School Lunches

Have you ever sat down and thought about the food that your school age children are eating?? Are they buying lunch at school and if so what foods are they choosing? I encourage parents to talk to their children about the food choices they are making. Many of the foods that our school aged children are eating today are highly processed, high in sugar and have minimal nutritional value.

Feeding our children doesn't have to be complicated. By planning ahead and being organized about meal planning you can easily create balanced and healthy meals most of the time and send your children to school with healthy lunches and snacks. A simple way to get organized is to plan your weekly meals out on Sunday and make sure you have all that you need on hand. By preparing one or two healthy soups or meals on Sunday you already have a great place to start. I love the ec0- friendly lunch boxes found at Laptop Lunches. These are great to pack fresh fruit, yogurt, hummus, cut up vegetables and a sandwich. A thermos is a great from some hot food, soup or even a frozen smoothie for snack.

At home try choosing fresh, organic and local food when available. Keep processed foods to a minimum and involve your children in the menu planning, shopping and cooking. What I've found in my own home is by being organized you can more easily stick with what is important.

I hope to be a resource to other parents, to educate and to be a part of the change that is already starting in this country. Two great pioneers who are passionate about changing our school lunch program are Alice Waters and Jaime Oliver.

Here is a great video that talks about the farm to school program that helps to improve our school lunch program and educate our children about nutrition.

VIDEO: Change Your Child’s School Food | Healthy Child Healthy World