School Meals versus Packed Lunches

With a new school year having just kicked off, what sort of lunches will you be opting for?

School meals can be instrumental in forming good eating habits and getting kids to try dishes that they perhaps wouldn’t at home. Amongst the meals offered in local schools are weekly roasts, pies, pasta dishes and continental dishes such as Moussaka and Cannelloni, plus there is always a vegetarian option.

A school meal for a primary aged child costs £1.90 this school year, and in secondary schools the recommendation is that £2.00 is charged for a meal.

The uptake in school meals is on the increase in Hertfordshire, with record numbers of children across the county enjoying healthy, balanced, freshly prepared meals. The annual school meals survey for 2009-10 by the School Food Trust and the Local Authority Caterers Association, covering 152 local authorities in England, showed that in Hertfordshire, 44.5% of primary school children take up the option of school meals. Nationally the figure is 41.4%. And in our secondary schools, Hertfordshire is also raising the bar with 36.3%, compared with the average of 35.8%.

"These results show that we are getting the message across that school meals offer children a healthy and tasty meal at lunchtime, which parents are appreciating represents great value for money," said Lin O’Brien, Head of Hertfordshire Catering.

So can a lunch box provide children with an equally nutritious lunchtime meal? According to an article in The Times, published back in January this year, it appears that only 1% of lunchboxes meet basic dietary standards, with many parents sending their children to school with crisps, sweets, and sugary drinks, and a lack of fruit, vegetable and dairy-based products.

If you think your child’s lunch box needs a shake up, check out the School Food Trust’s website, which offers parents three different schedules of imaginative menus with options for vegetarian, low cost and low effort packed lunches.

For the record, this is what my seven year old went off to school with in his packed lunch this morning:

• Ham and cucumber sandwich on 50/50 bread
• Rice cakes
• Yoghurt
• Apple slices
• Babybel cheese
• Iced cupcake
• Fruit juice

It might not meet the basic dietary standards criteria but to be honest, I’m happy if he eats it all and after all, he’ll have a home cooked meal tonight. And cost? By my reckoning I think it’s pretty much on a par with the price of a school meal.

But what do you think? Are school meals or packed lunches better for your child? Are you happy with the meals at your child’s school? Are they good value for money? Or do prefer to send your child to school with a packed lunch, knowing it’s full of food they will definitely eat? Please give us your opinion on Harpenden People below.