School Lunch Shaming

I am appalled that schools are commenting on the proper food for children to bring to school for lunch. I think parents know best what lunch to send for their child. Every time I hear of this happening, the person doing the judging has no professional training about what is nutritious. More importantly, the person has no idea what the child will eat and what the child will not eat.

Most importantly, the person has no idea what the child had for breakfast, or after-school snack, or dinner. I tried to balance nutrition over the whole day, not dividing up the nutrients for each eating occasion.  I did try not to be all carbs one day and fruit the next.

Some days, my children  wanted school lunches. Other days, they insisted on a lunch from home. One little boy traded all his food for sour kraut. My son knew on kraut day, his best friend would give him a cookie for his kraut. Teachers did not take the extra cookie from my child. No one worried one little boy ate nothing but kraut and many servings!  I wonder if schools monitor these trades now.

When I made lunches, you had better believe I was taking orders since no two of the three liked the same thing on a sandwich I was making.  Okay, maybe they did once in a while. I had rather they take a pbj sandwich than a balanced, nutritious lunch from the cafeteria that they would not eat.

Since my youngest was a very good little girl in the lunchroom, certainly no one was watching out for her when she only had a bagful of cookies for lunch! After school in the car, she asked me very sadly why she "only had cookies for lunch". Well, I sent her a turkey sandwich and a piece of pumpkin pie for snack. I think she had grapes, too, that day--the day after Thanksgiving vacation. The teacher did not notice her eating cookies. Obviously, back then there was no monitoring for bad lunches.

She showed me the cookies in the car. I turned around and went right back to school and found her post-Thanksgiving turkey sandwich that I thought might be too warm for too long for her to eat. The dog got that sandwich.  I was upset for my child's lack of a proper lunch and really sad because she was so sad not to have a good lunch. She knew better!

I have sent sausage balls for part of the lunch. After all, this is milk and a sausage biscuit in a different form, more of a party form, but the ingredients are the same. My children loved to take a hamburger I had grilled the night before when we had them for dinner. I wonder if it would be shamed now.

When my mother sent us a pineapple sandwich, we also had a boiled egg. I wonder if my lunches as a child would have been okay with the present-day lunch monitors. ???


This article is about a high school girl who was told in front of the class and by an aide with no training that she had too much food. I thought it was a rather good lunch. The fat content and calorie  count was not high.  This school examines all lunches from home. I think that is rather invasive!  I would object!

 I rather like the puzzle sandwich.

Your turn
Do you know of schools that check all lunches and monitor, sending home notes or shaming children in front of the class? Did you ever send a lunch long ago that might not pass muster today? Did your mother ever send a lunch for you that might not be okay today?

School Lunches for My Children

With all the talk about what constitutes a healthy school lunch, I thought back to my children's lunches. If they hated the lunch that day, I made a lunch for them. Sometimes, they just wanted what I was going to send for them. They never had to buy a lunch or to take a lunch. However, some days the only option was peanut butter and jelly with a fruit and something for snack time.

When I grilled hamburgers for dinner, I grilled and prepared hamburgers for my children to take to school the next day. It was cute because they were excited from the moment they knew I was grilling burgers, looking forward to lunch at school the next day. They even went to bed excited at the prospects.  I took the burgers indoors and put the condiments and cheese or pickles on the burgers as each child preferred. I wanted to prepare them and refrigerate them soon as possible. All three reported their lunch was a hit with the other small diners who wanted the same thing.

When my son was in the upper elementary grades, a rumor about the beef stew put him off. "Everyone" said it was dog food. He had proof it was dog food because it smelled like dog food! None of my protestations and explanations could convince him. Nothing would do from then on except a prepared lunch from home. Logic and facts were lost on him during this crisis.

My son had a friend who loved sauerkraut so much that he traded away all his food for sauerkraut. He even traded his milk and dessert, usually cookies. Since a few strands of sauerkraut are more than enough for me, I was appalled. My son said he always had dibs on the cookies since they were best friends.

I am shocked that parents are judged for what they send to school for kids' lunches. I read that lunches are confiscated for not being nutritionally balanced and parents are reported. Whaaaat?  I knew what my child had for breakfast and would have for snacks and dinner, so no one else would be aware of their daily consumption or nutrition. I actually planned their meals around the peanut butter sandwich. And, bologna is not a nutritional powerhouse. One meal is no indication of a whole day of eating.  Besides, having a nutritional lunch on a child's tray is not an indication of what nutrition the child actually consumed.

Plus, kids around the country without money are given a cheese sandwich and milk, so how can the school get away with giving a lunch that is not approved if packed by a parent?

The first school day after Thanksgiving, I packed my youngest in kindergarten a turkey breast sandwich with lettuce and MW. She also had grapes and something for snack time. She got in the car with her paper bag and asked me sadly why I only gave her cookies for lunch. NO one noticed my child had cookies for lunch. She had a place for her lunch but from then on, I put her name on it in very large letters. She was a very good child, so I suppose the rowdy ones got the attention.

My children were very vocal and demanded to know what was for lunch at school each morning. They never complained about what I was going to pack. After a while, they had me trained.

Your turn
Did your children want a packed lunch when they hated the school lunch for the day? How did you handle lunches--buy always, pack one always, or according to the offered lunch? Did they have favorites at school or what they wanted to take?