School
attle
Strategies For Winning The Lunch Struggle
SHARON ACHATZ SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
pen the lid
to an empty
lunch pail,
and you've
opened a
parental
H-
Pandora's box:
What to put inside that
children will eat rather than
trade away, yet that still
will satisfy a parent's wish-
es for nutrition and be easi-
ly put together during the
morning rush hour?
The biggest brown-bag
battles generally are about
nutrition. Children want to
pack all sweets or the same
sandwich day after day; par-
ents want to provide a vari-
ety of healthy foods that fill
nutritional requirements
from all the food groups.
It's time, however, for
parents to face facts: No
matter how healthy a lunch
is sent to school, unless a
youngster considers it tasty
and attractive, it will be
traded away for Twinkies or
tossed in the trash.
The only way to ensure
that a child considers some-
thing tasty is to learn his
tastes and then cater to
them — within reason. No
right-minded parent would
send a child to school with
nothing but fruit pies and
potato chips for lunch, but if
Peter doesn't like bananas,
don't send a banana in his
lunch. Send him to school
instead with a fruit he'll eat.
The same goes for Laura
and her plain, white-bread
tuna sandwiches or Curt
and his craving for peanut
butter.
Even if they eat the same
fruit or sandwich every day
for a month, at least they're
getting some nutrients
rather than just sugar and
fat, and parents can make
up for the lack of nutritive
variety at lunch with din-
ners, breakfasts and snacks
that include nutritional ele-
ments never found in the
lunch box.
If children are fixated on
certain foods, that also pro-
vides a springboard from
which to expand their culi-
nary horizons creatively. If
Peter prefers only apples,
try sending this instead: an
apple sliced into four
wedges, spread with peanut
butter or a cream cheese
spread, and then reassem-
bled into the shape of a
whole apple.
As for Curt's peanut but-
ter, add a bit of mashed
banana, dates or apple
chunks. Or serve up the
peanut butter as a dip for
cut-up veggies instead of in
a sandwich — most children
can't resist the novelty of
such finger foods at lunch.
Once Curt has learned to
love the veggies with peanut
butter dip, move on to try
other dips such as yogurt,
cream-cheese blends or
hummus.
Add a slice of cheese or a
sprinkling of sprouts to
Laura's tuna sandwich, and
then use a cookie cutter to
make it into an irresistible
shape that helps her focus
on the fun of eating rather
than the fact that there's
something strange in her
sandwich.
As another brown-bag