Nutrislice has pictures!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Had no idea - thanks for letting us all know.

Also amused to see that school lunch pizza hasn't changed in the last twenty-five years

Someday, I'd love to campaign for improvements to school lunches, but I for one am glad they're offering them to everyone free of charge and making sure all kids have access to enough food every day.

Real Food for Kids do exactly that PP. They are great. With corona their focus has been more on food security.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes the cheese sticks are what revealed this in our house too! My kids also miss former (pre-Covid) choices including but not limited to breakfast for lunch.

Agree with a PP on quality. It is not a top issue right now so not advocating to address it currently, but I do feel the quality could be a bit improved and there mist be a better way. I think about the many families in my UMC neighborhood who scoff at the horrible school lunch as if its poison and what that I imagine that creates…free lunch that is overly processed (commercialized and could be more nutritious) for those who are stuck with free lunch and fresh, nutritious meals for the “haves”. Would love a school lunch good enough that more families choose it.

The pandemic definitely took the food quality back a notch. Our elementary school had a nice salad bar pre-pandemic and for obvious reasons (that I agree with) those are gone. Even the hot food quality and the variety has been cut back. I think it's because it's federally funded now? Hopefully next year they will get back to having the healthier options and more choices and add-ons.

FWIW our principal mentioned that they are trying really hard to get the salad bar back, but for now are making sure they have fresh fruits and vegetables available in the lunch line.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Question from a newish FCPS parent -- my DC (lower elementary) is convinced he can't have the PB&J because a table mate was told he couldn't have it and had to put it back. I'm not sure if maybe the kid grabbed the sandwich and the regular main or if they aren't allowed due to an allergy in the class (one of their two classrooms had a big alert sign about a classroom allergy, but we haven't been told anything about not packing peanut/nut products beyond not doing it for a snack item).

Does anyone know if they would restrict kids' ability to buy/get the PB&J at lunch due to a classroom allergy? Does this seem like something worth reaching out to the teacher to clarify? Right now I'm having to pack DC's lunch if they don't like the main, but I'd like to have them do the alternate some days to ease the burden on my spouse when I'm away for more than a week.

Are they actually peanut butter. I know in APS they do sunbutter and serve no peanut products (or pork)

[Anonymous]

Kind of a random question: can a kid go through at get, say a piece of fruit and a carton of milk, without getting the main?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kind of a random question: can a kid go through at get, say a piece of fruit and a carton of milk, without getting the main?

Milk, yes, but I'm not sure if they are giving out other parts without the whole.

[Anonymous]

Its great that lunches are free but my kids report that the middle school lines are so long they don't even have time to eat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Had no idea - thanks for letting us all know.

Also amused to see that school lunch pizza hasn't changed in the last twenty-five years

Someday, I'd love to campaign for improvements to school lunches, but I for one am glad they're offering them to everyone free of charge and making sure all kids have access to enough food every day.

Real Food for Kids do exactly that PP. They are great. With corona their focus has been more on food security.

Yes! I was coming here to say the exact same! Check out Real Food for Kids. They are the reason why all of the elementary schools received (or were scheduled to receive by the end of the 19/20 school year) salad bars.

https://www.realfoodforkids.org/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Question from a newish FCPS parent -- my DC (lower elementary) is convinced he can't have the PB&J because a table mate was told he couldn't have it and had to put it back. I'm not sure if maybe the kid grabbed the sandwich and the regular main or if they aren't allowed due to an allergy in the class (one of their two classrooms had a big alert sign about a classroom allergy, but we haven't been told anything about not packing peanut/nut products beyond not doing it for a snack item).

Does anyone know if they would restrict kids' ability to buy/get the PB&J at lunch due to a classroom allergy? Does this seem like something worth reaching out to the teacher to clarify? Right now I'm having to pack DC's lunch if they don't like the main, but I'd like to have them do the alternate some days to ease the burden on my spouse when I'm away for more than a week.

Are they actually peanut butter. I know in APS they do sunbutter and serve no peanut products (or pork)

Yes, actual peanut butter. (Some kids are allergic to sunbutter so the substitute isn't really much better.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Question from a newish FCPS parent -- my DC (lower elementary) is convinced he can't have the PB&J because a table mate was told he couldn't have it and had to put it back. I'm not sure if maybe the kid grabbed the sandwich and the regular main or if they aren't allowed due to an allergy in the class (one of their two classrooms had a big alert sign about a classroom allergy, but we haven't been told anything about not packing peanut/nut products beyond not doing it for a snack item).

Does anyone know if they would restrict kids' ability to buy/get the PB&J at lunch due to a classroom allergy? Does this seem like something worth reaching out to the teacher to clarify? Right now I'm having to pack DC's lunch if they don't like the main, but I'd like to have them do the alternate some days to ease the burden on my spouse when I'm away for more than a week.

Are they actually peanut butter. I know in APS they do sunbutter and serve no peanut products (or pork)

Yes, they also list the ingredients online and they are peanut butter.

Our school continues to have an allergy table at lunch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kind of a random question: can a kid go through at get, say a piece of fruit and a carton of milk, without getting the main?

Ask your kid to try.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kind of a random question: can a kid go through at get, say a piece of fruit and a carton of milk, without getting the main?

Ask your kid to try.

DP. My kid says he can.

If you get more than one of anything you ha e to pay but otherwise you can pick what you want.

[Anonymous]

Sidebar: that is a crazy software/ordering name for food products! I read it as nutrisLICE and thought this was going to be a thread about lice products. Just me, huh?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Question from a newish FCPS parent -- my DC (lower elementary) is convinced he can't have the PB&J because a table mate was told he couldn't have it and had to put it back. I'm not sure if maybe the kid grabbed the sandwich and the regular main or if they aren't allowed due to an allergy in the class (one of their two classrooms had a big alert sign about a classroom allergy, but we haven't been told anything about not packing peanut/nut products beyond not doing it for a snack item).

Does anyone know if they would restrict kids' ability to buy/get the PB&J at lunch due to a classroom allergy? Does this seem like something worth reaching out to the teacher to clarify? Right now I'm having to pack DC's lunch if they don't like the main, but I'd like to have them do the alternate some days to ease the burden on my spouse when I'm away for more than a week.

Are they actually peanut butter. I know in APS they do sunbutter and serve no peanut products (or pork)

Yes, actual peanut butter. (Some kids are allergic to sunbutter so the substitute isn't really much better.)

It is better. Sunflower butter allergies are rare. Peanuts are a much more common allergen.

[Anonymous]

So those pictures were illuminating. Last year during hybrid, they just did cold lunch and my kid says it was much better. Her prefers to pack his own sandwich this year, says this stuff is all pretty awful (except for the fruit and veggies, and the PBJ). That’s a bummer. It was nice not to pack or shop for lunch stuff. I think they could manage salad bar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So those pictures were illuminating. Last year during hybrid, they just did cold lunch and my kid says it was much better. Her prefers to pack his own sandwich this year, says this stuff is all pretty awful (except for the fruit and veggies, and the PBJ). That’s a bummer. It was nice not to pack or shop for lunch stuff. I think they could manage salad bar.

OP here - I believe this is pretty much what hot lunch has always been except there was more variety before. I decided to start going through the menu with my kids and letting them decide what days they want to bring lunch (hopefully not too many days). I was informed by my older child today that they don't always have the biteables even though they're on the menu so we shouldn't plan on those as an alternative to things they don't like.