OH Guide: How to feel better about brown baggin' your kids' lunches

The beginning of each new school year brings new adventures and routines. As the first day of school approaches we find ourselves anxious and excited about all the possibilities. This includes the making of the school lunch or "brown baggin' it" if you will.

Why bring a lunch?:
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), a group committed to making changes in school lunch programs, has an informative site Healthy School Lunches.org providing information on the "hows" and "whys" of what's going on in public school lunch programs. The site is a call to action that parents need to pay attention to. According to PCRM "Overweight and obesity, and the diseases that accompany them, have become epidemics in the United States. A recent report published by a research team at Johns Hopkins University predicts that if current trends continue, by the year 2015, 75 percent of all Americans, including 24 percent of all children and adolescents, will be overweight or obese. While there may be multiple reasons for these problems, some societal factors play a particularly significant role. School lunch is one of these." And when we see stuff like this how can we possibly ignore it? Even if we don't know how to make the extra time and money needed to pack a lunch each day magically appear, knowing that our kids are ingesting this processed crap five times a week should be enough of a reason to change.

Pack it up, pack it in, let me begin:
There are several easy and quick tips for packing the perfect school lunch. In fact, a packed lunch can save you money and time and truly helps the environment when done right.

Our house has been abuzz for a while now with the talk of using recyclable materials to pack a "trash free" or "zero trash" lunch, something we started doing with our 8 year old son last year. Concerned with taking care of the Earth it became our mission to come up with ways to reduce our waste. Our son really got into this and has since become very aware of what creates extra waste and what can be recycled. Some of the things we do to help make his lunch zero trash include:

*Using a reusable water container that's not plastic.

*Replacing plastic baggies(which were totaling 5 a day)with reusable containers. Believe it or not my son actually brings home EVER container EVER day from school--lids included.

*Sending steel spoons and forks from our cutlery collection when needed. Which again all come home with our son (secretly I think it's easier for him to toss the stuff back into his lunch box rather than breezing past the trashcan on his way our to recess)

*Buy in bulk versus pre-packaged. We do this for our cracker like snacks, chips and yogurt among other items. Then we simply divide the packages up into smaller containers when we get home and store them away for easy grab-n-go.

*And last but most important, buying a super-cool lunch box

This year our goal is to continue what we've already started and adding in cloth napkins. I know it might sound a little wack-a-do but our son is really into it and who are we to take his knack for conservation away from him. Plus we're saving money and surprisingly time (we like to pack up the pretzel type stuff and cut veggies in containers at the beginning of the week to save time).

Waste Free Lunches is a great site to get you moving towards zero trash. They offer a cost comparison break down of disposable versus reusable lunches, helpful tips on packing waste free, resources and links and even products including the really cool Laptop Lunch Bento Set.

We consume to conserve:
Of course to start off down the path of waste free, healthy homemade lunches we'll need to stimulate the economy a bit with some good ol' fashion consumerism and a little DIY.

Check out Small Object's Reusable Sandwich Wrap with Potato Chip Liner DIY for a cool way to pack those tasty sammiches. If you don't have time to whip one up, which most of us don't, then Wrap-N-Mat sells something very similar for very cheap. Not to mention they have some fun photos of people really enjoying their reusable mat.

The Etsy store has some super craftastic lunch stuff being sold in Etsy member shops. My favorite lunch box is Etsy member OnesandZerosFashions' delightfully frightening Harold the Lunch Monster. Oh, and how about some sweet little cloth napkins from gracielouwho, perfect for those Waste Free lunches.

Or how about this "Modern Kids Lunch Tote" which has been on sale for $5.95 in MOMA's online store forever now and which still makes no sense to me because it's really cool. Kids can actually personalize the front pocket adding some of their fabulous style and flare and I love the long strap.

But still in the spirit of eco-friendly DIY I really love this "Vintage Pillowcase Lunchbox Tutorial" from Oh, Fransson and Tumbling Blocks' "Oilcloth Lunch Bag". Both can be easily whipped up in two hours or less.

Don't forget to pick up that reusable, durable beverage container. Our personal pick is the Klean Kanteen.

What's for lunch, ma?:
Now that you're geared up with the essential lunch box equipment it's time to gather and plan the healthy grub. They say variety is the spice of life and nothing can be closer to the truth than spicing up the life of your kid's homemade lunches. Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches won't be their favorite for long if it's all you ever pack. And sooner or later they'll have no choice but to begin begging for the good ol' "hot lunch" Chimichangas and you don't want that. There are some excellent sites with some really great ideas for keeping those lunches from getting stale.

First and foremost I have to give some wicked mad props to the back-to-school lunch ideas on the always magnificent sites of parenting know-how Family Fun and Kaboose. Our favorites, sure to be instant school lunch classics are Kaboose's
"Banana Dog in a Bun", Family Fun's "Apple Yogurt Dip" and my all around favorite school lunch sandwich the "Face Sandwich" which is sure to get some HUGE giggles from your kid's lunch bunch. And what would back-to-school be without some cupcake magic from Family Fun like this "Black Board Cupcake" recipe. Proving once again they are cupcake gods using Skittles, M&Ms and Good and Plenties to make the coolest school cupcakes. Don't forget the other really helpful school lunch hints offered on both sites. Really great, practical tips and other goodies.

Inspired by Michael Pollan's book "In Defense of Food", EcoPerks offers some food for thought when it comes to packing a truly healthy lunch and getting your kids to actually eating it up. Some really helpful tips like "Try to create your own “family definition” of good food. Finding ways to make it fun and funny goes a long way. FreeRange Studios has created original kid-friendly online videos – my guys love Grocery Store Wars and Backwards Hamburger – we laugh and new questions come up."

Consumer Reports has a great guide "How to Pack a Healthy, Safe Lunch offering information and tips like "Instead of the same old luncheon meats or peanut butter and jelly, try packing a lunch with leftover pasta, soup, or chili. As a change, try whole-wheat pasta, barley soup, or vegetarian chili to give your child more whole grains and beans. Add vegetables to whole-wheat pasta to get more of this important food group." Pack the leftovers...I always seem to forget this one!

Suite 101's school lunch know how "Packing a Nutritious School Lunch" is a guide of the basics. The ideas in the guide aren't necessarily new but they are good standard tips that work. For example, "Healthier than the lunch packs at the store and probably cheaper too. Use a sectioned-off plate with a lid or small plastic containers to keep things separate until your child eats them." All helpful reminders of how it's done.

And for something that will either inspire you or discourage you check out these artsy Bento boxes posted on Root Coffee.

Quenching thirsts:
Of course we've all heard it's better to pack our kids water and milk as opposed to juices and sodas for obvious reasons.

Personally, we like to pack our son water because we know he'll have plenty of servings of dairy by the end of the day including the glass of nonfat he'll drink with dinner, we don't have to be concerned over keeping it cold, we know if he takes water (especially on those extra hot days he's most likely to keep well hydrated and many teachers will allow water to be consumed in the classroom where all other beverages are not allowed.

What to pack our kids' beverages in is just as important as what our kid drinks. We all know by now that we want to try to avoid
plastic bottles. With all that in mind the Klean Kanteen is our personal favorite. The only one made from stainless steel, including the inside the canteen is 100% recyclable and hold cold and hot liquids. They are pretty cute too. A friend of mine gave me a great tip to personalized the container by letting your kids add their favorite stickers and a name label. And when the stickers get old and dirty simply wash off the canteen and begin with something fresh. Not only will it keep the bottle new looking but it'll keep the kids totally
in style. And we know how important that is. Klean Kanteens can be purchased at a few stores or ordered online. However, if you're having a hard time purchasing one Sigg water bottles are not as great as Klean Kanteens in my opinion but are pretty cool looking and still much better than plastics. Plus, they have some pretty cool "Back-to-School Specials" going on right now and can be easily found at most Whole Foods markets.

Good Taste in Books:
When starting something new we really like to read books that compliment the situation. A good combination of literature and life experience helps kids to learn, connect and internalize the experience at a deeper level. There's just about a book for every, so it's no surprise that you wouldn't come across a few on lunch!

"This is the Way we Eat Our Lunch" by Edith Baer is a perfect example. This colorful, rhyming book takes you on a trip around the globe and into the lunchtimes of the world's children. From the United States to India to Italy to Australia and beyond this book is a true taste test of various cultures and exploring the idea that even though we might all have different ideas on what to have, we all eat lunch. The extra added bonuses at the end of the book include a world map pin-pointing the locations of each child and some recipes to try like hummus and soup.

True Kelly's "School Lunch" is a whimsical romp through one school's lunchroom when the beloved lunch lady decides to take a much needed vacation. Making junk food extra junkie, don't be surprised if your kids cram a carrot stick or two down their throats in a cleansing session after reading what gets served up at lunch. A funny and possible life-changing book. Watch as junior turns down the Pop-Tart, Skittles, chocolate sauce, Flaming Hot Cheeto sandwich for some delicious milk and grapes.

Link: family fun