As a parent I am swamped with what we should be giving our children for school lunches and also the importance of how they look.
Really? Do we really need to worry about how the food in our children’s lunch boxes look? Not only is this more pressure on parents to pack the perfect, fun looking lunchbox but it is also setting up our children to expect food to look certain ways. This could lead children down the path of only eating carrots if they are sticking out of an apples with sultanas for eyes…
So what should you be trying to put in your child’s lunchbox if it is not only going to be healthy but also better for the environment?
- No single use plastic. You can use sandwich containers, beeswax wraps and smaller containers to pack food in.
- Think you need packaged food? Try making your own cupcakes, biscuits or muesli bars as an afternoon activity. Children learn about measuring and different ingredients through this fun – albeit messy process.
- Less meat – try eggs, avocado, cheese twice a week instead of meat products.
- Aim for more fruit and vegetables cut into manageable pieces – these leave a better impact on the environment and have no packaging!
- Fill up a drink bottle instead of packing poppers or bottled water. We don’t need more waste when we have access to fresh and clean drinking water. Worried about chlorine and fluoride? Check out these products.
- Ask your school to minimise the amount of waste created by students by removing bins, encouraging a waste free canteen and waste free events.
