I was wondering wich one was heaper is to pack or buy lunch? I was thinking getting the lunch at the school but then i thought it would be cheaper? my son dosn't start school till next year...so i'm trying to get info early :) thanx
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I pack their lunches. For me it is not a matter of what is cheaper, it is quality. I think many people say that packing is cheaper, but for me it is more expensive. We don't do artificial ingredients, so I buy the best and most expensive things to avoid those artificial ingredients. I do as much bulk buying as possible, to keep cost down a bit. I buy boxes of the crackers and repack them, buy large bottles of juice and use Klean Kanteens.
I do both. Depends on how much your hot lunches are at school and their quality, and what type of stuff you pack in lunches on whether it is cheaper. When I pack lunches, I usually try to limit the amount of pre-packaged foods and instead buy a bigger container and put smaller containers in her lunch box. The only exception for me is juice boxes because our school gets money back for foil juice boxes so I use those.
Our school has a very small kitchen and no cafeteria. They have a caterer who rents the space and does pre-order lunches. You choose what you want your kids to get on what day (Monday is either pizza or soy chikn nuggets.) I would prefer them to pack a lunch every day, but I do let them get pizza on Mon. and pasta on Thurs.
I happen to work for the caterer and know that because she is a small business and her kids are at the school, the lunches are a healthy alternative to packing a lunch every day (as opposed to a regular school cafeteria.)
As far as cheaper, for us it woud be packing a lunch.
For the most part my daughter packs....if my husband or myself goes in to sit with her during lunch or eat lunch with her, she usually buys. She is not a picky eater she just prefers to pack cause I send little notes in her lunch....and if she buys she won't get a note
The food in the Chicago Public Schools is nasty! Loaded with bad fats, sodium, and who knows what!
Most days, my daughter brings a thermos with leftovers.
If you need new ideas, I have a HUGE list of bagged lunch ideas that I have collected over the years; send me a message offlist if you would like a copy.
Robin in Chicago
Our school lunches are very healthy. They offer salad bar every day to grades 3 and up. They have made changes like having chicken nuggets that are not breaded. They don't fry anything. Even the french fries are baked. If they get salad in 3rd-5th grades, they must also take some of the items from the lunch that day. They have figured out that most kids will not eat enough salad so they encourage them to take the protein for that day. Either way, they must also take a juice or milk. In grades 6-8 they can choose either a tray, salad, or some of both. My kids take some days and buy some days. We go through the monthly menu together and mark which days they each want to buy. That way we know if we need to pack a lunch. Our lunches are pretty cheap, so I think that packing is probably more expensive.
I would prefer to pack my son's lunch even though buying it at school is a lot cheaper. Lunches only cost $1.00. However, when I pack his lunch, he doesn't eat it and when he buys it, he does eat it. Because he has some behavior and attention problems in school, I prefer that he eats something at lunch so I opt for the school lunch. I also had problems with him trying to bum food off of other kids and I didn't want him to be the weird kid begging for food from other kids. We have enough problems at school this year as it is.
I need advice, please,not bashing.
- famedcheeze
on Nov. 22, 2009 at 8:59 AM