school lunch

[mamaof10]

does anyone else get FREE school lunch? My kids do and my 6 year old will not eat most of what is served so I just send lunch with him...my DH cant believe I am sending lunch when he gets it for free...what is the point in making him get free lunch when he wont eat it though?? It is like once per week that he will eat what is being served!

Todays menu is/was hot dog, baked beans, garden salad, and milk...he HATES lettuce (so no salad for him), and he dislikes beans...so all he would be eating is a hot dog!

Oh and tomorrow is a chefs salad! the kid dont like lettuce!!

[momto4monkeys]

My son gets free lunch and breakfast we get a month menu so he choose if he wants to take lunch or get the free lunch as far as breakfast goes they get so many choices he always wants breakfast

[JennyWLS]

Nathan's school has a really good menu for lunch, 2 big choices per day and then they have a back up like a peanut butter sandwich if none of the 2 big options work for you. He hasn't had a day yet that he hasn't like something that was on the menu.

Oh, and my kindergartener eats salad at almost every meal at home with us, and he loves the salad bar at lunch. So some kids really do like lettuce

[mamaof10]

all my other kids do lettuce...it is just this one that doesnt

We get the monthly menu as well, it seems like about once a week he will eat their food

[amjbmommy]

My dc qualify for reduced lunch (.40/day) but ds#1 is autistic and is VERY VERY picky so he always gets a pb sandwich on wheat, graham crackers, juice, bottle of water and some other snack (whatever is in the house that he will eat) dd gets school lunch and her school always offer an alternative just in case the kid doesn't like/want what is offered.

[CrunchyMama0607]

theres no reason in him starving if he can eat a healthier meal made by mommy IMO some school food is just and not healthy at all!

[zenmama]

I am a substitute teacher and the meals served are healthy to an extent. But some kids are pickier than others. Most kids who get free lunch at my school are happy just to get FOOD and they don't care what it is. If you can afford to pack it on the days he doesnt like what they are serving....go for it.

[mamaof10]

Originally Posted by zenmama I am a substitute teacher and the meals served are healthy to an extent. But some kids are pickier than others. Most kids who get free lunch at my school are happy just to get FOOD and they don't care what it is. If you can afford to pack it on the days he doesnt like what they are serving....go for it.

money is not a huge issue here, we simply qualify because of our family size!

I just sat down with him and we read the whole menu for the month and there are 8 days he WANTS to get hot lunch!! All the other days have beans or salad and he just wont eat those things

[CrunchyMama0607]

Originally Posted by mommyof7 money is not a huge issue here, we simply qualify because of our family size! I just sat down with him and we read the whole menu for the month and there are 8 days he WANTS to get hot lunch!! All the other days have beans or salad and he just wont eat those things

Just compromise with him on it, as long as he agrees to eat school lunches on those days, then you'll pack his lunch on the other days

[3rockstars]

Originally Posted by momto4monkeys My son gets free lunch and breakfast we get a month menu so he choose if he wants to take lunch or get the free lunch as far as breakfast goes they get so many choices he always wants breakfast

yep, us too. I always do breakfast with my kids because I think it's a great bonding and grounding time in the morning to reconnect before the hectic rush to the bus stop. BUT I appreciate that if I don't have the money or time to give her something, she will at least get cereal and milk and she won't go hungry. My question is this for the op though: isn't there a second or third choice????? In my daughter's school, there are 3 choices. There's the meal of the day(today was chicken fajita with shredded cheese and salsa, dinner roll, tossed salad, fruit, and milk), a second choice that rotates weekly(this week is ham and cheese) and a third choice that is always the same(used to be PBand J but because there's a kid with severe peanut allergies in the school now, they are doing a chef's salad plate). So there are three options that should work for everyone. The second option is always a deli type sandwich which my daughter doesn't like at all(turkey and cheese, bologna and cheese, etc) and she LOVES salad so she would do that all day long everyday if I let her. I let her look at the menu and if there are say, 3 days she doesn't like the options, I let her take lunch from home 2 times and have the salad on the third day. I try not to let her have chef's salad everyday because she won't eat the meat and only the lettuce and cheese so that doesn't fill her and she's hungry an hour later.


also, isn't there a list of things on each day? Like even if he doesn't like beans or salad, he still has a fruit cup or carrots or whatever and the main entree???? Could he refuse something? My daughter says they are allowed to refuse one thing at each lunch and they must get everything else although they are obviously not forced or coerced into eating it. I guess the school found that it was a great way to get them to try new things while still letting them feel like they have a choice.