Photo from Fed Up
I can remember going to school with a packed lunch daily, even through high school. It was fairly rare when I had to eat an actual school lunch, unless you consider 10 rolls for a$1 lunch. Which is what I usually ate when I had to have a school lunch.
I remember the pizza and spaghetti being decent, and the cheeseburgers weren’t bad.
But I do believe if I had to eat a trayful of food that was packaged like this, I’d lose my appetite on a daily basis.
Enter Ms. Q of the Fed Up: School Lunch Project. She is a teacher who has promised to eat a school lunch each work day for the academic year, and shares her experience on her blog.
Now, I’m not going to get involved in a serious debate about school lunch health because I don’t know enough about the district’s budget and their nutritional guidelines.
But I do know that a lunch, packed the bento way, eliminates all of the waste (wax-coated paper trays topped with plastic films) seen in the picture. And I can almost guarantee you that it would be healthier than the pasta with sauce, green beans and roll pictured above.
Much more appetizing, no?
Here’s a pasta lunch I packed using my Laptop Lunch system. I packed leftovers then added some cut up pears, a clementine and a few baby carrots. It took me about 5 minutes to do as I was cleaning up from dinner the night before.
I don’t know if children have regular access to a microwave to heat up their lunches, so if yours do not, substitute the pasta for cold cuts and cheese. Pre-slice the roll and you have in instant sandwich.
Tons healthier than a Lunchable, and no waste.
For more ideas on bento lunches, visit these great sites:
Laptop Lunches
Lunch in a Box
Everyday Bento
Wendolonia
What’s for Lunch at Our House
Tags: bento
my husband doesn’t have access to a microwave, so he uses a hot water bottle to keep his lunch warm during the day.