A former school worker, who worked in education for more than a year, shared photos of his personal meal choices from eight school days, and everyone had the same thought
A former school employee has shared a week’s worth of his school dinners, prompting a unanimous reaction from people. School dinners are generally regulated while still showcasing a range of classic British dishes and popular choices such as sausages and mash, traditional roasts, fish and chips, shepherd’s pie and similar options.
Dessert typically includes offerings like sponge cake, custard, apple crumble, jam roly-poly and other sweet treats such as flapjacks or brownies. Schools must guarantee they’re delivering adequate portions of vegetables, carbohydrates and protein, with contemporary menus broadening to incorporate curries, chillis and pizza, though nostalgic classics frequently feature.
One man, who previously spent over a year working at a school, relished the daily school dinner and turned to Reddit to post a series of photographs showcasing his meals across eight school days.
The selection included fish, chips and peas with gravy; chilli, rice, potatoes, and garlic bread; another serving of fish, chips and gravy accompanied by mushy peas; chips, peas, pigs-in-blankets and a substantial breaded item; yet another helping of fish, chips, peas and gravy; sausages, mash, carrots and broccoli; curry, rice and chips; and lastly, a roast dinner.
In the caption alongside the photographs, he wrote: “I worked at a school. Selection of school dinners over 8 school days.”
The man, aged 36 and standing at 6ft 4″, expressed gratitude for the generous portions and sense of nostalgia provided at each mealtime.
In the comment section, he revealed: “I worked there for over a year and apart from the once in a blue moon curry days, they had gravy every dinner time.
“And it was f***ing great. I’m 36 though so the school dinner gravy was nostalgic as f***.”
In the comments section, fellow Reddit users were baffled by how frequently chips appeared on the menu.
Warning: some strong language, viewer discretion is advised
One person wrote: “I was a catering manager for a school and I wasn’t allowed to serve chips more than two times a week. Even though there were a lot of junk snacks, the meals were always nutritious.”
The man responded: “They had a system which would track the kids’ intake with a school pass. As an adult they would serve me anything I wanted.”
The former catering manager countered: “Ah, so this isn’t so much ‘the selection of school dinners’ (implying the whole options on display) as it is ‘your selection of school dinners’. So the school’s offering may not be as bad as your choices.”
The man replied: “Correct! Although from the point of view of a kid, from what I saw, their plate was not much different to mine even with dietary restrictions in place.
“I say they had options, but it was mostly just different forms of the same s***.”
Another person commented: “I don’t get this rule about chips. My niece’s school can have them once a week, and they’re oven baked chips.
“But there is calorie laden pizza covered in cheese available every day, which has a lot more fat/calories than a portion of oven chips”.
Another Reddit user said: “The canteen at the school I work in only serves chips once a week I think, but other than that it’s still almost entirely beige.”
Another shared: “It was no more than once every two weeks in my school. “
Someone else said: “It looks good but so unhealthy! Look what they serve kids in school in France, Italy, Spain, Korea and Japan!”
Others highlighted the substantial amount of gravy on offer. The man revealed he frequently felt very tired following his meal and shared: “I do remember joking that they must be putting something in the gravy because I’ve never really felt as lethargic after any meal other than the school dinners.”
