What would you do?

I work in the same nursery as my 11 month old. We both joined the nursery together, and I'd not worked there previously, so it's all new! I'm absolutely appalled at the lack of nutritional meals they provide across the nursery. Some examples of meals 1. Store brand chicken nuggets and shop bought guacamole 2. Store brand cheese twists with shop bought tomato salsa 3. Roasted vegetables - no source of protein or carb There are just a few meals they are providing. The chef is awful, and half the meals are thrown in the bin, causing a wastage and children going hungry. I've spoken to the manager several times because my baby who is in the baby room also suffers and I've expressed my concerns as a parent. The menu was changed but it is still terrible. I don't know what else to do! They are supposed to provide homecooked nutritional meals but they don't.

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My eldest goes to nursery 4 days a week, my youngest will be going 3 days a week. That’s too much time every week at nursery to be served crap food, or food they won’t eat. If I wasn’t happy with what they were cooking, I wouldn’t send them there. I’m not against chicken nuggets, or store bought things etc, I’m all for a bit of everything in moderation, but it’s got to be served as part of a wider menu that is nutritionally dense and well balanced. Part of the reason we loved the nursery is because the menu is fantastic, such a broad range of foods are made, it’s different every week and the chef is great- the children get involved in helping him make food, he cooks tasters for stay and plays for parents, we see photos of what he’s made and my eldest eats like a horse when he’s there! If you aren’t happy and things won’t change or improve, I’d be looking for other options.

Totally agree. When I went for the show around back in January (when the plan was for me to return to my previous role but got made redundant in July) they sold me a whole narrative of home cooked and nutritional etc but it isn't that alot of the time Lunches are generally OK, cottage pie , pasta bolognaise, fish pie etc but tea are abysmal. I'm not adverse to chicken nuggets at all but my 11 month old has not had them until this week attending nursery and it's something I was conscious of not giving until over a year due to the lack of nutrients value in them, specially the shop own brand which is absolutely vile. I will be complaining again but this time to the Ceo to the nursery I'm not even sure they are aware at the meals provided Thanks for your message

Hmm- sometimes tea time can be a lighter snacky type meal in some settings, especially if they’ve offered a more substantial home cooked style meal at lunch time- obviously again that depends on what breakfast and snacks are like too. If it’s just the tea time meal that’s a concern then I might not feel as strongly about moving setting. But again, that’s because I know that I could feed them something at home after I’ve picked them up, but not every parent has the ability to do that! If the rest of the menu isn’t great either, and still absolutely valid is your point about children not liking it and going hungry, then I’d absolutely want to take it further to see what their response was before making a decision! I wonder if the other parents really know about the food their little ones are getting or not eating 😔

@Chloe this is the thing, parents are totally unaware of the quality of the food. As a nursery worker, we update the parents on every meal via an app and specify how much or how little they've eaten but they have no idea of the food quality. Some of the meals I wouldn't even give to my cat but it's being served 😔 I totally understand that lunch is a hearty meal but when kids are not even eating that, they're going hungry all day because tea is also inadequate. I always feed my baby at home in the evening because I know my baby will be hungry when I collect them and especially as tea is served at 3 30 and I don't finish until 6pm. I think I'm going to mention it again anyway and see where I go! If no action is taken then I'll go further

I personally wouldn’t be happy with this menu, potentially look elsewhere to put your LO in nursery?x

Oh god, it sounds dreadful! I’d be very grateful as a parent to know you had the inside info of how bad it is and were going to try and get some improvements made!!!

@Hollie yes this is also an option but I feel for the other children who attend the setting So I'm going to try and see if I can get changes made before I decide to leave and move on. It's awful 😖 thankfully I get reduced fees as I work for the company. I was going to be paying full fee if I went back to my previous job.. imagine if I didn't work there and had no inside knowledge. That's what heartbreaking about this x

Potentially raise it above your manager? If they are saying they are doing X,Y &Z and aren’t then potentially an external review needs to happen? Hopefully you can get sorted x

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