat it because my mother always sent lunch money for me to get school lunch but I never ate all of it and I couldn't figure out why schools did this to school lunches when I was a little girl? My mother then noticed the terrible school lunches and then started to get me Burger King lunches and it made me feel special. It used to be that in preschools and kindergarten they would have snacktime and then in elementary schools they would have cafeterias that kids could actually choose what food they liked. But I have never figured out why hot packs and cold packs started becoming popular in schools. And they should make school lunches with foods that kids will actually like and eat today and that would make school lunches better

 

[barkley]

all the stuff was made from scratch on site when i went to elementary-pizza was served MAYBE once every few months. servings were appropriate to average kid appetite and similar to what a dinner meal (or leftovers from) would be.

jr. high we had options to choose from (a handful) or the set menu like elementary. they also sold breakfast items in the a.m. and at morning break.

high school had allot more choices including a modest salad bar. cafeteria began selling breakfast foods around 7:30 a.m. (first bell was around 7:50) and sold all day until around 4 p.m. (for afterschool activity participants). breakfast foods until about 3rd period then it flipped to the lunch menu through 5th period, snack items 6-7th period and after school.


my kids went to very small public high school-no choices, set menu but they did'nt complain much b/c their only prior school cafeteria experience had been at their former private school which only offered vegetarian items.

 

[DodgerGirl]

I have also never figured out why schools added breakfast to the lunch menu and what I see is why kids need to eat breakfast at school when they already have breakfast before they go to school at home? When my mom was a little girl one of her aunts worked in the cafeteria at her school and she always gave my mom a good lunch and she always gave my mom extra dessert with her lunch and Mom loved it. But when I was a kid I ate school lunches occasionally if they had something I actually liked and my school lunches were food like hamburgers and chicken tenders and spaghetti but it wasn't until they added foods like pizza pockets and egg rolls and other foods that I stopped buying school lunches and the cold packs were usually fruit and the occasional brownie but even cold packs were not worthy of eating too. But when my mother would sometimes bring me ramen noodles in my thermos my teacher would share it with me and everyone would envy me if I brought soup in my school lunch

 

[Beezle2]

Assuming kids have "already had breakfast before they go to school" is an interesting take. Schools have breakfast because a lot of kids DON'T get breakfast before they go to school. When I was a kid (back in the way back) school lunch was some of the best food I ate. We lived in both the South and in Detroit at different times and there were actual cooks and real food. Today school lunch seems like swill. All prepackaged crap cooked offsite and as cheap as possible. Just one way we do not value our kids.

 

[mousefan73]

OP are you a troll? Odd comments... IMO... 1. poor school lunch so mom gets Burger King?? 2. Why now breakfast?? 3. Portion sizes too smalll ( we all know kids eat too much) 4. fruit / brownie cold packs are odd?

 

[daisy2013]

Has anyone ever looked at the federal reimbursement rate for school lunches? For a student who qualifies for a free lunch in the lower 48 the reimbursement is $3.93. For a nonfree or reduced lunch its $0.37. That has not significantly increased in the past decade with free lunches in 2013 being reimbursed at $3.10 and paid at $0.36.
Schools have to provide a meal that conforms to the federal school lunch program guidelines which have become stricter over the years (anyone remember when it was proposed that ketchup could be considered a vegetable).
But don't worry, there has been talk by one political party to do away with the school lunch program.

 

[CdnCarrie]

We don’t have school lunches here in my province. Maybe a private school does?
High school has a canteen where you can buy burgers and fries. They take debit and cash lol.

Always packed my lunch.

 

[kymom99]

When I was in school in the 70s, in a very small private school, we were not allowed to pack our lunch. That was because they needed everyone to buy so they could stay afloat. The food was awful some years depending on who the manager was. One lady made rubbery hot dogs, sauerkraut, and instant mashed potatoes regularly. It was terrible. What kid eats that? In high school our lunch lady was a good cook. We had a hot entree with sides and a salad bar where we could also get tuna, etc. She made home made yeast rolls and desserts.

I work in public schools. The kids around here get lots of choices but they don’t often pick the healthy offerings. There is actually a lunchable as a choice now.

 

[RoseGold]

I toured a private school that had a chef and a dietician and I was amazed. Maybe that is more to your standards?

 

[Pink Partridge]

When I was in school (late 70's to '89) I LOVED the school lunches. We had actual lunch ladies that cooked from scratch.
Fridays were the best! We never had meat on Fridays, so it was always a fish meal or pizza. And we would have the most delicious mac and cheese (again-homemade) with stewed tomatoes.

Veal cutlet was usually on Tuesdays. Another favorite was "ham patty on a roll".

Not homemade was the fruit cocktail or pears in syrup. But they were so good, even from a can. Then once a month, we would have Make Your Own Sundae Day. All the toppings Moms would even come to help on that day. It was wild.

I have very fond memories of school lunch.

Edited to add: I went to a poor, public school. But we really did eat well.

 

[Moliphino]

I kind of miss the pizza sticks we got in high school.

 

[nw6675]

I can still smell what the halls and cafeterias smelled like. Paste, fruit cocktail, old milk, Fritos, and sweat.

I bet you smell it now, too.

 

[ronandannette]

We don’t have school lunches here in my province. Maybe a private school does?
High school has a canteen where you can buy burgers and fries. They take debit and cash lol.

Always packed my lunch.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-school-food-programs-rising-costs/#:~:text=Among G7 countries, Canada is,build a school food policy.
No Canadian province has a school lunch program like the ones being discussed here and we never have. That may change, but it is not currently the case, although as you say, some private schools may be doing their own thing. Many, many schools also have cobbled together public/private collaborations to feed needy students.

If the federal initiatives ever get off the ground, the vast majority of schools don’t even have the facilities for it, so implementing a food program (which would be in the interest of feeding students living in food insecurity, not just the convenience of not having to pack lunch) would by necessity involve bringing in pre-made meals from outside contractors. I guess that could go OK, but gourmet fare, it won’t be.

My (large) company works with a charity called Brown Bagging 4 Calgary Kids. We donate about 1,000 lunches a month, which involves making and assembling the meals to extremely exact dietary and hygiene standards. Typical cold lunch of sandwich, fruit, veggies and healthy treats. There are choices to accommodate various dietary restrictions but no choice in the basic meal format. The charity reports that over 13,000 of these bags are given out, city-wide, each month. The cost of the ingredients (purchased at retail prices at Costco) was about $650.00 for 250 meals, the last time I took a rotation at doing it. This does not account for any labour, which of course is entirely volunteered.

 

[tzolkin]

I have also never figured out why schools added breakfast to the lunch menu and what I see is why kids need to eat breakfast at school when they already have breakfast before they go to school at home?

Some kids do not have food at home, so the only meals they are eating are at school. This is why many poor/rural areas (in the US) offer free breakfast. It's also why there are programs for getting meals to kids at home during school breaks (and some places even send home food for the weekend)-- because otherwise the kids may not eat.

 

[ronandannette]

Some kids do not have food at home, so the only meals they are eating are at school. This is why many poor/rural areas (in the US) offer free breakfast. It's also why there are programs for getting meals to kids at home during school breaks (and some places even send home food for the weekend)-- because otherwise the kids may not eat.

Yes! During Covid when the schools were shut down, the charity lunch programs kept going and distributed lunches daily outside the schools. There were often 30 minute line-ups. The need never stops.

 

[CdnCarrie]

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-school-food-programs-rising-costs/#:~:text=Among G7 countries, Canada is,build a school food policy.
No Canadian province has a school lunch program like the ones being discussed here and we never have. That may change, but it is not currently the case, although as you say, some private schools may be doing their own thing. Many, many schools also have cobbled together public/private collaborations to feed needy students.

If the federal initiatives ever get off the ground, the vast majority of schools don’t even have the facilities for it, so implementing a food program (which would be in the interest of feeding students living in food insecurity, not just the convenience of not having to pack lunch) would by necessity involve bringing in pre-made meals from outside contractors. I guess that could go OK, but gourmet fare, it won’t be.

My (large) company works with a charity called Brown Bagging 4 Calgary Kids. We donate about 1,000 lunches a month, which involves making and assembling the meals to extremely exact dietary and hygiene standards. Typical cold lunch of sandwich, fruit, veggies and healthy treats. There are choices to accommodate various dietary restrictions but no choice in the basic meal format. The charity reports that over 13,000 of these bags are given out, city-wide, each month. The cost of the ingredients (purchased at retail prices at Costco) was about $650.00 for 250 meals, the last time I took a rotation at doing it. This does not account for any labour, which of course is entirely volunteered.

Yes there are some free breakfast programs in the lower income areas.

 

[GAN]

OP are you a troll? Odd comments... IMO... 1. poor school lunch so mom gets Burger King?? 2. Why now breakfast?? 3. Portion sizes too smalll ( we all know kids eat too much) 4. fruit / brownie cold packs are odd?

They aren't a troll......

 

[mjkacmom]

My elementary school didn’t have a cafeteria (they still don’t), 100 year old building, tables came down from the gym walls (still do). We had cold box lunches we could order, basically sandwiches. Most kids walked home for lunch (they still can). Middle school cafeteria was horrible with bad food. HS had very limited options, most went out, not enough room in the cafeteria for most. I think there are better options now, but only the middle school students have a closed lunch. Even 5th and 6th graders will go out for lunch (5 elementary schools, all have walkable options). I’ve fond school food services have improved tremendously. At no time were parents ever allowed to bring in special lunches for kids, you could drop off a bag if they forgot it, but don’t encourage that.

 

[mjkacmom]

Yes! During Covid when the schools were shut down, the charity lunch programs kept going and distributed lunches daily outside the schools. There were often 30 minute line-ups. The need never stops.

Our state required schools to hand out free lunches when the schools were closed 1 1/2 years.

 

[Sacahara]

When I was a little girl I rarely ate school lunches and when I would see my classmates eat their school lunches I was shocked at how little they gave kids and I don't know why kids school lunches went downhill? Another thing that my school used to do was serve hot packs and cold packs and when I would get my school lunch menus I never understood why they had foods like spaghetti and sloppy joes and on Fridays at my school they always had cheese pizza and I was forced to eat it because my mother always sent lunch money for me to get school lunch but I never ate all of it and I couldn't figure out why schools did this to school lunches when I was a little girl? My mother then noticed the terrible school lunches and then started to get me Burger King lunches and it made me feel special. It used to be that in preschools and kindergarten they would have snacktime and then in elementary schools they would have cafeterias that kids could actually choose what food they liked. But I have never figured out why hot packs and cold packs started becoming popular in schools. And they should make school lunches with foods that kids will actually like and eat today and that would make school lunches better

I have also never figured out why schools added breakfast to the lunch menu and what I see is why kids need to eat breakfast at school when they already have breakfast before they go to school at home? When my mom was a little girl one of her aunts worked in the cafeteria at her school and she always gave my mom a good lunch and she always gave my mom extra dessert with her lunch and Mom loved it. But when I was a kid I ate school lunches occasionally if they had something I actually liked and my school lunches were food like hamburgers and chicken tenders and spaghetti but it wasn't until they added foods like pizza pockets and egg rolls and other foods that I stopped buying school lunches and the cold packs were usually fruit and the occasional brownie but even cold packs were not worthy of eating too. But when my mother would sometimes bring me ramen noodles in my thermos my teacher would share it with me and everyone would envy me if I brought soup in my school lunch

I never ate breakfast (still don't, it makes me sick when I eat before 10) and never ate lunch at school because I didn't like what they were serving either but if my school had had breakfast foods at lunch, I probably would've eaten then.
And, honestly, your mom being shown that level of favoritism would have ticked me off as a kid and would've probably led to your aunt getting removed from the line and only working in the back at my school (if not fired) because that extra dessert? My school only made enough to cover the known paying kids, they didn't do extras and when it ran out, it was out. Sooo....what poor kid did her aunt steal from to give it to your mom?

I agree with another poster, you sound like you're trolling. The only way any kid was envious over a brought lunch is if it was something good and Ramen and soup ain't cutting it That's my 'I don't get paid for another week' meal!