Today we've been focusing on what to send for school lunches, what to send it in, and even what to do when the kids finally leave. (Bob, you are brilliant!) However, in my experience, there are certain food items that I've found are better served at home than sent to school. Feel free to agree, disagree, or add your own to the list.
Food that needs to be heated
Whether I was planning to send leftovers from dinner or products like canned food or Easy Mac, I was thrilled for all of about two days when I found out my daughter's school had a microwave. What I didn't bother to find out was that the kids only had 35 seconds each to use it. Obviously, this isn't enough time to heat most items, let alone cook something. Though this may vary slightly from school to school, even if they do have a microwave available, I suggest to avoid sending anything that needs to be heated or your child will spend half their lunch hour waiting in line just so they can eat something that is only slightly warmed up.
Foods with a strong odor
Please don't be offended, I'm sure your food is delicious, but kids can be cruel. If someone's food is reeking up the lunchroom, other kids will make fun of them. I've seen it happen over and over. Save the spices / sauces / catch of the day for your dinner meals at home. I've made this mistake myself several times before.
Food that spoils easily
If you are going to send anything that is supposed to be refrigerated (milk, yogurt, fish, mayo, etc.) make sure you have a lunch bag that is insulated. Otherwise, if you wouldn't leave it on your counter at room temperature for more than an hour, don't send it.
Peanut butter
This is a tough one. As Sarah mentioned, it is the single most popular sandwich filling for kids. However, two of my daughter's previous schools have completely banned it, as well as anything made with nuts. Check with your school prior to sending to see if it (and certain other foods common to allergies) are allowed, and then please, please talk to your kids about washing up well afterwards. I grew up with a peanut allergy in my family, so I know how serious it can be.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-06-2007 @ 6:34PM
Dave said...
I may be beating a horse that's been dead for a long time, but all the years I was in school, kids were bringing peanut butter and jam sandwiches, and we never had any sort of "incident" with it. My best friend's brother had a nut allergy, and they even had peanut butter in the house -- he just had to have fair warning when the jar was going to be opened up.
I guess there are different levels of responsiveness, but an outright ban seems like overkill to me. I don't want to sound like an ogre, but if somebody can explain to me how this got to be such a HUGE issue, I'd appreciate it.
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9-06-2007 @ 6:37PM
Bill G said...
Two words: liability insurance.
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9-06-2007 @ 8:58PM
calamari said...
It got to be a huge issue due to better medical care where serious peanut allergies are now diagnosed much earlier than they used to be.
Until quite recently, someone with a don't-let-peanuts-in-the-same-room allergy would have been dead of mysterious causes before elementary school age, thus making it unnecessary to keep peanuts out of the lunch room.
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9-07-2007 @ 10:03AM
wintem01 said...
2. Two words: liability insurance.
That says it all, right there.
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9-07-2007 @ 11:16AM
winl said...
Here is a helpful website. My family is not vegan but I still get goods ideas here for healthier lunches.
http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/
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9-07-2007 @ 12:43PM
jsmylie said...
I had no idea peanut allergies could be severe enough to necessitate clearing a room after someone pulls out a PB&J.
Funny thing, it never seemed to matter when *I* was in school...
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9-07-2007 @ 2:10PM
Lisa said...
My fiance is a teacher, and he has a kid in his class this year with a severe peanut allergy. This kid will break out in hives if he even SMELLS a peanut product. And eating any is life-threatening. He won't even use the water fountains at school just in case another kid left trace amounts on the handle or faucet. So yeah, it CAN get that bad.
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9-07-2007 @ 2:52PM
ann lemons said...
Retired nurse, so I am old enough to remember when a PB-free zone would have been the subject of a comedy sketch on tv. The truth is, there are a lot more allergies occurring now, true allergies, not just idiosyncratic reactions, than there were a generation or two ago. This isn't just some overreacting hypervigilant moms. It's real, and dangerous.
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9-08-2007 @ 1:34AM
kim said...
In high school we had only one microwave for the whole lot of us, so rather than waste precious minutes for each person's food, we just tossed as many people's food as could fit in there for slightly more time than was probably necessary, and moved the line along much more quickly.
When I think back, it's probably nothing short of a miracle (well, it was a Catholic school) that we didn't blow up the microwave.
Ah, memories!
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