Monday, August 27, 2012
With an increase in kids with allergies, schools are adapting by having special rules such as peanut-free cafeterias. If your child has allergies or goes to a school with special rules, packing a lunch can be difficult.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 4-6 percent of children in the U.S. under 18 have food allergies, and that number is rising. School can be a particularly dangerous place for these kids. The CDC says that 16-18 percent of them have had an allergic reaction at school due to accidentally ingesting a food allergen. Odds are that if your child isn’t one of those with a serious allergy, he or she goes to school with someone who is. Because schools are required by federal law to make adjustments for any student with a life-threatening allergy, this may mean nut-free tables in the lunchroom, or even an entirely nut-free school. If you’re in either of those categories, how do you pack a healthy, allergen-free lunch for…
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Inject a little fun and creativity into your kids' school lunch ideas so the lunch box comes home empty
For many of you, sending the kids back to school means packing a lunch box every day. The thought of having to pack 5 lunches a week for 9 months straight can be daunting. In the past, I know I would quickly run out of school lunch ideas. I would get bored packing the kids' lunches so, I could understand why my kids would bring home a lunch box full of wasted food. But, I figured out that getting my child to eat his or her lunch just takes a little fun and creativity, especially if you pickly eater that limits your food variety. Here are 7 ideas to make school lunches the highlight of your kids’ day. 1. Shake it up. Prepare the same old food in a new way. Instead of a regular peanut butter and jelly on white bread (ho hum), make Pinwheel …
Friday, April 29, 2011
Students and residents gather at Northwestern's Campus to discuss school lunch quality and how to improve it.
The issue of healthier school lunches is gaining momentum in Evanston. On Thursday evening, one of two free screenings of the documentary “Lunch Line” was shown to an audience of more than 50 people including Northwestern University students and faculty, District 65 parents and other members of the community. Afterwards, those in attendance discussed issues with the quality of school lunches and possible solutions. “There are so many ways of coming at this question and this problem, so it’s really exciting to hear different approaches to it,” said Diane Schanzenbach, a Professor at Northwestern University who has done research on school lunches and obesity. The documentary, which was co-directed by Northwestern graduate Michael Graziano, …
David Greenberg
12:58 pm on Thursday, September 6, 2012
"Special education is meant for kids who for whatever reason cannot learn in the regular education setting, and require special classes to allow them an appropriate education. Food allergies do not cause learning problems. What you are proposing is that kids be separated from their peers all day because of what they can't eat. That sounds like discrimination." Sully, I'd never discriminate … more ›