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Sarah Miller's avatar

"Letting" my daughter eat school lunch was a HUGE thing for me when she started kindergarten -- I stressed about it so much I brought it to my therapist. Then I realized something really important: a) wow, what a bunch of privileged garbage; and b) it was 110% about my own food issues and NOT ABOUT MY KID (or at least not entirely). She wanted -- and still wants -- to eat school lunch. Great! Less work for me!

We live in a district (in Wisconsin; and trust me, everyone I know questioned what the hell happened in Waukesha) that has a very strong farm-to-school program -- we not only know where their food comes from, we drive by the farms where it grows on a regular basis. Does my kid come home and tell me she ate ranch dressing -- and only ranch dressing -- for lunch from time to time? Yes. But there are also all the other days when she says she ate a hamburger or pasta with marinara sauce or chicken strips (all things she would likely refuse at home or at a restaurant) and I think to myself, what's a few ranch days here and there? This is a good tradeoff!

(I also count my blessings for the farm-to-school program -- I know there are millions of kids out there who are probably not eating food fresh food from five miles down the road, so I recognize that is an element of our privilege too.)

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Alexis's avatar

We started out school assuming I would have to pack, because my kids are picky (sensory issues/autism). Turned out they would eat school lunch, sometimes. Our lunches are consistently mediocre (my kids' assessment, not only my own--older one is now in high school and has food opinions). We wound up doing a mix. There are certain school lunches they will not touch, so they check the calendar and on those days they pack. The funny part is that their packed lunches really probably aren't healthier than school lunch. Younger kid accepts precisely TWO sandwich fillings.

Relatedly: There was a NYT article yesterday on school lunch shortages, and the comments were full of finger wagging about packing. Someone was saying that it would be better to send a peanut butter sandwich plus veggies and fruit, and I just thought "that isn't really healthier than the school lunch."

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