Teacher criticized my kid's lunch

[Anonymous]

My K came home and told me how her teacher told her that her lunch was "unhealthy" and that she needs to eat more fruits and veggies at lunch. She then turned to my older kid and said "I hope your lunch is healthier"

Now I will say, she is right. Lunch was a homemade PBJ, GoGurt, some crackers and a Welch's fruit snack packet. I hadn't really realized that this is, in fact, all processed food. So, the good news is that I am now aware an will be packing fruit/veggie.

But...wtf teach? Seems odd that she would say something like that to my kids.

[Anonymous]

Let it go. (Include more fruit and veg for your kids' sake.)

[Anonymous]

Planning on it, and I really like the teacher, just found it odd.

[Anonymous]

Teachers do this everywhere and it really pisses me off. They should of course teach a healthy way to eat, but stay the f away from my kids lunch box.

[Anonymous]

I don't think the lunch was that bad at all.

[Anonymous]

I give my kid PBJ every day, apple slices, and carrot sticks. It's just as easy to throw in carrot sticks as the other things. At least it wasn't a Lunchable.

[Anonymous]

This does seem pretty odd. Is it possible she was criticizing what your kid was eating from the lunch rather than what was in it? Like, don't just eat the crackers but have some sandwich? Just trying to rationalize...

It's not the perfect lunch, but who has an awesome packed lunch every single day? It's not like you gave your kid Doritos and a soda. I think that's a fairly reasonable lunch for a busy parent to pack (at least once in a while). True, it's all processed food, but are we all supposed to be making our kids gourmet lunches from scratch?

Maybe they are doing a unit on veggies and fruit or something, and your kid interpreted something to be the teacher saying this to her and criticizing her lunch? Just a thought. Seems like a weird thing to say to a kid who probably isn't making the lunch herself anyway.

[Anonymous]

That's an awful lunch! You really didn't know all was processed food and didn't notice there were no fruits or veggies? Still not the teacher's business but wow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This does seem pretty odd. Is it possible she was criticizing what your kid was eating from the lunch rather than what was in it? Like, don't just eat the crackers but have some sandwich? Just trying to rationalize...

It's not the perfect lunch, but who has an awesome packed lunch every single day? It's not like you gave your kid Doritos and a soda. I think that's a fairly reasonable lunch for a busy parent to pack (at least once in a while). True, it's all processed food, but are we all supposed to be making our kids gourmet lunches from scratch?

Maybe they are doing a unit on veggies and fruit or something, and your kid interpreted something to be the teacher saying this to her and criticizing her lunch? Just a thought. Seems like a weird thing to say to a kid who probably isn't making the lunch herself anyway.

Thanks PP. This made me feel better.

She is in K so lord only knows what was said vs what was interpreted, but when the older kid said the teacher said something to her too, that was when I found it odd.

[Anonymous]

Huh. That lunch really doesn't seem so bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's an awful lunch! You really didn't know all was processed food and didn't notice there were no fruits or veggies? Still not the teacher's business but wow.

Honestly, not really.

I thought sandwich - check. Dairy - check. "Dessert" (fruit snacks) - check. Milk - check. I will sometimes rotate a clementine or strawberries in or the crackers/pretzels but more times than not I don't. So really, I didn't think this was a bad lunch.

[Anonymous]

I have a super-picky eater with food allergies. His lunch is about getting calories in him to get him through the day. It is mostly cracker-based. I'd be really annoyed if a teacher said something to me!

[Anonymous]

I'm a teacher and I'm honestly appalled at how little "real food" gets packed in lunchboxes these days. Everything is prepacked and thrown in for convenience. And people wonder why their kids need to be on miralax or has a hard time concentrating in school.

However...I would never ever say it to the child or their parent.

I do think it's good that you acknowledge and are willing to change, that's not easy to do, so...virtual high five to you OP.

[Anonymous]

Are gogurts considered processed? It's yogurt, just in a tube...

[Anonymous]

K is learning about healthy foods in quarter 3. As with everything we teach, things are not black and white, so it can be difficult to teach some of these nuisances to 5 year olds. I am not defending the teacher, if she really did criticize the lunch, but is it possible that this was a miscommunication/misunderstanding? I can see something g like flowing playing out:
Teacher: fresh fruits are healthy.
Kid: what about fruit snacks?
Teacher: those are ok, but fresh fruit is healthier.
Kid: I have strawberry jelly, that's a fruit
Teacher: yes, but there is a lot of sugar added. Fresh strawberries are a healthier choice.

See what I mean? Our curriculum mandates that we teach these topics but there is a lot of grey area with some things.
On behalf of the teacher, who I am sure you are not planning to bring this up to, I'm sorry if your child was made to feel judged or slighted. I am sure it was unintentional.