[Mumof1B2G]

Committees I am on you can bring your children. DH works long hours. Sister has older children she has always been able to take children. Get involved...

[Julie3Girls]

Easy solution. If you don't have time to help, and you don't like the current one, find a school without a canteen.

Our local private school has no canteen. Because they can't find enough parent volunteers to organise and run it.

[GoneWithTheWhing...]

So the general gist I'm getting from this thread is that most people here are happy with the current traffic light school canteen menu - they would rather have this type of canteen, - with the slushies, chocolate milk etc, than a healthy canteen menu?

No but its a start and if other schools are anything like my daughter's one then actually implementing a overhauled totally healthy menu would never happen as there aren't enough parents interested or willing to give up some of their time to help staff the canteen. Unfortunately as it takes minimal time to stick a meat pie in the food warmer in the morning and bag it for a lunch order whereas to make a salad is more time consuming and if you are already short on volunteers those odd nuggets of time are the difference between getting the lunch orders completed or not.

As for introducing homemade items onto the menu it may not be as simple as you believe, my daughters school is a private public partnership school where essentially the school is leased by DET from a private company who do not allow on site cooking so anything we serve can only be reheated without us putting the school and P&C on shaky ground. Even if we were able to find ways around this it will come back to finding volunteers to make the homemade stuff.

It frustrates me hugely, I am heavily involved with canteen and P&C and we can't even fill enough shifts to open 3 days a week - last term I volunteered in there nearly every Friday so peoples kids could get their lunch which tbh sh1ts me to tears when there are parents sat outside the school for over two hours smoking and drinking coffee (so obviously aren't working and are smaller child free) just so they can get a good parking spot, if people want canteens (and other activities/resources that the P&C subsidise) to improve then they need to take some responsibility and step up to implement the changes. All that would achieve if you came in guns blazing to me about how your child can't resist temptation and was stealing from you and the canteen is responsible for her apparent demise is to offer you as many shifts in there as you like so you can police your child's consumption as we are already up against the wall with volunteers and to try and stretch them further by asking them to monitor who is and isn't buying stuff is just not possible unless you are in a very small school.

Change can only happen if enough people want to make it happen, if you feel that strongly about it then be the first person to make that stand. Go to your canteen committee and talk to them (if you don't have their details ask the P&C president), ask what you can do to help, become involved and try to get your friends involved too. It really doesn't require too much time commitment to make a hug difference to the ability to run a better canteen - even a half day once a term would be hugely helpful. We are finding most parents have little or no idea of how the canteen operates and don't give a damn so someone who cares and wants to make a difference would be hugely welcomed at the school my daughter is at.

I'm sorry if this has come across strong or somewhat ranty, its a topic that is really on me right now and I do actually agree with you, there are huge changes that should be made but again, without parental involvement will simply not happen.

[UncommonSense]

I work at my daughter's school. Heck, I am the principal of my daughter's school and even I can't get her to eat her lunch!

The way to change canteen menus is usually via the P&C. Just writing a complaint won't change things. You need to become involved in the P&C, attend a meeting or two, offer to help redesign the menu, find more information etc.

LOL Jerry I don't feel so bad now.. Blah food battles.. The only time he actually eats lunch is shock horror when I get him tuckshop..


Disclaimer: His tuckshop consists of a ham and cheese toastie for lunch and pikelets for morning tea oh and choc milk with lunch.. I'll be over in the corner building a pyre for you to roast me on..

[Jemstar]

Why should parents have to fight for a healthy canteen?

Because parents run the canteen that's why. If you're not happy with it you actually have to get off your bum and agitate for change.

I'm sorry OP, but to me it sounds like you want to whine and get hysterical over the sugar in a slushy but not actually do anything about it.

BTW, I've asked a number of times what sort of slushies they are and you haven't answered, tell me, are you getting het up about is without actually clarifying the facts? Many slushies in school canteens are just crushed ice with a small amount of juice added.

This post has been edited by Jemstar: 23/04/2012, 08:29 PM

[GoneWithTheWhing...]

At the moment I don't think I can join the P&C. DH works long hours and is not home in time for me to attend the meetings - I would have to hire a babysitter just to attend the meetings. Also judging from the responses here I don't think I would get very far.

Have just seen this (I type to slow!) our canteen committee is made up of 6 women. Each of us has a child in Yr 1 and at least one younger one with a mixture of SAHM and working parents. We meet after school at the local park or recently in the school holidays at the local pub with a play ground. You don't necessarily have to go to P&C meetings to make a difference in the canteen committee (only 3 of us 'do' P&C and canteen) but you won't know until you find out. Believe me, if your school is anything like ours we would be biting your hand off to get you involved with us!

[tazcan]

Committees I am on you can bring your children. DH works long hours. Sister has older children she has always been able to take children. Get involved...

My toddler would go beserk with tiredness if I were to drag him along to a 7 o'clock meeting - I wouldn't be able to settle him in the meeting and he would run around going mad. But I will approach the teacher and talk about the problems, if that doesn't work I will write to the principal and suggest some school guidelines about kindy kids sharing food/money need to be introduced.

Does anyone know when the Jamie Oliver show on healthy eating in Australian schools is screening? I think its still being filmed, but I look forward to seeing it.

[tazcan]

Go to your canteen committee and talk to them (if you don't have their details ask the P&C president), ask what you can do to help, become involved and try to get your friends involved too. It really doesn't require too much time commitment to make a hug difference to the ability to run a better canteen - even a half day once a term would be hugely helpful. We are finding most parents have little or no idea of how the canteen operates and don't give a damn so someone who cares and wants to make a difference would be hugely welcomed at the school my daughter is at.

Thank you, yes I think this is what I can do - approach the canteen committee and talk to them, after I find out who they are. There are enough volunteers at our canteen and they do make fresh sandwhiches. My main gripe is the sugary drinks on sale - these are unnecessary and very unhealthy. This thread has been useful - I didn't know there was such a thing as a canteen committee. Also I realise many parents do not share my concerns.

This post has been edited by tazcan: 23/04/2012, 08:37 PM

[GoneWithTheWhing...]

Not everyone has time to help and join the P&C. I struggle just to get through the week as it is. To me a healthy school canteen is a basic thing I would expect. Why should parents have to fight for it?

So who do you think should provide this canteen? If the P&C want control over the menu and pricing they have to run. Therefore the PARENTS have to be involved. If an outside company comes in and runs the canteen then the P&C relinquish control over the menu and pricing and the bottom line will be profit and ease to run.

Expect a healthy canteen all you want but if you're not willing to put your hand up and take some of the responsibility of it and donate a SMALL amount of your time to make it happen then it won't. If you're not willing to then why would anyone else?

[tazcan]

So who do you think should provide this canteen? If the P&C want control over the menu and pricing they have to run. Therefore the PARENTS have to be involved. If an outside company comes in and runs the canteen then the P&C relinquish control over the menu and pricing and the bottom line will be profit and ease to run.

Expect a healthy canteen all you want but if you're not willing to put your hand up and take some of the responsibility of it and donate a SMALL amount of your time to make it happen then it won't. If you're not willing to then why would anyone else?

Actually I would prefer no canteen to an unhealthy one. I didn't have a canteen in primary school and it wasn't a problem. I learnt to make my own lunch from a very young age and always made sure I had my lunch and everything I needed for the day.