Let's Slow Down School Lunch

My 5-year-old son reports that, as his average middle-class public school, he is in the minority of kids who bring a homemade lunch. Most kids buy lunch from the cafeteria. And, unsurprisingly, my 5-year-old son has cafeteria envy (and it’s only his second week of school… ever). He said to me, “Oh, good, your packing carrots. You know, I can buy dip for those in the cafeteria.”

The cafeteria at my son’s school has pretty good meals. They’re “kids meals”. You know… whole grain chicken nuggets, classic cheese pizza, whole grain French toast sticks, nachos fun lunch. Each meal comes with a veggie, a fruit, and a low-fat milk. At face value, these meals follow dated nutritional data. More importantly, it’s processed and dead food, void of any living microbiology and concealing chemical fertilizers, preservatives, leavening agents, emulsifiers, and fillers. 

­­­I get it. Time is an absolute premium in the modern lifestyle. Outsourcing and mechanizing food preparation may seem like a winning time-saving solution. But, at what cost? In many ways, we do not know yet. But, we do know that there are links between eating processed food and weakened immune systems, neurological issues, obesity, and overall quality of life. 

I believe in the health benefits of eating the old-fashioned way, of preparing my family’s food from real ingredients by hand, of welcoming live cultures and enzymes into my body Ultimately, I am making a lifestyle choice. I am choosing to slow my food process down. I place and pick up my Miller’s order every week, shop for seasonal produce at the farmer’s market, and drive to specific stores for specific ingredients. I make time during my day to prepare food and eat it, too. I would have it no other way. 

For lunch, my son has been enjoying an assortment of farm foods like sweet bologna and mayonnaise sandwiches, cubes of swiss or cheddar cheese, diced roasted chicken, fermented pickles, chopped mild beef stix, hard boiled eggs, potato chips fried in lard, applesauce, and some other goodies. He loves squeeze pouches, so I just bought some re-usable ones to fill with yogurt and other yummy squishy foods.