Nourishing Futures: Crafting Nutritious and Waste-Free School Lunches for Children

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Ever wondered how to transform your child's school lunches into nutritious, delicious, and waste-free meals? This episode is packed with expert tips and practical strategies to help you do just that. We'll guide you through creating a lunch calendar that aligns with school menus, ensuring a balanced mix of proteins, starches, and fats, while keeping sugary foods at bay. With insights on utilizing Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for special dietary needs and the importance of including snacks to bridge long gaps between meals, we've got your back. Moreover, we tackle the pressing issue of food waste in school cafeterias and propose policy changes to manage and redistribute uneaten food effectively.

Managing daily sugar intake doesn't have to be a daunting task. Tune in to discover straightforward strategies for keeping your sugar consumption in check, from choosing items with seven grams of sugar or less to understanding the crucial differences between processed and natural sugars. Personal anecdotes and practical advice will empower you to make healthier eating choices for your entire family. As we wrap up, we leave you with a promise of more valuable tips in our upcoming episodes, ensuring you and your loved ones maintain a well-rounded and nutritious diet. Don't miss out on these essential insights!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hi everyone.
Today I'm going to talk aboutlunches and especially if your
child is going to school andyou're packing their lunch.
So we're going to talk aboutthat.
And then the other thing I'mgoing to talk about a little bit
is the school cafeterias andlunches at the school.
So your lunch needs to benutritious and it needs to be

(00:22):
simple and something that theywill eat.
Ok, other words, don't packfood they won't eat.
If you're thinking, well, I'mgoing to pack this because I
want him to try it, or he or she, and so I'll pack this to see
if they'll eat it if they'rehungry enough.
But if they won't eat it athome, most likely they're not

(00:43):
going to eat it at lunch.
If they won't eat it at home,most likely they're not going to
eat it at lunch, and thenthey're going to be hungry and
irritable and not wanting tostay focused at school.
So it doesn't usually work.
And then make a list and acalendar List of food your child
will eat.
Make a calendar so your childknows what is for lunch and talk

(01:05):
about what you are going to doto encourage them to eat their
lunch.
If they bring it back and Irealize that they could just
throw it away.
But if they bring it back, youknow, maybe give them some kind
of reward.
If they have a parent with them, maybe the parent can write
down in their journal or make anote that he did well today, or
he or she, and that they ate alltheir lunch, and then get a

(01:28):
school calendar too and see ifthere may be something that the
child will eat on that schoollunch for that day.
Maybe there's something thatthey like at the school,
especially breakfast.
You know, if they're eatingbreakfast at school, you can
also find out something thatthey will and will not eat at
the school.
Again, try for balance.

(01:49):
Don't overpack.
Please.
No candy or lots of sugaryfoods.
You'd be so surprised on howmuch candy and sugary and bad
food.
The kids are having their lunchand I realize that they're
picky eaters and you're justtrying to put something in there
to give them some food, and notthat we don't appreciate it,

(02:11):
but if they've had too muchsugar then they are going to be
bouncing off the walls in theafternoon and it makes it hard
to teach during that time.
So make sure you have proteinand starches and fats and things
like that a balanced meal forthem to eat and then don't be

(02:33):
afraid during IEPs to put in anyspecial issues that they may
have.
It can be something in theiraccommodations, like maybe a
midday snack they need or aone-one support.
Maybe they need a quietenvironment, maybe there's a way
to have them eat in a differentarea at the school.

(02:54):
You know, explore those thingswith the IEP team and let them
know some concerns that you have, because we really want them to
be eating something, that theyhave something in their stomachs
before they go back and finishout the day of school.
And sometimes it depends on whatschool and what grade level but
they may be eating very earlyin the day, so they have all day

(03:18):
.
Let's say they eat at 10.30.
Sometimes I've seen lunches asearly as 10.30.
If they've gotten to schoolbetween 7, 7 30, they had their
breakfast and then maybe lunchat 10, 10, 30.
Then they got to go the rest ofthe day and maybe they're
riding the bus.
It's a long day without a snackin between.
So and you could pack thatsnack for them that school or

(03:40):
the teacher doesn't have toprovide necessarily.
So just make sure that theyhave something that they can
have before they go home or inbetween 11 and 3 or whatever the
schedule is for that student,but or if it's the other way
around and they get to school at7, 7, 30, the breakfast and

(04:01):
their lunch isn't till oneo'clock the same thing.
They need something in betweenthat.
Now, I always kept something.
I always kept those littlegoldfish.
I'd buy a big box of that andwe always had snack time because
their lunch wasn't.
They were little kids and theirlunch wasn't until 12.30.
So I would always havesomething for them.

(04:21):
So, and in other cases where itwas the opposite way, it was
way too early and I knew goingall day and we'd have an
afternoon snack or a treat ofsome type, and I did the
goldfish and if it was a hotsummer day, we did the no sugar
popsicle things outside.
You know those are somethingelse that the kids can have as a

(04:42):
treat and kind of cool them offand give them a little extra
treat in the afternoon.
It doesn't take long to do thateither.
You know you got 10, 15 minutesout of your day that you give
to them and I realize our daysare packed, but if they are
feeling hungry it's going tomake your job easier if they

(05:04):
feel like they're not hungry, inorder to teach them.
One of the things I've learned,and I saw that I wanted to talk
also about, is how much we wastein the cafeteria here in
America.
I don't know about othercountries.
I know that I've read wherethey use the leftover food and

(05:26):
give it to the homeless orwhatever, but here in the States
you have to throw everythingaway.
So even if they took it let'ssay they took an apple but they
didn't eat it or they took abanana and they didn't eat it it
gets thrown in the trash, itand.
Or they took a banana and theydidn't eat it it gets thrown in

(05:46):
the trash, and we waste so muchfood here and so many people are
hungry here too.
So, uh, I I would like to seesomehow somebody change that law
.
If anybody knows anybody thatworks in the in the school
system cafeteria that could goand and advocate for that.
The list and I would like toalso see somebody like list the

(06:07):
foods that are most likely to bethrown away in a cafeteria and
I think in my experience andthis is just not me really doing
an investigation or anything,but I think the fruits are one
of them.
But they need the fruit, youknow, especially like the whole
fruits, like a whole apple orwhole orange or a banana.

(06:29):
Sometimes those fruit cups ifthey're not syrupy, you know it
put them in kind of a differentwater type thing base are better
for kids to try to eat, andespecially if they're cold and
it's a hot summer day.
But I think that's anotherthing that that needs to be done
is somebody kind of make a listand see what is being thrown

(06:50):
away and why.
Um have school calendarsavailable to all parents and I
know that they make copies andthey put them in the teacher's
mailbox a lot of times and theyput it online and stuff which it
needs to make sure it goesonline or maybe do a mass like
email type things that they getit in an email or a text or

(07:12):
something like that, not just athome or put on the website,
because sometimes parents don'tpay attention to that.
So that way maybe the parentscan see well, my kid doesn't
like to eat this or that, sowe're not going to pack it and
try to not have too many carbs,reduce carbs and have more

(07:33):
proteins and vegetables andfruit.
And I know the schools reallydo try and I'm not saying that
they don't to have a balancednutrition.
They do offer like they'lloffer carrots and celery'm not
saying that they don't to have abalanced nutrition.
They do offer like they'lloffer carrots and celery and
stuff like that, but the kidsdon't always.
You know, those are another,probably another item that
really gets thrown away, and somaybe try to do something

(07:54):
different with that.
Also, I think that all kidsshould have free lunches,
especially when you're in acountry that has wealth, and as
much as we do that.
No kids should go without food.
A lunch, none.
It's just not necessary for usnot to provide that.

(08:16):
So, you know, have make sureyou have a balanced diet, which
the cafeterias, I have to say,they do try to do that.
But I think the biggest thingis the waste of food that I see
happens at a cafeteria and thecafeteria.
People all know it too.
It's not something like oh youknow, we didn't know that I've

(08:41):
seen food dumped out that itjust makes you want to cry.
Almost Such a waste that ourkids or they make a mess or
spill things and stuff like that, which we can't help all that.
So those are a couple of thingsthat I wanted to to say Now, if
you're, if you're doing at homeand you're homeschooling, I
want to also address that alittle bit.
You know, you also need abalanced diet.

(09:08):
Or they might just eat chips,or too much fruit juices, things
like that, and we're justpounding the sugar into them.
Is what we're doing and wereally need to look at that and
stop that, you know, because itdoesn't make a healthy kid, it

(09:32):
doesn't help them to learn,their bodies are not being fed
how they should be fed and theyneed nutrition is what they need
.
A balanced meal.
And I know you say, well, theydon't eat it, but in time that
they would.
I'm not saying to starve themor anything, but they will
adjust and stuff.

(09:52):
So think about when you'retrying to get them to eat
something.
So they like to eat thiscertain kind of bread, let's
just say, for example, or acertain bag of chips.
So don't think of the chips orthe bread, but think of the
texture and the smell of thatand see what you can replace

(10:13):
with something more healthy withthe chips or the bread or
whatever the situation is.
See what items you can come upwith to kind of replace them and
think of the textures and thesmell and the feel that could be
similar to what they're eating,and try to introduce it that
way.
So, because our kids are verysensitive and so that texture in

(10:36):
the mouth is going to affecthow they eat and what they eat
and they also get into a habit,like we all do, and so we need
to kind of little by little, tryto switch.
Maybe it's just a bite or two,maybe it's, you know, giving
them encouragement, making areward system.

(10:56):
Take a bite of this, you know,or a spoonful of yogurt or
something like that instead ofice cream.
There's ways to come up withkind of replacing that, and you
can do some research too on that.
Get online, talk to otherparents.
What did they come up with?
And try to encourage your childto come up with different ideas

(11:18):
.
What would they be willing todo?
Let's do one new thing this weekand you pick which food you
want to try this week, go to thegrocery store with them and say
okay, you pick out the one itemthat you want to try this week.
I don't know if it's for kids ornot, but I know like for adults
it should be 20, no more than25 grams of sugar through, I

(11:42):
guess, the day.
So no more than that.
So, and if I try to look at theitems on the sugar content, and
I I know for me it is best tohave something that seven or
below the lower the better asfar as your sugar.
Now, fruits have sugar, butthey're not processed sugar, so
it's a little bit better andthey should be eaten with a meal

(12:04):
.
So those are just some tipsthat I've learned.
I'm not a doctor, I'm not anutritionist or anything like
that, but those are just sometips that I've learned.
Okay, so I'm going to let yougo today and I'm going to try to
do another one this week.
I hope you guys are having agreat week, or will have a great
week, and take care, and I'lltalk to you soon.

(12:25):
Bye, bye.