As schools consider reopening for the Fall semester, parents are concerned about whether or not things will be safe. This is especially true when it comes to school lunches. Overwhelmed parents are seeing it as just one more thing to add to their long list of concerns. “Because we needed even more to fill our 2 a.m. anxiety-fueled thoughts, right?” mom Amy Wright lamented to Mom.com. “But do some families have a choice? They don’t.”
It’s a well-taken point. While those who can will likely choose to send their children with their own homemade lunch where they can control what is eaten as well as limiting exposure, not every household is able to do so. Just because a family must rely on the school lunch program doesn’t mean they aren’t concerned about safety in these uncertain times. We dug into the details to see what schools are doing to keep kids safe when it comes to cafeteria meals.
What will school lunches look like during COVID?
Are safety measures enough?
Nothing is an absolute guarantee. With more people gathering at schools throughout the day, there is simply more exposure. Schools are adding a lot of new processes to help keep kids safe. This includes eating in the classroom and extra cleaning of tables and seats where kids will eat. The cafeteria will have higher standards set to reduce food contact and ultimate exposure to the virus.
“The kitchen at schools will have protocols to introduce high safety measures so the likelihood is that this will be as safe as possible,” Dr. Aragona continued. “The only way to guarantee no contamination though will be by providing homemade packed lunches for your child or children.”
Even by providing your own homemade lunch, remember that your children will be around other people, teachers, students, staff. It isn’t just the lunch that we need to be concerned with when sending our children back to school – we need to teach our children to be vigilant and pro-active when it comes to keeping themselves safe during the pandemic.
