Green Child Magazine Back-to-School 2012 | Page 45

Jamie Oliver’s site, there is a section that is full
of school food resources read their "30 Ideas
for starting a Food Revolution in your School"
and pass it along to members of your school
community.
While the Food Revolution doesn’t focus on
bagged lunches but rather school lunches as
every child should great a nutritious meal
while at school, there is the option for you to
send your kids to school with lunches that will
nourish and enable them to be at their best.
The food they eat makes a difference in how
they go about their day. Did you know that
every 35 days their bodies make new cells from
the food they eat? They literally ARE what they
eat! When you think in those terms it's easy to
want to provide them with wholesome foods.
It’s no small task to create lunches five days
a week that are healthy, well -balanced, and
something your kids will enjoy! In the morning rush, it may be tempting to quickly throw a
lunch together with pre-packaged foods, however the majority of pre-packaged foods are
loaded with artificial colours, sodium, sugar
and ingredients we can’t even pronounce.

far more likely to eat lunches that they helped
put together!
Plan Ahead: Take some time to sit with your
kids and find out what they like to eat (no junk
food). Come up with a simple lunch menu for
the week, then put together your shopping
list before you head out to the grocery store.
While you're at it, plan your dinner menu for
the week at the same time, it will make your
life easier and leftovers are fantastic for lunches! Visit Jamie Oliver's site to get some great
recipe ideas.
Organize: Set up a cupboard where you keep
all the lunch gear such as reusable containers,
lids, thermoses, water bottles, lunch bags etc…
Make sure it’s a cupboard that your kids can
reach since they’ll be helping you out. Setting
up a specific place for all the lunch gear means
that everyone knows where things are when
putting together lunches! It’ll also help your
kids to put their lunch items in the right place
when they are emptying the dishwasher.

Your kids will have a more successful day
at school if their bodies are filled with fresh
healthy foods. With some planning and creativity, healthy lunches can be fun, delicious and
easy! Here are some suggestions:
Team Work: Get your whole family involved
with lunch preparation. It eases the workload
on you and teaches your kids valuable life
skills. This is one of the goals of Jamie Oliver's
food revolution, passing on cooking skills!
Children of all ages can and should help with
planning and preparing their lunch. It’s a great
opportunity to teach them about the importance of healthy food choices. Besides kids are
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