A Melbourne mother has received a figurative slap on the wrist from her child’s school for packing a lamington into a lunchbox.
The offending lamington was returned to the mum uneaten and accompanied by a note from the kindergarten. The computer-typed note explained that the child’s snack “doesn’t comply with the school’s nutrition policy” and asked the parent not to include it in her child’s lunchbox again.
The mum of the child pointed out to the lunchbox police that the lamington only contained 40 calories, or about 167 kilojoules, which is more than half the kilojoules in a Goodness Superfoods Better for U cereal bar which has a 4.5 star health rating and 524 kilojoulies, and is recommended by consumer watchdog Choice as one of the healthiest lunchbox snack bars.
The lamington was returned to the mum with a ‘lunchbox reminder’.
Despite public outrage, this isn’t the only lunchbox tale of its kind. A second mum, Siobhan heralding from the Gold Coast, was perplexed when her six-year-old son returned from school with his uneaten Chobani Greek yoghurt pouch and a message from the school that “these weren’t to return to school, they are unhealthy”.
“I found out it isn’t the yoghurt specifically.” Siobhan was perplexed when her son returned from school with his uneaten yoghurt pouch.
Speaking to Kidspot, Siobhan said she thought the yoghurt was healthy. Determined to get to the bottom of the debacle, she met with the teacher who had sent the boy home with a message for his mum.
“I found out it isn’t the yoghurt specifically. The school has just had a major crack down on packaging and the teachers have been told to keep an eye out for packaging in lunch boxes,” she said.
It turns out, this particular school wanted to be a ‘nude food school’ meaning parents are encouraged to use reusable tubes for snacks like yoghurt.
But what about the comment that the yoghurt was “unhealthy”? Siobhan explained: “[It] was more a lesson to the students that yoghurts can be good for you, but to be mindful that a lot of them do have lots of sugar in them which isn’t healthy.”
For healthy lunch options which (hopefully) won’t be sent home, check out these lunchbox ideas!
