Pack an Easy, Healthy Bento Box School Lunch
Laptop Lunches Kits Include Recipes and Ideas for Fun Kids' Meals
Oct 3, 2009
A single school child taking a disposable packed lunch to school can generate 45-90 pounds of garbage each year, according to the New York Sate Department of Environmental Conservation. Kids carrying the Laptop Lunches system or other bento box style container could make little to no trash that same year.
Lunch Supplies Marketed for Convenience May be Heavy on Trash and Light on Nutrition
Sporting popular cartoons and TV characters, lunchroom treats like Betty Crocker's Fruit Roll Ups or Pepperidge Farm's Goldfish Crackers become must-have commodities for many school children. Many of the products sold in the snack-foods and lunch-foods aisle at the grocery store amount to little more than empty calories – sometimes fortified with vitamin supplements – wrapped in paper and plastic trash. A Washington Post columnist recently struck a cord with many parents when she scoffed at snack-food giant Kraft Foods' new line of Lunchables marketed as wholesome.
Bento box systems like Laptop Lunches can help parents improve the nutritional value of lunch while still making lunch fun.
Laptop Lunches Offers Colorful Bento Box Containers with Kids In Mind
At the heart of the bento box lunch trend is making lunch fun for toddlers, school kids, and grownups alike by incorporating a variety of foods in small portions and individual containers. The Laptop Lunch is available in several bright colors each with its own silverware set.
The company also offers several carrying container options, including an insulated carrying case designed to carry the bento box along with a drink container (provided) and a fabric lunch bag targeted to adults that carries the bento, a beverage, and even a soup container.
Positive Aspects of the Laptop Lunch System
- Two styles two choose from: one with one lidded container and another with two (in addition to a lidded dip container).
- Boxes and insulated bags in whimsical designs for kids or conservative colors and fabrics for adults.
- Made of a sturdy polypropylene and polyethylene plastics designed to last multiple school-years.
- The lunch box and inner containers are upper-rack dishwasher safe.
- Containers have been independently tested and do not contain phthalates, bisphenol A (BPA), or lead.
- Fits easily into many backpacks and briefcases.
- Comes with users guide and dozens of lunch recipes.
Negative Aspects of the Laptop Lunch System
- More expensive than a traditional lunch box.
- Most individual serving yogurt containers do not fit in the Laptop Lunch. However, the second lidded container in the Bento 2.0 series is a reasonable serving-size for yogurt.
Community of Laptop Lunch and Bento Box Fans Provides Steady Stream of Lunch Ideas
There can be no shortage of ideas for packed lunches with Laptop Lunch box fans submitting pictures of their lunch creations to a Flickr pool, often complete with descriptions and links to recipes. Bento box fans have also written book after book on improving kids lunch nutrition and recipe ideas. Two popular ones are the Vegan Lunch Box by Jennifer McCann and Lunch Lessons by Chef Ann Cooper and Lisa M. Holmes (Both available in bookstores or direct from Laptop Lunches). Laptop Lunches also publishes a free e-mail newsletter with recipes and tips.
Laptop Lunch bento boxes can be purchased online and at retail stores including Whole Foods.
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