Does Your School Provide A gluten-free Lunch For Your Kids?

[Nebraskamommy]

I just realized that our daycare, since they participate in the federal lunch program, must provide gluten-free meals for my son. I am sooooo happy! I thought he was destined to eat cold lunch from a bag for the rest of his daycare and school days! Not to mention the amount of time and money this will save me.

So my question is, for those of you who's kids eat the school provided lunch, have you had any major issues and what are you doing to keep your kids safe? The food program supervisor has Celiacs, so i was asking her about CC and she felt pretty confident that the risk is low. She said they have to follow proper steps because of all the kids with life threatening allergies, like eggs and milk.

[mamaw]

By law  the  schools  have to provide a  hot meal  ... Our  schools  are  not so good&  can't  say  we  trust  them.....   we  have  lunch  monitors  who  have  no training....to prevent  cross  contamination.....the  elementary  school was  better  than  the  high  schools....but  things  got  worse with  the  Obama lunch  plans...  Our  high  school  lids  went  through the  line  & asked  for a plan burger  with no  bun  &  the  lunch lady  got into a  fight  with  our  kid  about  eating  whole grains  because the  school  would get into trouble  if  they  didn't  enforce the  Obama whole  food plan... of  course  our kids  said  look  on the computer  we  have celiac  & can't eat  the  bun.... So  for  two  days  our  kids  got  no lunch  at  school because  the  monitor wouldn't  serve  them..The  second  day she  sent  the  kids to the  principle's  office  for  taking up time  in the  lunch  line & not  following  the  Obama  food Plan.  That is when we went  to school &  threatened a law  suit....so NO we  don't  trust  that  some lay person  will take care  of  our celiac  kids big or  small...  The  school does not  get  in gluten-free food .. THe  kids  now  can get the plan  burger, hot dog no  bun or  a  salad....but  a  hot  dog  for a  16  year old  isn't  much to last  all day & they are  not  allowed  to buy  2  hot  dogs! 

There was  a  different  food service  one  year  &  the students  had  a salad  bar  to  make  a large  salad  with  chicken ... the  new service  thinks  hot dogs  are  more  nutritional,,,,,  go figure that  one out...

You may have lucked  out  with a  person in charge  having  celiac  but  then again I know  many celiac people  that  have  been celiac  for  many years  & they  get glutened  all the time  because  they don't  understand  the  lifestyle   so  who needs  them to  help someone else...

[StephanieL]

Can we PLEASE leave Obama out of this?  Really?  For MOST kids, they are really trying to improve things by adding whole grains and more fruits and veggies.  That is a good thing.  For most kids.

To the OP- While in theory yes they do have to, how well they do it may lead you to want to keep packing lunches.  I have seen some gluten-free menu's and they are "salad, yogurt, applesauce, milk"  or "bunless burger, yogurt, applesauce and milk".  So yes, they legally need to but a) are they going to do it right and keep your child safe/healthy? and b ) will your child eat it?  

[Marilyn R]

Can we puleese allow members to post their opinions without repercussion, Stephaniet?

[StephanieL]

Can we puleese allow members to post their opinions without repercussion, Stephaniet?

If it was posted about the bills passed for foods in school, I would say 100% yes!  Why is this "Obama's" lunch plan?  Why not the congresses lunch plan?  You know it has to pass over several peoples desk right?  So the opinion that the bill sucks would have been one thing but to put the blame on Obama is really just silly.  

[africanqueen99]

I didn't ask my daughter's school to provide a gluten-free lunch in her 504 Plan because I don't want them to worry about it.  Frankly, to me, it's not worth the stress of worrying that it's safe for her when I can send in a nutritious meal that won't make her sick.  I even went as far as closing her lunch account (which isn't an easy task).

 

With a quality thermos she can have hot food.

[SMRI]

Just because they offer a "gluten free" meal, doesn't mean it is prepared to avoid cross contamination.  I wouldn't trust the school to ensure everything was gluten-free, especially if they are only preparing it for one child or a few children.

 

A lot of schools do not provide lunch at all.  Where is the "law" that they must provide a hot lunch.

 

As for the political rants.....Bush wanted Ketchup to be classified as a vegetable....

[cyclinglady]

My 13 year old daughter (negative for celiac disease) has not purchased a school lunch since the first grade. I beg her at times to to buy it, but she refuses. I can not blame her. I have seen and tasted it! It is not so bad making lunches. We use a thermos a lot!

It is great that your provider has celiac disease. I would feel confident if she were doing the food prep and serving and not another employee. I was at the University and the chef assured me that they have gluten-free options and that one of his employees was gluten-free. I talked to her (she did not have celiac disease or NCGI) as I watched her cross contaminate food!

Heck, even hospitals do not follow proper steps for allergies (they kept serving me milk and eggs).

Good luck, it is a hard position to be in.

[Marilyn R]

If it was posted about the bills passed for foods in school, I would say 100% yes!  Why is this "Obama's" lunch plan?  Why not the congresses lunch plan?  You know it has to pass over several peoples desk right?  So the opinion that the bill sucks would have been one thing but to put the blame on Obama is really just silly.  

Thank you so much for the elementary re-education in civics, but you completely missed the point.  A mother was helping another mother.  

[mamaw]

Back in our  neck of the  woods  the  lunch  plan was  the Obama  Plan  since  it was  Michele  Obama  who  put  into  action... had  nothing to do with politics.....but  since  "the Plan"  became reality  our  school  kids  have  suffered so   it  isn't  so great  for  everyone....A beautiful  full salad  bar  was  taken away  in place  of  a  hot dog.... some  parents  know  there  kid  will not  eat  veggies   so  at  lunch ,the kid  must  take  the  food & pitches  it  in the trash & parents are paying for this... (The  fresh fruit  is  disgusting....&  usually not  washed  so  the kids  are also  eating  pesticides.)

 ... Now  the  evening  meal is  where  these  parents  can  have  their  child  eat some veggies  to try to teach them  ...that  is  where  some are  angry about  the plan....

And  I  honestly  don't  feel  it is the goverment's  job   to  tell us  what  we can  & can not  eat...remember  these  foods  (bad)  would  not  be on the  market  if  they  were  monitored in the  first  place...like  the  GMO"S  we  are  partaking  in  on a  daily basis...I believe  the  parents  should  be in  charge  not an office  who  knows  nothing  about your  child's  health or eating  habits  &  yes, some  parents  are  NOT doing a  good  job on  food choices for  their children..

And  my personal  opinion  is wheat  is  not the  staff of  life    for  anyone!!!!

[bartfull]

I don't think your school is following the guidelines if they took away salad and replaced it with a hot dog. The new menu is supposed to be heavy on fruits and vegetables and low on salt. Hot dogs are notorious for being high sodium.

 

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[mamaw]

Bartful,  Exactly ...... some  schools  have  failed  ..... We  have a few  private schools  in the  area  & they  are  doing a wonderful  job   of  serving nutritional  balanced   lunches  that  look amazing... kids  with  food  issues  are getting  the  best  of the  best...but  these  schools cost  a lot  of  cash!

[africanqueen99]

It is great that your provider has celiac disease. I would feel confident if she were doing the food prep and serving and not another employee.

And this is why I would NEVER allow the school to feed my kid.  That's great that the person in charge knows all about CC, but what about the day that she's sick, or takes a week vacation, or has a baby and is out for a couple of months.  Who pays?  The kid that is sick at school.

 

Ugh.  Some days I dread making lunch because we are running behind.  And that's why I have a crate of GoPicnics ready to go - have the kid grab one and *bam* lunch is ready!