There will always be variables you can't control when you send your child, well-stocked lunch box in hand, into the garden of trans-fatty temptations known as the school cafeteria. You're not going to be able to keep your son from sitting next to the Fritos-and-Fanta kid. You can't expect your daughter to exercise superhero-like willpower every time she's face-to-face with a tray of french fries. No, your only hope is to focus on the parts of the mostly thankless, time-sucking lunch-packing process you can control: You can assemble the items more efficiently. You can cut back significantly on those landfill-crowding plastic bags (you can, we swear!). And, of course, you can pick foods that are both healthy and legitimately competitive with less virtuous temptations. On the pages that follow are tips from chefs, authors, mom activists, and our own editors—so you can brown-bag it (or organic-canvas-sack it) with ease.
Always Have a Safety Net
Creative inspiration is not going to strike every day (or even every month), so make sure your weekly shopping list includes items for three or four fallback menus. Catherine Saillard, a mother of two and the owner of Brooklyn's iCi restaurant, relies on this list of go-to lunch combos (below) in a pinch. "For the days when I am crazy," she says, "I always have the backup turkey sandwich plus the applesauce plus the cereal bar, so lunch is ready in 30 seconds."
COMBO A
Grilled cheese on wheat + trail mix + banana
COMBO B
Alphabet chicken soup + banana bread + apple
COMBO C
Tabbouleh + cheese and crackers + berries
Homemade Gorp
It's as grabbable as and also healthier than those candy bars masquerading as granola bars. (Recipe makes 4 cups.)
- 1 cup coconut, shredded
- ½ cup pistachios, shelled
- 1 cup granola
- 1 cup dried cherries
- ½ cup dark-chocolate chunks
Next Page: Give them Options
Enlist the Troops
A. Photocopy a "mix and match" menu, and have your child circle or write in what she wants that day. Kindergartners can show off their reading and writing skills—and you can assemble on autopilot.
B. Go buffet-style. Lori Slater, a mother of four and the founder of eco-apparel company In2green, puts an array of lunch fixings out on the counter and lets her kids pick and pack.
C. Outsource entirely. "I believe in child labor," says Susan Rubin, a mother of three and the founder of school-lunch advocacy program Better School Food, who has had her kids help pack since preschool.
Don't Backtrack
Does this back-and-forth around the kitchen look familiar? Avoid the inefficient fate of this lunch packer (and her mouse-in-a-maze-like path, as she assembles lunches for her 4- and 6-year-old) by creating a lunch station at which every component, from crackers to soup cups to cutting boards to forks and knives, is in one place. Shaving even a minute or two off the routine will feel like a luxury during the race to catch the 8:09 bus.
TIP: Put your own go-to lunch-combo list on the pantry door for easy reference.
Stock up on Guilt-Lite
Prepackaged Snacks
Ah, the single-serving snack pack ... so genius, so convenient, so toxically toxic to the environment. To offset at least some of the green guilt, get organic items that are packaged in recyclable boxes or wrappers (pick them out by paying attention to your local recycling protocol). You can buy these staff favorites online or at Whole Foods.
Next Page: Let the Cafeteria Be Your Friend
Let the Cafeteria Be Your Friend
Read the cafeteria calendar, and send the kids with cash when the menu looks decent. "I pack lunch every day except Friday," says Saillard. "That's pizza day at school, so they can eat like the other children without my banging my head against a wall, thinking they are eating nothing but synthetic fries and drinking hormone-filled chocolate milk." If you're not happy with the food in your child's cafeteria, check out Farmtoschool.org, an organization that aims to educate kids about "real" food, improve nutrition, and connect schools with local farms. Rubin's website, Betterschoolfood.org, details which programs work best in cafeterias across the country and offers articles and resources for upgrading school food.
Try Something New
When a kid eats her lunch among dozens of other kids doing the same, a remarkable thing happens: There's no parent to rebel against, there's no fridge full of other entrée options to plead for, and there are no "you're not leaving the table until you clear your plate" showdowns. In other words, this is the chance to introduce healthy or adventurous foods without any of the usual control issues on the table. Swap the juice box with an apple, put the PB&J on whole-wheat bread, or throw cheddar on the sandwich in lieu of American. You may find that, in the absence of all the drama, new foods go down just fine.
Next Page: Tonight's Dinner = Tomorrow's Lunch
Tonight's Dinner = Tomorrow's Lunch
It's about economy of scale: While the cutting board is out and you already have your food-prep hat on for dinner, chop extra vegetables and fruits for the next day. And think creatively about repurposing tonight's main dish into a surprising (give them fair warning) lunch for the cafeteria.
Roast Chicken = Chicken Tacos
Stuff a corn tortilla with leftover shredded chicken and cheddar. Pan-toast it, then wrap it in foil.
Meatloaf = Meatloaf Sandwich
Wrap it in wax paper. Meatloaf is just as good (some would argue better) when it's cold.
Spaghetti = Pasta Omelet
Fry the leftover pasta in oil until crisp. Crack in an egg and flip it, then wrap everything in foil.
Pack Green
Nearly 4.6 billion juice boxes end up in landfills every year, according to the Container Recycling Institute. Pack beverages in a reusable vessel, and replace paper and plastic bags with more eco-friendly (not to mention really cool-looking) alternatives. Go to epa.gov/kids to find information on creating recycling programs in your school, to help cut down on the 67 pounds of waste the Environmental Protection Agency reports the average kid generates yearly.
Use These instead of juice boxes and disposable paper and plastic bags:
