Im a teacher and Im horrified what our school sells in the school tuck shop!

The kids are aged 11-13 (intermediate) and the school is in a high decile area so good food and nutrition is not an issue. The kids are able to buy iceblocks, fizzy drinks and sweet lollies after 20 mins of lunch/buying eatting time.

Apparently the reason forthe selling of rubbish is that its a lot more profitable than good food and it sells.

The women in the tuck shop just unpack food and serve - they dont plan and cook from scratch at all.

I know I should be doing something about this but my job as a teacher is really busy and as Ive approached the principal before - it just seems in the too hard basket.

Do others have similar experiences with school tuck shops? I do know my sons options at a primary school are Pita Pit OR Subway so at least its a savoury sandwich with a cookie as the the only sugary treat.

Vanessa

My son has had Pita Pit and sushi as a regular option at school. At one point they could order a hot meal that was delivered to school at lunch time - which changed daily it was generally things like Spaghetti bolognaise, lasagne, macaroni cheese. Or they could order a sandwhich + cheese and fruit. I am not sure if any of those options other than the pita pit option are current now though.

My older kids had the usual suspects available at high school with not many healthy options either.
I agree though I think generally lunch options for our children are pretty terrible which is why I pack a lunch daily for my little one, as I did for my older kids.

Vanessa perhaps this would be something one of your active and health conscious parent groups/could highlight as an issue for their children and find some alternative ways of raising some money and push for healthier options for the school rather than peddling junk to the kids. Not good for growing minds,bodies etc.. I am sure there will be someone that feels similarly to you that might be in a position to do something. You could just start by asking them what their thoughts are on the tuck shop options?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2014 05:42AM by Sunday.

Well, as the contracted operator of a primary school tuck shop, I see both sides of this situation. I operate 1 day per week in a decile 10 school. My situation is a little different from yours because it is only 1 day per week and a primary school, but thought I'd chime in anyway.

As a parent, I believe in nutritious food, but I also believe in treats, and in this situation, parental choice. My children only get lunch orders once per term ;-)

When I first opened the tuck shop at this school, about 5 years ago now, I consulted the principal, deputy and the school board about the menu. They pretty much said "no fizzy drinks or even juice, no lollies or chocolate - other than that, we don't care". The deputy principal particularly wanted me to offer fruit, so I did.

The rest of the menu consists of pies, sausage roll, hot dog, mini pizza, filled rolls, sushi, homemade cookies and slice, chippies, donuts, popcorn, pretzels etc and flavoured milk and water. Probably what one would categorise as crap - but no lollies or fizzy drinks like your school.

After 2 years and selling a grand total of 13 pieces of fruit (bananas and apples were on offer), I asked the deputy if I could drop it from the menu as it was costing me money to stock it and not have it sell. Over the years I have also trialed other hot options such as spaghetti bolognese, pasta and sauce (all made by me - not icky packet stuff), bran muffins of various sorts, and none of it sold enough to be able to continue doing.

At the end of 2 years, I also did a parental survey, asking for opinions on menu items and such and if there as anything they'd like added or removed. I received over 200 responses for a 400 family school, so not too bad. The overwhelming majority said they were perfectly happy with the offerings, as many used it as a treat or incentive for their kids. Only a very small amount asked for more freshly prepared foods - but considering I'm only open 1 day per week that can be impractical and cost prohibitive.

My biggest seller is a frank in a bun with sauce, followed by pies, sushi, sausage rolls, pizzas and trailing an extremely distant last, is filled rolls. I'd sell about 50 hot dogs and 35 pies per week, and maybe 4 filled rolls.

My point is, just because the options are there, doesn't mean people use them.

It also depends on how your tuck shop operates - is it part of the school or an outside contractor? If it is part of the school, is it there to provide a service or to make money? In order to make money, it needs to stock things that will actually sell, not necessarily lots of fresh items that don't sell, have to get thrown away and cost the operation money.

I get where you're coming from, and in this particular situation I think your second paragraph sums up my opinion:

"the school is in a high decile area so good food and nutrition is not an issue. "

If the tuck shop is not the main source of nutrition for these children, then I don't see so much of a problem. Sure, it's not ideal and not what you would choose for your family, but I don't think only selling nuts and milk is the answer. However, I don't think cutting out the fizzy drinks would be a bad idea at all.

An interesting observation passed on to me by the owner of a company that contracts tuck shop services to a large number of schools across Auckland.. the lower the decile of the school, the more business their tuck shop gets. Therefore I think lower decile areas are another situation entirely. Many of these children don't receive great nutritional options at home and I think the school should provide these if they run a tuck shop service. Especially since many children in these areas order their lunches every day of the week.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2014 05:47AM by Jenna.

My younger son at mid decile Primary School has a very limited lunch menu - sandwiches, muffins and pizza.

My elder son at a mid decile Intermediate School has a menu similar to what you both have described- pies, spaghetti buns, filled rolls etc..

I do agree that often the lower the decile the more the children order their lunch.

Kids are drawn to the more exciting, takeaway items of course, and less drawn to the healthier options. So any operator wanting to make a profit has to offer what is going to sell.

When I was at intermediate (circa 1979/80) my regular lunch was a packet of salt and vinegar chips and a "toffee milk", sometimes supplemented by a cup of soup from a packet. I have no idea if my mother knew, I had a paper round so could afford to spend money that my mother didn't know about. I was also very fit and healthy as I had a good breakfast and dinner, and did competitive swimming and three diffferent dance styles. This anecdote has no point, other than to say, kids will usually eat crap, given the choice!

Some years back I worked in the tuck shop at a high decile intermediate school & whilst we had a mix of healthy & non healthy food it was an even par what was sold. I did a little survey when at one point we stopped selling the unhealthy food & found the local dairy got the business both before & after school so I figured if that was what the kids wanted then they would seek it out.

There was no tuck-shop then, but in the mid 50's when 'ordering your lunch' came into being at the primary school I attended, I used to look forward to being allowed to buy my lunch a couple of times a month. It was a REAL treat for me! Always I ordered a mince pie and a cream bun (or sometimes a doughnut). There were also sandwiches on the menu and cakes. Everything was baked and delivered by the one and only Tea Rooms of the small country town. The doughnuts I can still taste their unique flavour in the flavour memories of my mind - yum! Certainly was a treat for me.

Useless information, but wonderful memories! Thanks for jogging my mind.
Regards,
Dawn.

Jenna makes a great point about the tuck shop being a treat - like it was back in the good old days. I used to get some pocket money and go and buy a custard pie or an iced doughnut - no way would I have spent it on a filled roll or fruit.

I guess it all depends on how often kids are using the tuck shop. If its once a month - let them eat cake!

I reckon they should bring back cooked school lunches - I love how my kids are fed at their Kindy - homemade soup, curries, lasagnes, casseroles etc.... they also get pizza and some treats like fairy bread bread occasionally or a homemade biscuit, but I know my kids are getting a decent lunch during the day - also makes my life easier!!!

I guess it would require supervision though and teachers have enough to sort out without extra work....

Like Dawn, we had no tuck-shop when I was at school. Primary school was in a country area and there wasn't even a dairy within quick walking distance, so it was Mum's cut lunches. Thinking back, she had always tried to balance the lunch, sandwiches (usually our choice of fillings), a biscuit or two, homemade, of course plus a piece of fruit and sometimes a hardboiled egg. Did we appreciate her efforts? Of course not, at least until many years later.
At College we were allowed to buy our lunch on Mondays. A lot of us made a beeline for a lunchbar where most of the food was hand or homemade. Invariably, I chose a Cornish Pasty. I can still taste those pasties, today.
I have a friend in England who recently retired from working in a school kitchen. She went through the period when suddenly some woke up to the fact that healthy food was actually preferable, yet they still had to make a profit. Out went the deep fried chips, much to the horror of those who loved those. The lunches were a mix of both hot and cold foods. After a settling down period it was found that a large number of children would choose a wrap. They tried doing stuffed baked potatoes but they weren't a good seller.
It would probably be rather difficult to recruit enough busy parents to work or help in the school kitchen on a regular basis and those who would want to help are probably (hopefully) providing a balanced diet for their own children.