Getting the Sack: Taking School Lunches on the Chin

by:
August 26, 2011
20 Comments

Food52's News Editors Shelly and Fran read zillions of news stories in their quest to find the best for Food52/News readers. Each week, they'll take an issue or two and distill it down to its purest form: what matters to them. Oh, and you! This week: the many perils of school lunch.

- Fran

School lunchWalking to work one day in San Francisco, a BART station I was passing exploded with school children. Engulfed by a wave of field-trippers, I found myself spiraling into something close to a panic attack.

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It wasn’t the kids that scared me. It was their lunches. A terrifying realization stopped me cold:

‘I’m going to have to pack lunches some day. Every day. And make them healthy. And INTERESTING. Every day.’

I didn’t even have a kid at the time.

Fast forward (it doesn’t matter how) many years, and school lunches still torment me. I had no idea then the minefield I’d be navigating when I finally started packing those brown bags.

First there’s the no-nuts policy at my peanut-butter-addicted son’s school. Everywhere I turn, bloggers are writing about the amazing lunches they pack for their kids. But my pickiest eater only wants peanut butter. Sunflower butter is now our school-year bestie.

Chocolate milk as über villain hasn’t done much for my lunch-packing mojo either. I’ve always put (organic!) chocolate milks in my kids’ lunches, mostly to make sure my milk-hating daughter drinks her calcium at least once a day. I thought I was doing right by her, but now I feel like a crack dealer.

My kids have never bought school lunches, more because of their own discerning palates (HA) than because of my own self-righteousness about the quality of my homemade lunches. Having seen (and smelled) the stuff coming out of those cafeterias, I can’t say I blame them.

But I have tried to do the cafeterias one better with homemade goodies packed in insulated totes and re-useable containers, kept cool with a freezer pack. Wrong, wrong and wrong, it turns out. Homemade treats? Verboten. Reusable containers? BPA carriers. Insulated totes and freezer packs? Neither insulated nor frozen; say hello to food poisoning.

Thanks to Michelle Obama’s anti-obesity initiatives, school lunches are finally getting some much-needed attention. One Colorado school district has lunch ladies now who actually cook the food. From scratch! And here in DC, my kids can look forward to fresh salads in their school cafeterias.

All this attention to what our kids are eating at lunch can’t be a bad thing. At least that’s what I keep telling myself. Still, when I learned this morning that schools were cancelled (really!) for post-earthquake safety assessments, my first thought was, ‘Thank God! No lunches!’

 

See what other Food52 readers are saying.

  • WedgeMom
    WedgeMom
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    devkirn
  • Laura Minkler
    Laura Minkler
  • Margee Brennan
    Margee Brennan
  • veganflowermom
    veganflowermom
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20 Comments

WedgeMom
WedgeMom August 30, 2011
I was feeling like a loser about my kid's lunch until my mother reminded me that I ate Land O Lakes Yellow American Cheese thinly sliced on white bread with Gulden's Spicy Brown Mustard for years and years and years almost everyday. I was very happy, survived, have no obvious ill health effects and have grown up to cook and eat everything under the sun. (Might have helped that Mom was a great, albeit old style - roast beef anyone?, cook and killer baker.) I think my kid will survive the hummus and pita, cream cheese and jelly and ham and cheese rotation. Lighten up, Parents!
 
devkirn
devkirn August 28, 2011
One thing is sure. I survived school lunch, both in a brown paper bag wrapped in plastic paper and the food they served me as a child in the cafeteria. I loved the hot rolls made by hand and the butter (i am sure it was margarine). I still have a thing for rolls today right out of the oven. My grand daughter totally upset her mother last week, she goes to an alternative charter school (can you say very wide in their educational approach) by saying she had eaten all her food, they send lunch and two snacks, and she did not have enough to eat! So off she went to the office where they gave her yogurt and an apple and sent my daughter a letter charging her for the food and say "assistance is available". Since my granddaughter had not eaten all of her food, you can imagine the uproar. Ah, the fun of school lunch.
 
Laura M.
Laura M. August 28, 2011
Dear Parents, take heart in knowing that one of my absolute favorite things about school, and one of the stronger bonds formed in my family was my dad packing me lunch every day. (He'd ask me what I wanted as I was getting ready, so he didn't have to do all the thinking.) Chances are, your kids really appreciate you preparing those meals for them, and it's a nice reminder of home during the stressful school day.... Also, buying a cool lunchbox will make any meal more exciting. My favorite (I had several) was one from the Metropolitan Museum, with William the ancient hippo on it.
 
Waverly
Waverly August 28, 2011
We love William the hippo and you are right. Children absolutely appreciate when parents cook for them - school lunch boxes included. We put pressure on ourselves and we shouldn't.
 
Margee B.
Margee B. August 27, 2011
Several years ago, after an all-nighter at work, I had my kids eat the cafeteria (private) school lunch without knowing what was on the menu. When asked what he had, my then-7 year old responded a sandwich with fluff,Oreo bits, fruit loops and gummy worms. It turned out it was "sandwich bar" day and although there were other good options that is not what my son chose. I have since been more aware of what is "on the menu" and try not to sweat the majority of days I pack their lunches...it turns out it could be worse! I believe my complaints also ended sugary options on sandwich bar day!
 
veganflowermom
veganflowermom August 27, 2011
This year I'll have one in preschool, one in elementary school, one in middle school, and one in high school. The things I've learned along the way...1) what their friends think of what they bring for lunch makes it tricky as they get older 2) do the best you can finding healthy options that don't have to be heated and don't need to stay refrigerated and then relax and make up the difference with a healthy home-cooked breakfast and dinner 3) my kids all tend to like the same thing everyday - with a change up once in awhile - so don't be afraid to stick with something that works 4) even going into high school, the kids don't like to pack their lunches any more than I do 5) teach your kids about healthy food - and about why unhealthy processed, sugar-filled foods are bad for them. I used to think they didn't want to hear it, but I am learning that they want to know what makes them strong and fast and what makes them feel yucky and keep them from being able to do the things they love:)
 
Waverly
Waverly August 26, 2011
This is a topic I deal with daily. I have some advice for you: don't take it all so seriously. Headlines are designed to inspire fear. I am familiar with the debates. I don't worry about what my school is and isn't serving because I pack lunches every day for my children. Fresh wholesome food - a sandwich, an apple, carrots with dip, a slice of cheese and water or milk is my standard. My picky eater will ONLY eat a PBJ. It's not a big deal. Bento boxes? That concept as well as any others involving pressure to outperform was invented by competitive parents and I will have none of it. Don't overthink it. My guess is that your children are well-fed and happy.
 
healthierkitchen
healthierkitchen August 26, 2011
depends on your kids, their ages, preferences, their participation in prep, etc. I figure if my daughter prefers a bento box type deal, and she will help plan and pack, then why not? I found with her (she's in h.s. now and though still brings lunch, it's not as much my efforts anymore) that leftovers from dinner were always the biggest hit.
 
mjlandry
mjlandry August 28, 2011
Waverly I agree 100% with your comments. My son takes PB (no J) or turkey (no condiments), either a carrot or apple and yogurt everyday. It's not fancy but it's what he likes and I know he's eating.
 
callmijane
callmijane August 26, 2011
Not just ONE school district in Colorado- where I work, in Garfield County, CO, our lunch ladies prepare the food from scratch every day too! And it's really good. I don't eat it often, as I'm vegetarian, but I can tell you- it's very good food.
 
elbows
elbows August 26, 2011
I'm a big fan of Japanese-inspired bentos. There are some great blogs (like Just Bento) and books devoted to making lunches healthy ... and cute! The prep work is not as time-consuming as it seems, and amazingly star-shaped veggie slices really do get eaten faster than regular ones. I swear.
 
FreeRangePamela
FreeRangePamela August 26, 2011
I have to agree with the sentiments here -- one of my least favorite parts of school starting up is that I have to get back in the lunch groove again. And I'm not even that good at it when I AM in the groove. Shelly, grapes AND raisins totally sounds like me. I have had to stop myself (and sometimes I haven't) from packing an apple for lunch and applesauce for snack.
 
Shelly P.
Shelly P. August 26, 2011
I'm embarrassed to admit, I've done that too!
 
Rivka
Rivka August 26, 2011
Second to childbirth, this is the part of parenting I'm least looking forward to. Am I crazy? Guess not. :)
 
thirschfeld
thirschfeld August 26, 2011
Vivian started kindergarten and the first day my wife signed us up for party duty and said you will love it my husband is a chef. She was quickly handed a list of acceptable pre-packaged crap that could be brought in for parties. I said, "oh so we are going to teach our kids that food in a package is better than homemade." I got sent to the principals office.
 
SKK
SKK August 26, 2011
Hopefully for the kids sake you are out of the principals office and making your great food!
 
My P.
My P. August 26, 2011
My son started kindergarten last week. By the fourth day I was frozen, out of ideas. Is that possible? I have recovered and now the ideas are beginning to flow, but it is hard. I'm relying on a simple formula of one main protein based dish (homemade bean burrito, pb & j, pesto pasta with walnuts, etc.) , one fruit, one vegetable, and one snack (cheese and crackers, fruit leather, pretzels, etc.)
 
WeeklyGreens
WeeklyGreens August 26, 2011
Great piece, Fran! As of this morning, I join you as a DCPS parent. I'm excited by some of the changes to the lunch menus! My son arrived this morning to his school-supplied breakfast - Kix, skim milk, low fat yogurt. Not bad. As a side note, I mentioned you (not by name, but you'll recognize yourself!) in my post this morning. :-)
 
Shelly P.
Shelly P. August 26, 2011
I still have to laugh at the time when I was feeling incredibly uninspired with lunch packing, and my daughter came home from school and said "Mom. You packed grapes AND raisins in my lunch today." Oops. Not every day can be a four star meal!
 
healthierkitchen
healthierkitchen August 26, 2011
Agreed! One of my kids went to a private school with a great meal plan for middle and high school - despite the hefty tuition I felt like singing Hallelujah every morning that I didn't have to pack his lunch.