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| °CORDON VERT |
| COOKERY SCHOOL |
| Most of us have had
memories of school dinners, but imagine the extra difficulty vegetarian
children face in getting meals that are both nutritious and enjoyable. Heather Salmon examines the problems facing parents and children who want to see.
Sending a child to school on the first day is always a time of mixed emotions. Looking on, as my son gave one last wave and entered the classroom, I could only hope that somehow I had prepared him to cope with all the new experiences he would now encounter. He could fasten his own shoes, sometimes remembered to flush the loo and could sing the alphabet rhyme beautifully, although what it meant remained a mystery. However, when it came to food and mealtimes, I now look back and wonder if he was inadvertently over-educated.
I was a vegetarian long before either of my two children were born and so it was natural that they too would follow the same diet. This presented no great problem, as even during my pregnancy I had an open-minded doctor who could see that my health was in no way impaired by the absence of meat. I have always taken great care that the food I serve is fresh and not overcooked, and with plenty of variety there is no reason why a vegetarian child should be deficient in the necessary vitamins and minerals.
Last year my daughter started school and was provided with a hot dinner every day but this provision is very much the exception. The difficulties my son experienced a couple of years earlier unfortunately still prevail in many areas and vegetarian schoolchildren invariably lose out.
Our small school was more than willing to help with providing suitable school dinners, even though Tom was virtually the only vegetarian. However, all did not go well and day after day he came home hungry.
The meat part of the dinner was replaced by a piece of cheese, a boiled egg or something which, to Tom, just didn't seem fair. The other children were given what to him was classed as a 'proper' meal such as a casserole or pie and for the first time he felt different and left out. Being a vegetarian took on a whole new meaning; it meant making a fuss that no one else could understand and doing without. To my great embarrassment it was not long before he started to refuse the vegetarian dish and start asking for the same as everyone else. Having never eaten meat in his life he was now tucking into shepherd's pie and cowboy casserole. I was dismayed but then, given the alternatives, who could blame him? Vegetarian cooking doesn't just mean leaving the meat off the plate but to many schools this is still the case. Like many vegetarian parents I realised that packed lunches were the only alternative.
But even here, there are drawbacks. To some parents, lunchboxes mean letting the child have whatever is convenient and filling. Consequently your child may be surrounded by an endless supply of crisps, chocolate and fizzy drinks. The pressure to conform can be very difficult for youngsters and unless you can come up with a variety of appetizing goodies it won't be long before your child starts to bemoan his lack of junk food.
In Tom's lunchboxes I concentrated on foods that are easy to handle and quick to eat, yet packed with goodness too. This way, slow eaters won't miss out on valuable playtime and won't find a soggy mess in their bag after it's been thrown about a few times. I'm afraid that if packed lunches are going to survive they have to be thoroughly childproof. At our local school I was relieved to find that sweets, chocolate and fizzy drinks were banned, making life a whole lot easier. If this does not apply to your school it might be a good idea to suggest it!
However, the sad fact of it is that while your children are away from home you can never be sure how they will eat. It becomes even more important, therefore, that their dinners at home contain enough variety for a balanced diet.
It is disappointing that whilst food and nutrition have been included on the national curriculum there are still some schools failing to set a practical example by offering wholesome school dinners to cater for all tastes. Our understanding of nutrition has increased dramatically over the past few years and it is no longer acceptable to serve poor quality dinners which will affect children's lifelong eating habits.
The standard of catering that your vegetarian child can expect at school is presently determined by where you live and the school's policies. I am glad to say that Oxfordshire County Council has taken the issue seriously and has completely upgraded the approach to school dinners. For the last year, it has offered a full range of healthy meals, including a vegetarian choice, available every day. It now means that even small schools like ours can welcome vegetarians adequately and can also introduce other children to the idea of vegetarian food. Consequently both of my children are now happy to stay to school dinner.
Let's hope that more councils soon follow suit by making healthy vegetarian dinners available in all of our schools - and not just leaving it to Mum!
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