Parent PortalSt James has encouraged healthy food and sustainable lunch packaging for a few years now. To make sure we don’t drop our standards, we would like to refresh everyone’s awareness of this important aspect of learning for the children.
There are a number of benefits to this approach to packing lunches. Firstly and most importantly, it places an emphasis on the essential nutrition of the food we send along with the children. The food choice should positively contribute to their ability to concentrate and be physically active throughout the school day. Sugary, high carbohydrate food spikes their energy levels in brief and unsustainable ways, which leads to drops in energy and concentration – the last thing you want for learning.
Secondly, we are aiming for re-usable packaging – the NUDE FOOD approach where no rubbish is added to the school bins. There are plenty of lunch boxes on the market that support this, offering compartmentalised packaging. ‘Whole foods’ are perfect for these type of containers. Also, individually packaged food costs more. If you buy one large tub of yogurt (not low-fat!) and spoon it into small containers each day, it is way more economical.
Nude Food – supporting learning
- Celery sticks (nice with peanut butter)
- Carrot wedges
- Apple
- Banana
- Orange/Mandarin
- Cheese sticks (not individually wrapped)
- Crackers with good fillings
- Nuts
- Avocado
- Salads
- Boiled Egg
- Grapes
- Cherry tomatoes
- Strawberries
- Wraps
- Yogurt (bought in large tubs and spooned into smaller containers)
Adds Rubbish – unsustainable for concentration & learning
- Chip packets
- Roll-ups
- Muesli Bars (most are high in sugar & carbs)
- Chocolate bars
- Low fat yogurt (usually high in sugar)
- Yo-Gos (again high in sugar)
- Tiny Teddies and other biscuits
- Doritos
- Shapes