DD's friend said her food stinks

[Anonymous]

Cooked broccoli smells. Do raw veggies, maybe with yogurt or other dips.

[Anonymous]

Omg OP. Food stinks all the time. I just replaced kids lunchbox because the stink was cumulative. Just from sandwiches, Mac n cheese. And broccoli stinks when sitting in a container. It's no big deal. Maybe stop packing broccoli and buy new lunch bag

[Anonymous]

Why don’t you just pack her American food? Don’t be like that coworker who microwaves fish because it’s their right to do so. Yes it is but use some common sense. Is it really worth your daughter getting harassed?

[Anonymous]

My DD took flak for her Indian food lunch in 5th grade. Do not send Indian food for lunch unless it’s something like paratha or egg rolls or things that don’t have any spice smell. It’s annoying and sad, but it is what it is.

[Anonymous]

Ethnic food is typical food. Suggesting that the Mom pack food that is more typical to Americans and not food that is typical to Indians is not necessary.

OP: I would encourage you to role play some responses for your daughter. Something like "It smells fine. You might think it smells different but this is what my family eats." or "Smells and tastes great to me" or "Why would you say that? That is rude."

If she is comfortable she can say that your family eats food that uses different spices then many people use in the US. You think it tastes great and that the food Americans eat smell strange to people in India.

Unfortunately, she is not alone. Kids from different cultures here this. My friends from Singapore have had this issue and you can read about similar cases online pretty easily.

[Anonymous]

I'm pretty sure it was the steamed broccoli that smelled bad and not the Indian food. You can try cooking it a little less, using some vinegar, or roasting. Some people really hate the smell of steamed broccoli, especially if they are not used to it.

[Anonymous]

I think it’s worth mentioning this to the teacher. I am a teacher. You can try to not bring broccoli but skipping your ethnic food because it smells different is not okay. The kids who are saying it smells are being insensitive and frankly culturally ignorant (which is perfectly age appropriate) but this is a great learning opportunity for the class. They could do a unit in family traditions including foods and maybe even dress, then they can discuss how to act when something is different and how saying “gross” might make others feel.

[Anonymous]

Steamed broccoli in a packed lunch would smell horribly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s worth mentioning this to the teacher. I am a teacher. You can try to not bring broccoli but skipping your ethnic food because it smells different is not okay. The kids who are saying it smells are being insensitive and frankly culturally ignorant (which is perfectly age appropriate) but this is a great learning opportunity for the class. They could do a unit in family traditions including foods and maybe even dress, then they can discuss how to act when something is different and how saying “gross” might make others feel.

different is ok but bad isn’t. It’s called being considerate. If your coworker brings fish everyday to lunch room would you be really okay?

[Anonymous]

So troubling to read these responses. This is the plot of SO MANY picture books. I thought kids knew better now that there are lots of foods in our American society (shame on the PP who said your daughter should bring American food).

[Anonymous]

I acknowledged that broccoli is bad but sounds like it’s happened more than once. To some kids different may seem bad and it really isn’t a bad smell. I still think there is a lesson here and that other cultures don’t need to conform just to fit in. That is an old theory. Now we celebrate the multicultural communities we are in.

[Anonymous]

I love broccoli but yeah steamed broccoli doesn’t smell great when you open the container.

[Anonymous]

Your daughter should be able to eat lunch without it being disrespected, but kids being kids, you need to figure out how to handle the situation. You can change the food or change the discussion about the food.

While PPs have certainly given you mature and well reasoned talking points, a less mature but possibly more effective approach might be for her to blame you. Food may vary by culture, but as far as I know kids sometimes feeling their parents are unreasonable is universal. As a general policy, we told our kids if they felt they were being pressured to do something, they could always use us as an excuse (“My mom would never let me”, etc). In this case, she might try sighing and saying something along the lines of “Parents! They say I’ve got to eat “NUTRITIONAL” food.”. She could throw in some air quotes and/or eye rolls for good measure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So troubling to read these responses. This is the plot of SO MANY picture books. I thought kids knew better now that there are lots of foods in our American society (shame on the PP who said your daughter should bring American food).

Not sure why you are so troubled by people acknowledging that certain foods don't smell good after sitting in a lunch box for several hours. Broccoli is used in many cultures/ethnicities - it isn't racists to say that it doesn't smell good. Other posters noted egg salad and tuna salad as potential offenders. When packing a lunch that your child is going to each in close proximity to other children, it is reasonable to consider how strong the smell is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She needs to be able to handle this and to either deal or bring diff food but TBH steamed broccoli smells awful.

+1 steamed broccoli held for hours at an increasingly lukewarm temperature. Sorry but that does smell.