Get the Best Winter Activities
“Get kids involved in making their own lunches,” she suggests. Better still, educate the whole school and change the culture around food choices and the environment. More schools are implementing waste-free lunch programs to great acclaim. One school committee suggested that everyone start by weighing the lunch waste from a “normal” week. They then offered students a presentation outlining the issues around garbage (pollution from manufacture and disposal, loss of land to landfills, increased cost to truck garbage away), and gave them a challenge to bring litterless lunches for a week. They reduced their garbage by 35 percent right away. Some more competitive schools have implemented classes challenging other classes, or schools challenging other schools.
Mid-day Makeover
Hemmert has put considerable thought into kids’ lunches and shares these tips:
—Make extras at dinner to pack for next day’s lunch.
—Send drinks in a reusable container instead of juice boxes, cans or pouches.
—Tuck in stainless steel cutlery and a cloth napkin.
—Stock your kitchen with easy-to-pack fruits, veggies and whole grain snacks.
—Buy larger sizes of items, then dole out single servings yourself, rather than relying on individually packed servings.
—Invite kids to help pack their lunch. They’re more likely to eat it if they feel they chose the items.
For more information, visit www.wastefreelunches.org.
LESLIE GARRETT is an award-winning journalist, author and mother of three children ages three, five and eight. Visit her at www.virtuousconsumer.com.
