Which One????? - Carthage,MO

I feel more comfortable sending my son with lunch because I know what's in it. I don't want him to have artifical colors, which are in everything, nor HFCS. Every once in a while, he may be able to eat at school, but depends on the food.

I have heard that the food being prepared is not of the highest quality, nor in the cleanest of environments. I have always sent lunch with my child. Now that she is 13 and aware of what that means, I let her make the decision. She takes her lunch...mostly because lunch is only around 20 minutes long and she spends more than 15 minutes of it in line and has to gobble the barely edible food down..

We don't do government school any more but when we did (Kindergarten) I always sent his lunch with him, including a little love note from me.. :)

If you can afford it, I'd make as many lunches as you can. Some schools are trying really hard to have plenty of healthy "options" - the problem is, they're just that, options. Kids can always choose the cheeseburger or the pizza; there's nothing to make them choose the hummus and veggie plate! :) I teach third grade and I see what the lunches are. They are not very healthy at all.

I prefer to make it. The school menu generally includes such saturated fat and high salt content that I would rather just send a sandwich and whatever. Even the chips I send from home have less saturated fat than the "mashed potatoes" that they serve them.

To be frugal always send lunch. Go to www.bhg.com (better homes and gardens), real simple, kraft or any of the zillions of websites (I like these for ease of preps) and look at their lunch bag meals. This is such a savings over the school life of a child. It is also much healthier for your children. It also can teach your child good combinations for healthy eating...such as fruit and veggie servings at lunch (not using ketchup as a veggie as some schools do), combinations of vegetables and grains/legumes to make complete proteins and also the biggest thing of all...you do not need sweets and treats to make you feel fulfilled at a meal. Good luck to you.

i always send it with her, its cheaper and school lunch selections are garbage.

The one year that I sent my child to school, we always looked at the menu to see if it was something edible. LOL He took his lunch almost every day. You can always fix him something better than what they prepare.

I would definitely prefer to send lunch with my DD, however, she is just in Pre-K and they do NOT allow your child to pack their lunch. They must eat from the cafeteria. I am pretty upset because I know she could be eating a lot healthier if I could send her lunch with her but....you have to follow the school rules. So, I make sure she gets a healthy snack and dinner and hope it will balance out at the end of the day.

If you can pack a healthier lunch than school and you want to take the time, do whatever your child prefers.
Do not fear that the meals are prepared in an unclean environment. Each school kitchen (at least in the state of Kansas) is inspected twice by the health department each year. In addition, the department of education inspects each kitchen. As a school food service employee I believe that schools are one of the safest/cleanest places to purchase food.
As a mom, I appreciate school food because it exposes my children (one who is a picky eater) to more variety than I offer at home. They get 3 servings of fruits/vegetables each day. Most of the bread products are whole grain. My kids drink milk with school lunch which is a beverage I don't pack and without it at school, my kids don't get their 2-3 servings of milk. The mom who said they are high in sodium is correct. But, they also must meet 1/3 of the RDA for VitA Vit C, calories, must be less than 30% fat, less than 10 % saturated fat, adequate fiber etc.
If you question the nutritional integrity of your school meals, call the school and ask.

Both. When I was going to school I would bring lunch some days and buy it others. Depends on what was being served or if we were rushed that morning. Play it by ear but don't discount either option.

I did both. The food at school was crappy (the monthly menu alone could inspire a heartattack and empty feeling belly at the same time), so in general I sent lunch BUT kiddo liked the whole experience and it was a bit of a treat, so I'd intentionally send lunch money maybe once a week. That way *most* of what he was eating was good for him and moderately delicious, but he still got the "joy" of standing in line. LOL. Kids like things we've grown tired of decades ago.

Also, if we were running uber-late I'd occasionally send money as well.

I should add... we were *looking* at changing schools after K (which we did, we now homeschool), and the only school we were willing to send him to actually CATERED the lunches (because they didn't have cooking space). Sigh. The food was fantastic, but there's sooooooo not a chance of me funding $15 a day for a catered box lunch for my child. I mean... $2700 a year just isn't in the budget. Ditto, if he did any afterschool programs the "snack" cost was $10 a day. Again, great food, but no.

These days (since we HS) I cook most lunches, although we sometimes eat out.

It depends on the child. In elementary school, my daughter did about 1/2 and 1/2. In Middle School she took her lunch most of the time because she is more health conscious.

Now in high school, she will only purchase fruit because she says the food is crappy. She is very health conscious and tends to be the grazer type of eater. She takes an assortment of granola bars, raisens, cashews, gatorade, water with her to school and snacks as needed.

When she gets home about 5:45 I have a healthy meal waiting on her.

My wife always sent a lunch with my kids. The only exception was when my kids told us they were having somethng special, then we'd buy their lunch at school. The "something special" seldom happened more than once every two months.

Often our kids would pack their own lunches so they got to choose what they had to eat and that insured they actually ate it.

Good luck to you and yours.

I do both depending on the daily menu. Our school's food is actually well above the federal foods requirements and is pretty decent .

I'd go crazy packing 4 lunches every single day!

The school cafeteria sends home monthly calendars with the menu plan. We sit down with a highlighter and mark all the days he'd prefer to pack a lunch.

My oldest son loves mixing it up this way because it eliminates any food fears of being served something gross at school and being hungry/cranky the rest of the day. He also enjoys getting to switch friends he sits with, most schools like to keep kids in a line so the kids that pack or buy are usually segregated. Sometimes he'll ask to coordinate with another kid at school so they can eat together.

As for the cost, most school lunches are less that $3.50. I totally pack more than that in a lunch sack. Also, My son eats 2 lunches usually because of his killer metabolism so whether I pack or pay, it's still pretty expensive, I'm used to it now.

We pick one day a week to have lunch at school. It breaks things up a bit since homemade lunches can get pretty boring after a while.

My kids get free lunch so they usually eat at school. I would make a lunch for my first grader if I had the time and extra money. I have got to say that he is pretty excited about pizza on friday, though. If you look at the school lunches then I think you would have a good idea what to do.

Personally, I prefer to send lunch. This way I know what exactly is in the food my son eats, I know it is stuff he will eat, and we have the fun of picking out foods for lunches together. Today he has a homemade lunchable(real cheese and turkey breast cut to size with some crackers) unsweetened applesauce and milk. tomarrow he has already requested a turkey sandwich(on all natural whole grain bread) and leftover mac'n'cheese(in a thermos to keep it warm) if you choose to send lunches spring for the more expensive accessories: insulated lunch bag, good quality thermoses that will keep the cold cold and hot hot. i tried to cheap last year and the container i bought couldnt keep food hot for the 3 hours till lunch. i will also freeze part of his drink(often milk) so that there is a drink cube in his cup to keep it cold(sometimes it has lasted till the end of the day, so be sure to only fill part way for freezing and top with liquid)

Depends on the child. My older girls picked a couple of days a week that they like the school lunch and the other days I made them (or they did as they got older). My son was a di-hard school lunch kid. My youngest still prefers a bag lunch and she is in college.

I made lunches for my 3 kids for three years of preschool each (9yrs), most of Kindergarten (another 3yrs) and first grade for my eldest (1 year), so after making the equivalent of 13 years of lunches, I got tired of it and just ran out of creative ideas. The kids started coming home with most of their lunch uneaten because they didn't like what I packed or weren't in the mood for it and were't hungry enough at lunchtime to eat it anyway. Then they'd be starving by the time they got home and would have a massive snack, then not eat dinner. It became a vicious cycle. So I decided to let them buy lunch. I can track what they're buying everyday, so if I see a day where there are a few unhealthy things bought, I can balance that out with what I give them at home. They've learned to choose the salads as well as the fresh veggies in addition to whatever "unhealthy" things are offered. I'm fine with it and it sure does make my life easier. Kids are happier, too.

Sending lunch is cheaper and healthier. But once a week to eat at school isn't bad.

My son just started kindergarten today and I made his lunch. He is a picky eater and I'm not sure he'd eat school lunch. Plus, it's much cheaper to make his lunch! My mom made my lunch every day--Kindergarten through 12th grade.

Both! I let the kids go through the menu and pick out a few meals each week that they would like to eat and then I make the rest. This way I can make sure that they are actually eating lunch and not throwing away the things they don't like.

Sending lunch is not only cheaper (especially if you know how to shop sales, stockpile, and time coupons), but WAY more healthy. With a little planning and preperation, you can do it with ease. Streamline your efforts by packing the same thing for everyone. For different ages, be sure to portion accordingly. Good luck!