School lunch services

Well, people, I kept you waiting quite a long time in between posts and am trying to get better!

In addition to a new post, I am changing fonts.  I just thought maybe a new font would spice things up a bit!

Many people grapple with the school lunch challenge - balancing time, money and nutrition.

"Hey, sweet graphic", you are thinking, right?

So, on any given day, the balance of these factors shifts.
One day, you might have very little time, and nutritional status of the lunch might suffer because of that.  Or, you try to make a very nutritionally-sound lunch, which increases both time and money in some instances.

And then there's the old adage..."time is money".  This is also true.  We are so busy these days with two working parents and kids running off to 8 billion activities, time truly is money. 
So, in any case, here are some more thoughts on school lunches and some creative ways that people have developed to handle the challenging balance of time, money and nutrition.

There have been sweeping changes in school lunch rules in recent years.  While most of these federally mandated changes technically apply only to the free and reduced breakfast and lunch program, it has brought to the forefront a focus on increasing the nutritional value of the food that our kids eat at school.

One interesting way that people have chosen to deal with the challenge of balancing time, money and nutrition are with school lunch delivery services.

These exist mostly in the big (read: HIP) cities in the U.S.  Let's just say, New Haven doesn't have one!

Let's take a look at what these services offer:
Smart Lunches: http://www.smartlunches.com/
This Boston-based service offers delivery to students and teachers in Greater Boston, North Shore, South Shore and Western Massachusetts. 
This service allows you to order healthy lunches that will be delivered directly to your child's school. 
From their website:
"Depending on category, size, and whether sides are included, main menu items range in price from $4.00 to $7.50. Healthy drinks and snacks are available as add-ons at most schools. "
Their website seems really easy to use and their FAQ page is totally complete and helpful!

So, yeah, this may cost more per lunch than what you would pay if you made the lunch at home (do some quick math here, one week's worth of bread plus sandwich makings plus fruit plus yogurt/applesauce/etc divided by a five day week...maybe comes to $2.00 per day?)
However, in the schematic above, this money does buy you TIME and guaranteed NUTRITION!

Something to think about...

In other cities:
Seattle: The Midnight Kitchen
http://www.themidnightkitchen.com/lunch.html
I love the name of this company because it makes me think of the reason why I make lunches while making dinner each night - I simply don't want to be up until midnight making the lunches for the next day!
I like that this company states that they use BPA/phthalate-free lunch boxes from www.easylunchboxes.com and utensils by Light My Fire that are sanitized daily...that's the west coast for ya!
I can't quite tell what the daily cost is for these lunches on their website.

Los Angeles: Fresh Lunches
http://www.freshlunches.com/
While their website font is WAY too small and difficult to read, I do like this little graphic!

I also can't tell what these lunches cost, but they do state that the cost is comparable to home-made lunches.
They seem to have easy online ordering.

Portland: Smarter Sprout
http://www.smartersprout.com/
Again, the west coast devoted to healthy eating for our kids!  I can't tell what the daily cost is, but they also offer easy online ordering.  Easy, large-font website.
Like some of the other services, they address the important issue of food allergies.

So, this phenomenon seems to have gone from west to east coast, as evidenced by the ease with which I found west coast services.  I bet there are a gazillion in NYC, but typical of The City, the information isn't easily accessible to an outsider!

Like I said before, we don't have such a service in New Haven, CT.  If we did, I would seriously consider using it.  Over the past several months I have made it my mission to become familiar with my own nutritional needs, in addition to those of family.  I haven't purchased a Lunchable in ages, and instead make "homemade Lunchables" for my 6 year old and other vegetarian options for the little one. 

Time is money.  Money is time.  Time is nutrition...and so forth!

You decide.  Are these services worth it?

Bon Appetit!