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Community Corner

School Lunches: Pack Your Own or Buy?

Parents weigh nutrition against cost and time.

A Chicago school is making news this week for its strict policy on school lunches. The principal of that school has decided that because parents at times don’t pack the most nutritious of lunches for their children, no child is allowed to bring in his or her own lunch. All children at the school must buy the school’s prepared lunches, or go hungry.

"It's about ... the excellent quality food that they are able to serve (in the lunchroom). It's milk versus a Coke,” a Yahoo news blog quoted her as saying.

I often wonder if I should be packing lunches more frequently for my children. At $2.20, the lunches in some elementary schools are inexpensive. But, I probably could pack a lunch for less money if I made my own. Also, while milk is provided with the lunches, and the lunches include fruits and vegetables, the main portion of the meals aren’t exactly nutritional powerhouses. On the menu this week at my daughters’ school were grilled cheese, chicken nuggets, pancakes and sausage, popcorn chicken, and the time-honored pizza. I usually only pack a lunch on Fridays, and that is only for one daughter, because she doesn’t like the school’s pizza.

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I could be packing things like salads, yogurt, pasta salad, healthy sandwiches (say, with veggies and a little bit of hummus, chicken salad, egg salad or tuna salad) for my kids, so they will be eating less processed food. But unless I found truly delicious and exciting (from a kids’ standpoint) lunches to pack, my girls would be disappointed, as they truly love making their own choice about lunch and buying their own lunch every day.

There are plenty of websites, such as kaboose.com, that offer ideas and recipes for healthy lunches. It might be a good idea to find some recipes for nutritional lunches and let the kids only buy a lunch a few times a week, instead of nearly every day. Maybe I’ll give it a try.

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What's your opinion about school lunches? Have any good brown bag ideas?

 

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