COMMENT: It's time to stop whining about 'smelly lunches', especially for kids

"If your food has a scent, others can get over it. What a horribly privileged thing to worry about," writes Aussie mum, Tash. 

Stevenson’s comments to her son about being a “smelly egg boy” sparked outrage. Picture: Instagram.

This week, an influencer called Sarah Stevenson, otherwise known as ‘Sarah’s Day’, sent the internet into a bit of a meltdown when she called her son’s curried egg sandwich ‘smelly’. 

In a video uploaded to Instagram, Stevenson asked her son if he wanted to be ‘the smelly boy in the playground’ by bringing the sandwich to school.

The comment created an uproar (rightly so) with people accusing her of racism - or, at least, discrimination against those for whom curry is part of their diet.

Personally, it rubbed me the wrong way and I could almost feel my head spin. It was as if we were kicked back into the bad old days of demonising differences between people and cultures.

I, for one, am all for kids taking in so-called smelly lunches into school. In fact, I was that smelly kid.

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“Eww! What is that?”

My mum came to Australia from Europe when she was 17 and her cooking reflected her mixed Hungarian, Austrian and Croatian heritage. At home we’d have cabbage rolls and schnitzel, sauerkraut and knedle, paprikash and potato salad (hold the mayo). School lunches were also something of an elaborate affair. I would eat sandwiches spread with homemade pate and layered with onions, or slices of capsicum with sour cream sprinkled with spring onions and paprika.  

I particularly remember one lunchtime. It was raining outside and we all huddled on the classroom floor. I must’ve been about six or seven at the time. As I unfolded the clingfilm around my sandwich, I caught my friend Erica staring down at the thick, gooey and smelly spread licking the sides of the crust.

“Eww! What is that?” she asked, holding her nose.

“It’s pate. It’s just like a … meat spread-type thing,” I said offering it up to her. “Wanna try it? It’s heaps nice.”

And guess what, she did. I then pointed to her sandwich and learned that it was Devon with tomato sauce on white bread. Secretly, I had always wanted to try it. I mean all – or at least most – of the kids had it. I remember liking it but not loving it, and I knew the affection I carried for the sandwich was more to do with fitting in with the other kids.

But that only lasted so long.

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Pride in where we come from

Soon, as school went on, I was introduced to a whole range of different cultural foods such as sushi, ramen, and curries. And so it was through school that some of my greatest culinary discoveries were made. Seeing other children eat their curious meals made me more inclined to try them, helping to broaden my palate. It also provided the groundwork for a lifetime appreciation of trying, experiencing, and experimenting with different cuisines.

Food plays such an integral part of who we are that often our entire identities can be wrapped up in it. Think about your memories. How many of them involve the sharing of food with loved ones? Whether it be at a family dinner or simply a snack while sitting in the park with your children. For me, the best memories of my Omama are of us standing at the stove as she flipped her paper-thin pakacinke before layering up to 10 on my plate.

Look, I know what you’re thinking, and of course, there will always be the odd bully who will pick on a child over their ‘smelly’ food. But, as all parents know, bullies will pick on just about anything – no matter how innocuous it seems. Bending to appease the crowd is certainly not that kind of lesson we should be teaching our brilliant and independent little humans.

Instead, we should be helping to instill a pride and a confidence in who they are and where they come from - smelly food and all.

Originally published as COMMENT: It's time to stop whining about 'smelly lunches', especially for kids