د . إAEDSRر . س

Maltese Parents Discuss What’s Acceptable For School Lunches And Confusion Ensued

Article Featured Image

An online discussion about suitable food for school lunches ending up showing just how confusing Malta’s school lunch system has gotten.

In the past, you could go to school with a sandwich, grab some school-supplied milk for dessert, and you were sorted. 

Parents now discussed schools banning some types of “unhealthy” items, like crackers or ham, and teachers checking lunch-boxes to confiscate the items.

Some parents complained that schools were getting too involved in lunches, with some schools allegedly banning yoghurt “for being too messy”.

“Let kids be kids man, some chocolate and junk food won’t kill them,” one person said. “Moderation is better than abstinence”. 

“I send my son to schools to learn, not to be checked for his lunch,” another mother said.

Screen Shot 2017 11 02 At 17 26 34

On the other hand, a lot of parents understood that some foods were less healthy than others, and that some parents were sending their children with unhealthy food every day. They feared this would eventually blossom into lifelong obesity for the child.

“Ham is a processed junk,” one user said. “When are we going to take food seriously in this country?”

Another mother even elaborated on the issue, saying this goes beyond the issue of health and more into what certain mothers send their children with to school. “It is not about the healthy part, but about neglect!”

Screen Shot 2017 11 02 At 17 39 45

While some parents condemned the teachers for looking into children’s lunch-boxes and confiscating their crackers, others pointed out that the teachers would just be following school policy.

Like most online discussions however, no clear answer was decided upon, leaving the lessons to be learnt another day.

What do you think about school lunches in Malta? What measures should schools and teachers take? Let us know in the comments below. 

READ NEXT: 19 School Lunches Every Maltese Person Remembers Too Well

Johnathan is an award-winning Maltese journalist interested in social justice, politics, minority issues, music and food. Follow him at @supreofficialmt on Instagram, and send him news, food and music stories at [email protected]

You may also love

View All