Mum receives mixed reactions over her child’s packed lunch: “Looks perfectly fine to me”
- Replies 16
In a popular Facebook group, one mum decided to share a photo of her child’s packed lunch for the day, which was served in an ALDI lunch box and container. Seems innocent enough right?
The meal included some biscuits with Vegemite, yoghurt, a box of popcorn, some grapes and pickled onions, and a ham-and-mayo sandwich. Still nothing wrong there eh?
However, the mum never expected the reactions that would follow from what is supposed to be an innocent post about her kid’s meal.
One mum’s photo of her kid’s lunchbox prompted a lot of discussions in a Facebook group. Credit: Facebook.
Some members pointed out that having her kid bring a ham sandwich to school, in the middle of the unusually intense summer heat, would cause the meat to spoil and potentially cause food poisoning.
One mum complained: “Never gave my children meat on their school lunches in the summer heat. Even if you put an ice brick in their lunch box it soon gets hot.”
She added that since the classrooms don’t have a fridge for the children to keep their lunch in, their food may go bad because of the heat.
“They won’t get sick if they go without just one food item, but could get food poisoning from meat that has gone off. Plenty of other food items you can use as a substitute,” she said.
However, the mum’s comment also received a wave of backlash from fellow group members, most of them saying that bringing meat in lunchboxes is perfectly fine.
One member replied: “You look like you are from almost the same era as me. Bags hung outside the class all day. The only thing keeping our lunches cool was a frozen drink bottle and we all survived without food poisoning.”
Another mum added: “You are being rude. The lunches stay cold these days with ice bricks being better than they were even five years ago. My kid’s lunch comes home still cold every day.”
“I had ham sandwiches at school when I was a kid, not ice bricks, I lived to tell the tale,” wrote a third.
In another part of the comments section, people were arguing over a different topic – the ham and mayonnaise combination on the sandwich.
“Mayo on ham?!! Ew,” wrote one person, which was then flooded with replies.
“Soooooo rude,” said one mum, while another agreed and added: “Used to be one of my favourite combos as a kid. Calling someone else’s lunch ewww? Ewww.”
Meanwhile, the people who decided to stay out of either argument instead complimented the mum for a job well done in giving her kid a well-balanced meal.
“Please don’t feel you have to justify yourself to the food police, they are rather ignorant - a healthy diet is about being able to have everything in moderation,” one mum commented.
A second mum took a jab at the commenters and said: “Do people still actually judge others on what they pack for their child's lunch? Wow. Sadly, some children still get sent to school with NO food. PS: this lunch looks perfectly fine to me.”
Lots of fuss over the kid’s school lunchbox! What do you think, is it safe to bring cooked meat to school during the summer, or not?
And if you’re looking for more lunchbox ideas for the grandkids, check out this video below of a QLD mum preparing her kid’s school lunchbox. The heart-shaped sandwiches are a very cute touch!
Credit: Ash Jackson.