Question for moms with kids in school

[Erin Pavlina]

Do you guys mainly pack a lunch for your children or do they eat in the cafeteria?

What do you pack your kids for lunch, usually?

[Teejay]

Always packed lunch -- there is never anything vegan in the cafeteria.

Sandwiches with fruit and maybe some kind of treat, plus usually a juice box or a small soy milk or rice milk box. When there was a microwave in the classroom, my child would sometimes take along a portion of the previous night's meal to heat, which she saw as a treat, though not generally keen on microwaves -- just the thrill of being able to have a hot meal at school in winter like the other kids!

[capersmama]

If my children were in school (we homeschool) I most likely would prepare lunches myself. Im having a hard enough time getting answers from different manufacturers of products on the possible content of animal by-products..I can only imagine the red tape I would have to go through in a school setting as to what products they use and the product information.

[sophie]

I pack a lunch for my son each day (he's 5 and a half), they have no cafeteria at his school. He usually has sandwiches (peanut butter or marmite or avocado), using our homemade organic whole-wheat bread:) , plus some crackers with a different spread, plus a muesli bar or muffin, plus two pieces of fruit, and a bottle of water. Once he started school I was worried he'd be hungry as usually he'd eat CONSTANTLY all day:p , but he got used to it, and always has a big chow-down when he gets home!

[Laura]

I pack my son's lunch, the cafeteria's mostly meat centered and over-processed. I send him some juice or chocolate soy milk, some carrots, some apple slices and usually half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on ezekiel bread. They eat lunch early at his school and he's usually not very hungry so most of it comes back. I may just start sending juice and a fake-bologna or fake-turkey sandwich with a vegan cheese slice. He's afraid the other kids will see him eating it and think he's eating meat and cheese and that they won't believe that they're vegan, but I told him it doesn't matter what they think (I think I remember my mother telling me that!) and that he can just tell them

[Erin Pavlina]

That's an interesting perspective. A lot of parents want to send their kids with stuff that looks exactly like the stuff the other kids are eating so they will think he's NOT vegan.

It sounds to me like your child is going to be just fine. He seems to have a strong confidence in being vegan, which is great. The teasing thing... we have to handle that the way we'd handle teasing for any other reason. I guess as parents we have to go through it all whether we're vegan or not.

[michelle]

Hi there,

My daughter always has a packed lunch which she packs herself. She never has any trouble at school about being vegan. She takes cheating chicken sandwiches, crisps, fruit, juice, well whatever she wants. One day she took hummus which she loves, but it spilt everywhere. She wont do that again.
She also has no problem when it comes to cooking as she just finds out what they are coking and takes in vegan ingredents for what they are making.
The cooking teacher is vegetarian so that is quite useful, she is very understanding and does know waht vegans can and cannot have.

Michelle:)

[Erin Pavlina]

MIchelle, excellent. Your daughter is very lucky. :)

[Lesley Dove]

Nothing all that special really.
My son usually has peanut butter sandwiches (or sometimes cheatin ham or cheatin chicken), juice, banana, biscuit, a few raisins, and hula hoops or crisps.
My daughter usually has cheatin ham or cheatin chicken sandwiches, juice, a small soya dessert or soya yogurt, biscuit, an apple or a few grapes and a few raisins.
They like slightly different things.
We don't know any other vegans at the same school unfortunately.

Lesley