Fairy bread may be a treat for kids’ parties and a nice slice of nostalgia for parents, but it has no place in schools | Kara Jung and Lynton Grace

With Aussie schoolyard lunchbox staples such as ham and cheese sandwiches even honey looking to get the flick, it’s time for parents to get with the new age cook book program.

Kara Jung and Lynton Grace have differing views when it comes to fairy bread.

When it comes to feeding kids – especially picky ones – deputy digital editor Kara Jung says there are 100 and 1000s of reasons to fume over the heavily politicised school lunch. But community news editor Lynton Grace, who says parents who disagree are off with the fairies – arguing teachers have enough on their plates without dealing with sugar highs. So should fairy bread in schools really be toast?

No, let parents decide how to nourish their kids: Kara Jung

Imogen, 7, and Elouise, 5, are excited to eat fairy bread at their home in Woodcroft. Picture: Ben Clark

From calorie counting to gluten-free, fruit quotas, rubbish-free to nut-free and the ever-growing pressure to be the perfect parent, the school lunch has become heavily politicised.

Now the list of Education Department’s Red Foods – which covers either “banned foods” or “twice a term” foods – is growing.

In South Australia, the humble fairy bread, jam, honey and even pickled vegetables are in the firing line. In WA, ham and cheese sandwiches are being banned from school canteens.

Honestly, apart from being exhausting it’s also completely out of line.

My husband and I are our children’s parents, not the Education Department.

Our family is constantly making decisions about what foods make it into the shopping trolley, what to order from the school canteen and when to enjoy a treat at a special school fundraising event. It’s a family discussion and not always an easy one – especially when you have picky eaters who one week will consume so many bananas you can’t buy enough, only for them to rot in the fruit bowl the following week.

We educate our children about what foods fuel their body and their lunchboxes are largely wholesome with the occasional fritz sandwich … which, even though the guidelines do not specifically apply to kids’ lunchboxes, I now feel as though I should feel guilty about – especially if it sits besides a chocolate-drizzled muesli bar. Oh my! 

When it comes to lunchboxes, it seems there is no more thinking outside the box.

Racing to pack school lunches the other day, I tried to wrap a salad roll in clingwrap because it woudn’t fit in the tupperware we use 99.99 per cent of the time. I was greeted with appalled gasps. My children refused to take it for fear of “getting in trouble”. 

The refused to take it.

While I’m not the homemade-kale-sushi-lunch-box mum, my children mostly have fresh and healthy food at school and at home.

On the occasion they don’t, well that’s mine and my husband’s call – not a nanny state’s.

I’m all for healthy food education but how about we leave the parenting to the parents? 

Let’s allow our kids to enjoy the magic of a little fairy bread at the occasional school fundraiser.

Columnists Kara Jung and Lynton Grace have differing views when it comes to fairy bread.

Yes, party time is over for fairy bread in schools: Lynton Grace

Ban fairy bread. It shouldn’t be allowed in schools, nor a single one of its hundreds and thousands – and especially the white bread.

Fairy bread may be a treat for kids’ parties and a nice slice of nostalgia for parents eager to relive their hazy ’80s days, but it has no place in a learning environment where sugar spikes cause energy bursts – and then exhaust children already struggling with just trying to learn to sit still for longer than two minutes.

Siblings, Sophie, 9 and Oscar Booth, 5 with fairy bread. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

Teaching little kids is hard, far harder than most parents realise. It’s not just reading, writing and maths. There are behavioural issues, violence, broken homes, ADHD, kids who turn up with no breakfast and many problems before the day even starts. Teachers have become professional parents without the same kind of authority but an even higher obligation towards safety.

The Education Department has a duty to help principals and teachers create the best learning environment possible.

Removing sugary treats kids can have at home, on weekends and parties is a step. White bread is not as healthy as wholegrain bread. Most hundreds and thousands have about 7.6g of sugar per serving.

Fairy bread should be cancelled in schools. So too soft drinks and lollies. They have no place in a classroom where kids need clear heads. Teachers who equate sugary treats with rewards are doing the wrong thing.

The list is confronting. Being told your kids should have honey or jam at school events just twice a term is not going to go down well with all parents.

It goes too far. In its effort to help create better classrooms, the Education Department is going to put parents off side.

Creating change is difficult. Especially with kids, who very much prefer consistency. Guidelines discouraging chicken nuggets and limiting sausage rolls to twice a term is too much, too soon. Create a conversation, provide the information, and you’ll get further – just slower.