Packing lunch is a PITA! Yet the menu in our (both public and private) is what I call "fried bread" --different forms of breaded meats, etc. Not healthy and very fattening. So I just send them in with some food. Also the lunch program gets expensive for the pretty unhealthy food they eat. The time issue is significant also. In some classes the teachers will let them have a morning snack if lunch is late, so that is another plus of bringing your own.

My boy eats all the lunches whenever he buys and sometimes even buys a second lunch. They don't seem to bother him and I'm glad they are healthier. I on the other hand could hardly get through the Thanksgiving lunch in kindergarten and have since brought a lunch to school for that event. Even though he's ok with it, he doesn't buy lunch much because there is little time to eat the food.

we pack lunch 4 days a week and eat in on pizza day. it's pretty bland and he does not eat unless we pack a lunch. they do seem to have a good variety of bland food though.

to be honest, i think we pay too much attention to nutritious lunches and too little on exercise in school. i would love to see more of a balance and have the schools extend recess and mandate more gym time. there is a reason we are seeing an increase in childhood obesity and it's not just because they eat McDonald's everyday...sorry, I digress.

The whole thing about healthy lunches is a crock. The school lunches are terrible-nutritious or not.

Anonymous wrote:In FCPS, at least, in the past couple of years the quality and preparation has gotten worse, to the point where it's absolutely disgusting. My kids aren't fussy eaters, and love healthy foods and vegetables, and they won't touch the school lunches. When a kid says even the pizza is gross, that's some bad food. Pack a lunch.

My kids specifically pack on Fridays (even if they buy other days) because the pizza in FCPS is apparently horrible. I have kids in 2 different elementaries an they agree the pizza sucks.

Let's just get rid of the school lunch program all together. Is that a viable option?

Anonymous wrote:In FCPS, at least, in the past couple of years the quality and preparation has gotten worse, to the point where it's absolutely disgusting. My kids aren't fussy eaters, and love healthy foods and vegetables, and they won't touch the school lunches. When a kid says even the pizza is gross, that's some bad food. Pack a lunch.

ITA, so much of the food is warmed up inside plastic! That's just disgusting. FCPS is trying to make the food "healthier" but still cheap and easy to prepare. Those three things don't work together to create something edible.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG - what a waste of a thread. If u don't like the options, pack a lunch. If spending 10 minutes in the morning to make a lunch is too hard, you've got bigger problems in life than just the school lunch offerings.

I'm not the OP, but the lousy lunches affect everyone - kids who are hungry or just eat choc milk and ice cream may have behavioral issues to deal with. The whole country is talking about this so it's really not a "waste of a thread" except for your comment.

If a kid is hungry they should eat a lunch packed from home if they or their parents don't like what is on the menu. If your kid only eats ice cream, that is an issue, but not a school or school lunch issue - that's an issue of individual choice. It is waste of a thread and a waste of talk in the country. We need to get back to the day when parents took care of their children's needs; including what they ate.

You must have lived in a different place than I did. No one was aware of nutrition when I was growing up - it was a lot of junk food. I knew that cookies and candy were bad but had no idea about the issues with processed food, sugar in everything, trans fat, etc. until recently. So I don't think it is a waste of talk in the country. Every study I see shows that America spends more and more on health care and yet we still have more health issues than many other developed countries.

Of course, this thread wasn't about that - I was just saying I thought the school lunches were supposed to be healthier and was disappointed to see they aren't. If you find this such a waste of a thread, why do you keep adding to it?

In FCPS, at least, in the past couple of years the quality and preparation has gotten worse, to the point where it's absolutely disgusting. My kids aren't fussy eaters, and love healthy foods and vegetables, and they won't touch the school lunches. When a kid says even the pizza is gross, that's some bad food. Pack a lunch.

Anonymous wrote:OMG - what a waste of a thread. If u don't like the options, pack a lunch. If spending 10 minutes in the morning to make a lunch is too hard, you've got bigger problems in life than just the school lunch offerings.

OP here. If you don't like the thread, why are you bothering to read and respond to it? I didn't realize we are only allowed to post things that you find important.

Isn't the point of a message board to talk about things that don't involve world hunger and suffering?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG - what a waste of a thread. If u don't like the options, pack a lunch. If spending 10 minutes in the morning to make a lunch is too hard, you've got bigger problems in life than just the school lunch offerings.

I'm not the OP, but the lousy lunches affect everyone - kids who are hungry or just eat choc milk and ice cream may have behavioral issues to deal with. The whole country is talking about this so it's really not a "waste of a thread" except for your comment.

If a kid is hungry they should eat a lunch packed from home if they or their parents don't like what is on the menu. If your kid only eats ice cream, that is an issue, but not a school or school lunch issue - that's an issue of individual choice. It is waste of a thread and a waste of talk in the country. We need to get back to the day when parents took care of their children's needs; including what they ate.

MPI poster here - maybe intolerance is the wrong word -- she can have some cheese, or some milk, or some ice cream -- but not all of it together or she is horribly constipated. We haven't visited a gastro Dr for an official diagnosis, just her pediatrician. We try to get as much fiber in her diet and water as possible to keep things moving along.

Anonymous wrote:As a parent of a child with a milk protein intolerance, I'm happy that they have juice as an option -- for her, it's actually a good thing (when it's not the Capri Sun crap.) She only buys it occasionally, maybe once a week, but it's a good lesson in moderation. She brings water with her everyday and knows she needs to drink it, especially if I let her buy pizza. She's never allowed to buy pizza and milk.

Huh? Kids with MPI can't eat cheese either, so pizza is out.

Anonymous wrote:OMG - what a waste of a thread. If u don't like the options, pack a lunch. If spending 10 minutes in the morning to make a lunch is too hard, you've got bigger problems in life than just the school lunch offerings.

I'm not the OP, but the lousy lunches affect everyone - kids who are hungry or just eat choc milk and ice cream may have behavioral issues to deal with. The whole country is talking about this so it's really not a "waste of a thread" except for your comment.

OMG - what a waste of a thread. If u don't like the options, pack a lunch. If spending 10 minutes in the morning to make a lunch is too hard, you've got bigger problems in life than just the school lunch offerings.