Making school lunches is not most parents’ favourite task, but it’s an essential one. Nutritious food helps children maintain energy levels and stay focused. Adopt these planet-friendly tips and you’ll also reduce waste, save money and instil healthier eating habits, writes Sarah Heeringa
Flat lunch boxes with lots of compartments allow for appetising presentation and eliminates the need to wrap snacks individually. Craft or small tackle boxes (pictured above) are ideal. Use a craft knife to remove dividers to create space for larger sandwiches.
Start with raw ingredients. Resist the temptation of multipacks of chips and biscuits. Home-made biscuits may not always cost less to make, but they don’t contain unwanted additives and they generate a lot less packaging waste.
Buy large. A block of cheese cut into cubes is more cost-effective—and healthier—than processed cheese slices. Individually wrapped salami sticks are popular but come with a lot of plastic packaging. Instead, buy a big New Zealand-made salami and cut into chunks.
Bake in bulk. Establish some family favourites to bake and freeze: a frozen muffin will thaw in a lunch box and be fresh by midday.
Get teens baking the foods they like to eat. Home-popped popcorn is an easy one to start with. Anzac biscuits, the ultimate Kiwiana treat, is another. Originally made for soldiers, this forerunner of the modern muesli bar can be made with Otago’s Harraways oats and slightly less sugar than the classic mix.
Make it fun. Fill celery sticks with peanut butter and ‘surfing ant’ raisins. Draw smiley faces on boiled eggs. Pop little notes to your children into their lunch boxes.
Wood is good. Instead of plastic spoons that inevitably get lost, try Ecostore’s wooden cutlery. It is made from sustainable wood and is totally biodegradable ($19.90 for a pack of 100 teaspoons).
Kids love scrolls. Roll out basic bread dough and spread with grated cheese and chutney or tomato paste for savoury scrolls, jam or nut spreads for sweet scrolls. Roll up into a long sausage and cut into circles. Lay on a baking tray to rise, then cook for about 10 minutes at 190°C. Scrolls can be made large or small and frozen till required.
Brown paper bags can be reused and are great for teenagers wanting cool-looking, slimline lunch bags. (Pick up ten brown paper lunch bags from Ecostore, for $1.50.)
Buy yoghurt in big tubs (or make your own) and fill small reusable containers. It’s cheaper and saves on plastic waste.
Kids like to dip. Give them carrot, celery, cucumber and capsicum sticks, or florets of broccoli and cauliflower to go with a tasty dip, hummus or peanut butter.
Involve children in growing their own fruit and veg—snow peas, strawberries, cherry tomatoes and cape gooseberries are easy to grow and make great snacks.
Bananas are perfectly packaged. Children love them, but bananas get a bad rap because of their high carbon footprint, the chemicals used in their production and the poor working conditions on plantations. Look out for organically grown and fair trade bananas.
Wrap sandwiches in cloth and fair trade twine, or make re-usable wraps. Check out www.good.net.nz/2/sammiewrap for instructions for making reusable wrappers.
Compromise a little. It’s better to trim crusts if it means the sandwiches are actually eaten. Use nutritious bread and relax a little with the spreads.
Eggs come pre-wrapped. Choose free-range eggs to boil and pack whole or in halves in their shells, or peel and mash with mayonnaise for a tasty sandwich filling.
Pre-cut fruit, such as apples and oranges, and most children will be more inclined to eat them. Pack apple wedges into an airtight container, or peel an orange continuously and wrap it back up in its own peel.
Is the lunch potentially messy? Pop a Purewipe disc into the lunch box. Run under water the disc puffs up into a biodegradable wipe ($25 for 80 from Ecostore).
Wrap food in paper that can be reused or composted. (Unbleached natural waxed paper bags, $7.45 for a pack of 60, from Huckleberry Farms .)
Think seasonal. Keep your carbon footprint child-sized with seasonal, local fruit and vegetables.
Make your own bread so you can add as many wholesome extras as your family will tolerate.
Replace plastic wrap with BioFilm. Made using GMO-free cornstarch, it’s petroleum free, compostable and biodegradable (BioFilm bags, $9 for 50 from Ecostore). Encourage your children to bring any bags and containers home to wash and reuse.
Water in a refillable bottle is much healthier than disposable juice boxes—and it’s free. Freeze water or home-made drinks overnight during summer months.
Go hot and cold. Freeze yoghurt and fruit or home-made fruit smoothies in small containers for a cool treat. Some young children go crazy for cold beans, peas or corn. Try filling small containers with a few frozen veggies. Give older children a small thermos with chicken or tomato soup for a filling winter lunch.
Cut fresh pineapple, kiwifruit or watermelon into chunks and make them easier to eat by skewering with toothpicks.
Examine leftovers. Encourage your children to bring leftovers home, so you can find out what’s not being eaten, and why. Was there a shared lunch? Is food being traded? Were the sandwiches too dry or soggy? Bringing leftovers home also means the scraps can be composted.
Avoid unnecessary waste. Don’t give your children more than they can reasonably eat—but be ready with afternoon tea.
Making pikelets or corn fritters? Prepare the batter and show older children how to cook a batch. Fritters make an excellent after-school snack and extras can be kept for the next day’s lunch.
Using leftovers saves time and energy. Cook a little extra meat for dinner and slice it for sandwiches. Baked potatoes can be filled with tasty toppings. Put lunch boxes on the kitchen bench when the dinner dishes are being done so leftovers can be packed directly into lunches.
Get hold of a dehydrator and turn cheap, in-season fruit into moreish dried fruit and fruit strips that make perfect snacks.
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B on Winter pick-me-ups: I often despise coming home after work to have to stand in the kitchen for ages cooking. So I try to make huge pots or add extra vege'
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