Super Eco

Photo credit: elisasizzle, flickr

At third-grade parent orientation last night, one of the hot topics was encouraging our kids to order the "plate lunch"—one entree plus three sides—rather than letting them skate by on random à la carte items. Now, it's not that I don't appreciate the interest in teaching kids the merits of a balanced meal, and it's not that I don't appreciate the fact that they do in fact offer a vegetarian option (even if it's all too often the ubiquitous "Chef Salad").

Still, I don't believe that kids will respond to a mechanical, artificial approach to "healthy" eating. What they need is real food that gets their taste buds and tummies rocking: whole foods, fresh produce, organic foods, rich tastes and textures that train their palates to expect food, not "food products."

Fortunately, you don't have to cook up a better alternative from scratch. There are plenty of initiatives working on healthier school lunch programs. Our favorites each have their own particular twist.

1. School Nutrition Association finally listens up
2. HealthySchoolLunches.org aims to reform Child Nutrition Act
3. Tobey McGuire asks Nancy Pelosi for more vegetarian school lunches
4. Get hormones out of schoolchildren's milk
5. Bring local foods to school with FarmToSchool.org
6. Chase junk food out of the halls
7. Whole Foods' Chef Ann Cooper sharpens her knives as The Renegade Lunch Lady
8. Join the Healthy School Food Brigade
9. Explore the Hungry for Change Cafeteria
10. Research school food policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest
11. Participate in Slow Food USA's Time for Lunch day on Sept. 7
12. Experience the Experience Food Project's extreme school food makeover challenge
13. Take a virtual stroll through the The Food Museum
14. Give kids time to eat with Slow Food in Schools
15. Pack healthier lunches from home with these lunchbox ideas
16. Get informed: federal school wellness policies