School Lunch Magic
“Ora na azu nwa” -Nigerian Igbo culture
Which means, “It takes the community/village to raise a child.”
A little "magic" in the lunch box can bring healthy rewards to kids.
Today I got curious about what my daughter would be eating if she were in 1st grade this year. I went to my District’s website, pulled up the menu and wasn’t surprised. As a teacher I did not eat school lunch because I knew it wasn’t healthy, but as a busy teacher I never connected that it also was unhealthy for my students.
That changed today . . . take a look at what I found
- Monday: Ham & Cheese sandwich, Nacho’s, Corndog-french fries, canned pears, carrots, peanut butter bars, milk, ketchup
- Tuesday: Cheeseburger, Cheese Con Queso, Potato Puffs,-Pineapple, banana, carrots, jello, Milk, ketchup
- Wednesday: Chicken Bacon Swiss, Turkey Sandwich-french fries, peaches, apples, carrots, oatmeal raisin cookie, milk, ketchup
- Pizza every Friday.
Other main menu items: Beef burrito, chicken nuggets, chicken drumsticks, popcorn chicken, breaded porkchops
And without fail there was always a high sugar treat.
What I saw was meat, animal-based products, processed, refined and high sugar with one choice of a fresh veggie or fruit. Yucky . . . really what are we doing? Would the average American even serve this at home? I hope not — but not to fear — as plant-strong advocates we can do a little magic . . .
VOILA!!—–POOF!, the smoke clears AND . . .
Healthy lunches you can pack the night before and feel good about all day long. This is big — on average a child eats over 2300 lunches during their school years, under our roof. That’s 2300 opportunities to improve our children’s health and lives.
Main Dish:
· Wrap/Pita pockets stuffed with anything from peanut butter, agave drizzle and bananas, to hummus and shredded veggies.
· Veggie Sandwich layered with a skiff of vegenaise, hummus, shredded veggies and roasted red bell peppers
· Cereal- container of non-dairy milk, healthy cereal, spoon and bowl
· Soup in a thermos with whole wheat crackers
· Leftover chili (cold or in a thermos) with homemade tortilla chips
· Veggie tacos – yummy corn tortilla taco shells and an assortment of shredded lettuce, tomatoes, olives, vegan cheese, black beans, roasted red peppers and a container of salsa to be assembled at school
· Tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and wheat pasta {tastes great cold}
Sides:
· Soy yogurt with fruit and whole grain cereal to sprinkle on top
· Chopped/Sliced veggies and hummus (a fun arrangement can make all the difference)
· Fresh fruit: chopped and mixed-strawberries and blueberries or clementines whole, and anything in between.
· Trail mix: dried blueberries, whole grain cereal and few almonds is our favorite
· Homemade vegan muffin, vegan cornbread or slice of vegan sweet bread
· Nutty spread with celery
· Apple slices with nutty spread or soy yogurt
· Fruit skewers
· Kale chips with sprinkle of vegan cheese
· Few olives
· Blanched peas, carrots and maple-sweetened roasted sweet potato chunks
· Small piece of dark chocolate
· Snap peas
· Air popped popcorn
· Vegan Grahams with unsweetened applesauce to dip
Drink:
· Water
· Small juice, even better if freshly juiced
· Non-dairy flavored milk
If nothing else I challenge you to take a closer look at what your children — or if you have already had this epiphany — your community’s children are being fed. We need to create change not only for our children but the nation’s. Children who do not have strong advocates at home need to be watched out for, also something I felt so strongly about as a teacher. It is not only our children that will shape the future, it is all children. Collectively, our children deserve the best, but at minimum they deserve way better than this. I do believe this is not the end of this topic for me . . . my sweet little girl will be in 1st grade in 4 more years, so it’s time for change.
Let us know if you have any additional ideas for creating food magic for our kids.
Viv!
RESOURCES
Lunch Box Containers
Websites
Cook book
Vegan Lunchbox, by Jennifer McCann
