4 ms·
Yeah, because that's what regular people like to eat. What, never had crackers with ham and cheese? Now, if you are going to serve gourmet meals in schools, go
by cat_plus_plus 3y ago
Yeah, because that's what regular people like to eat. What, never had crackers with ham and cheese? Now, if you are going to serve gourmet meals in schools, go right ahead, I heard it's a thing in France. But don't delude yourself into thinking 8 year olds are going to eat boiled broccoli and whatever unappetizing thing you conjure up for protein. It's not "weak rules", it's no money and cultural attitudes. Either fix these, or let kids at least enjoy their lunch.
- Scoundreller 3y agoFrance has strong rules here: if the kid wants to eat their own lunch, they have to do it offsite. Teens will do that but not imagining many parents picking up their 8 y.o. daily to do so. They (probably) put more money into it and have the cultural attitudes to do all of the above.
- tintor 3y agoWhy offsite?
- guappa 3y agoSo they learn to eat healthy stuff. Which is absolutely a learnt skill.
- williamdclt 3y agoI’m not sure (I’m French) but I think it’s something like “we need the tables for the kids who eat at the canteen, and we can’t let kids eat anywhere in the school for messiness reasons”. Meal prices are quite competitive, kids usually eat at the canteen or at home, they don’t usually bring their own food
- fransje26 3y agoHealth and safety. The food served at the canteens needs to be traceable, to avoid/mitigate food poisoning related issues. Once you start bringing external food into the system, you can no longer guarantee the safety of the other canteen goers, even if, theoretically, they will not be sharing their meals.
- krab 3y agoHuh? I never had crackers with ham and cheese. Certainly not to replace a lunch. And what's bad about broccoli? Our kids like it steamed. It's a handy snack for a family trip - you can prepare it in a microwave in a few minutes when you're packing. You're right that it essentially boils down to the dietary preferences of the parents. If the parents are ok with such lunch as described in the article, there isn't much a regulation can do.
- sgt 3y agoOur 3 year old loves broccoli as well.
- stakhanov 3y agoThat reminds me of the episode that Jamie Oliver did, where he tried to prove that he could make healthy and delicious (to him) school meals, while staying inside the budget, at scale, as an alternative to fishsticks with chips (as in french fries) and peas, which he considers unhealthy. He succeeded with his culinary mission. And then, none of the kids actually chose his lunch. They wanted the fishsticks. Personally, I don't think there's anything wrong with fishsticks, chips, and peas. (It also doesn't meet the criteria for ultra-processed, if I correctly understand the term, so it's a bit off topic here). The chips are just potatoes and oil. The fishsticks are actual fish (cut into stick form while frozen) with breading. The peas are ...well, peas.
- Ekaros 3y agoAnd having seen some videos... I am not entirely sure Jamie Oliver knows exactly what is delicious...
- swatcoder 3y ago> Not that there's anything wrong with fishsticks, chips, and peas. It's actually not ultra-processed, if I correctly understand the term. The chips are just potatoes and oil. The fishsticks are actual fish (cut into stick form while frozen) with breading. The peas are ...well, peas. Some chips are re-hydrated mechanically digested potato flakes with a dozen different binders, preservatives, and stabilizers, and most budget fish sticks are half miscellaneous whitefish scrap and half breading made from stripped grain and a dozen different binders, preservatives, and stabilizers. So mileage does vary a little on that.
- diffeomorphism 3y agoSo? Is that like dihydrogen monoxide? If it is actually bad, ban it everywhere and not just school lunches. Otherwise, the nutrition seems like a much more important issue than "rehydrated".
- stakhanov 3y agoAren't there pretty stringent rules on what they have to list as ingredients on the packaging? At least where I live (in Germany), I would have thought so. And when I buy chips, the ingredients list lists exactly two things: potatoes and sunflower oil. The fishsticks that I buy ("iglo", the procter & gamble brand, and I get the gluten-free ones) list a specific species of fish, then rice flour, chickpea flour, salt, corn flour, canola oil, water, potato starch, starches from peas. Plus MSC certification. That doesn't really sound objectionable to me.
- whatscooking 3y agoThe ham is fake
- School-Cotton 3y agoFrance serves edible cooked normal food in schools, which means it tastes good and is nutritious. That’s not the same as “gourmet”, and it’s surprising other countries don’t even try to meet this low bar.
- diffeomorphism 3y agoThat is so far away from the actual discussion that it is questionable to even call it a straw man.
- cpursley 3y agoThis belief that eating healthy constitutes boiled broccoli (which nobody likes) is part of the problem…
- agos 3y agowhat's wrong with boiled broccoli?
- ben_w 3y agoIt's a thing kids famously (though perhaps stereotypically) don't like. As an adult: it's bland by itself, needs sauce, or at least black pepper and olive oil.
- ale42 3y agoIt's the first solid thing our kid ate, and he loved them. I guess it also depends on when they are exposed to that. If they are 5 years old, it's probably too late.
- dagw 3y agoTaste also evolves. My daughter loved broccoli (and a bunch of other things) when she was little, but once she turned 8 or so her tastes completely changed.
- denton-scratch 3y ago> needs sauce Yup. I favour Mornay Sauce (a.k.a. cheese sauce). I have no idea why hating broccoli is a meme; broccoli-cheese with french fries is a nutritious and tasty meal.
- guappa 3y agoProbably not as healthy as you think, by the sound of it.
- dagw 3y ago