Are school lunch services changing with the times? How healthy is the food and can schools actually afford to run them?

Without meaning to imply (or remind you!) that we are all getting old, the world is a different place now than when we were kids. Chances are that the way we are raising our children is vastly different to how we were raised. It’s not better or worse, it’s just different.

Social dynamics have changed, our use of technology has changed and the typical way in which families live and work, has changed. Our lives are, quite simply, busier and our reliance on food delivery services reflects this. Let’s take a look at some stats:

23% of us order our weekly groceries online

33% of us use meal delivery services every couple of months

AND, drum roll please …

76% of parents plan to spend money on school lunch orders each year

This is where school canteens come in. The numbers above paint a very clear picture about how busy parents interact with school food services. They rely on them. Not only is the school canteen a welcome treat for children, but it becomes a lifeline for families trying to juggle work and life!

I read an article recently on mottpoll.org. They reported that 97% of parents agree that eating habits during childhood will have a lifelong impact on their child’s health. However, only one third of those parents were confident that they were doing a good job in shaping their child’s eating habits. When talking about the main challenges they faced here, 52% said that healthy food was not convenient.

And for me, there lies problem Number One.

As parents, we NEED a convenient food solution for our children. As parents, we WANT our children to eat healthily. So, it begs the question, are school canteens able to meet BOTH these needs?

During our initial stages of market research for LunchFox, back in 2019, I was shocked at some of the canteen menus I came across. Now don’t get me wrong, I am pretty relaxed about what my children eat and am a firm believer in treats being part of a healthy diet. However, when my children are at school and need fuel for a long day of learning, party pies and two-minute noodles are not what I want to be feeding them! An article on theconversation.com backs me up, saying: “We know the current system is failing to support children’s growth, health and development. More than one-third of the food students eat at school is unhealthy” In this day and age, we shouldn’t have to sacrifice health, for convenience. Especially where school lunches are concerned.

The second problem, as I see it, is the way in which school canteens are run.

We know that schools rely on parent volunteers to run their tuck shop and/or canteen. However, we also know that family dynamics are changing: it’s becoming more and more usual for both parents to work, meaning volunteers are increasingly hard to come by. Schools have a decision to make here. They either pay existing staff members to manage their food service (which is costly and time consuming) or they shut the canteen altogether. With SBS Online reporting a 20% reduction in school canteen services over the last three years, it seems many are forced into the latter.

Currently in Australia, the Federation of Canteens in Schools are planning a roundtable event, to discuss and “develop innovative measures to keep school canteens open and financially viable.” The LunchFox team have submitted an expression of interest to take part in this event. With an award-winning app that allows parents to order healthy school lunches from local cafes, we have a solution that champions healthy eating, that costs schools nothing to set up and run and removes the need for parent volunteers entirely.

We are passionate and eager to share our vision for an easier, healthier school lunch solution and truly believe that this is the way forward, for the school lunch industry.

If the matters discussed in this blog are of interest to you and your school, we would love to hear from you. Similarly, if LunchFox sounds like the perfect solution for you, send us an email to info@lunchfox.com.au

Written by Louise Fisher

LunchFox Founder