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Having read a couple weeks of the bento lunch community here on LJ, I've come to the conclusion that nutrition science has changed since I was in school.
Back in the day, we had the Four Food Groups:
1. Meat (or protein)
2. Dairy
3. Fruits/vegetables
4. Grains
The idea for loving parents who packed their child's lunch was to include something from every group-- for example:
1. Turkey sandwich
2. With cheese
3. Carrot sticks on the side (this was before "baby carrots")
4. Wheat bread on the sandwich.
Plus a Capri Sun (made with real juice, allegedly) or a juice box, or chocolate milk purchased at school.
Then there would be "dessert" which none of us pretended was a food group, consisting of two or three Oreos or something, which we would promptly eat first.
I was a picky eater as a child, which meant I demanded my turkey sandwich dry, and my cheese wrapped and on the side.
Now, we have the Food Pyramid, which splits up fruits and vegetables, goes heavy on the grains and other carbs, and light on the meat.
So, in conjunction with this better living through nutrition, what are parents sending with their kids these days?
Here is an example from the![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
bentolunch community. Let me note that this is NOT the post which was roundly condemned as containing "way too much sugar" earlier last week (the hapless mother had packed four kinds of candy, a granola bar, pocky, and raisins). This is a typical lunch which was not criticized in any way for its food selection.
Non-sweet foods:
1 rice "bunny" (a rice ball shaped like a rabbit, containing about 1/2 c rice)
1 boiled egg
A few cheese cubes, maybe 6 at most 3/4" cubes
Now, lest you be concerned that the poor child is not getting enough to eat, here is the bulk of their lunch:
Half a banana
Apple slices
Strawberry pocky
Chocolate covered cookies
Is this indicative of the changing tastes affected by the amount of corn-syrup-riddled "kid food" that we've been fattening up our young people on, or is this, contrary to my old-fashioned beliefs, actually a good nutritious diet for a young primate?
I'm currently weighing some "basic rules" for the kid's lunch, and I thought the following were strict but not ridiculous:
--No sweet things allowed at lunch except fruits. (a.k.a. no cookies, candy) Fruits can only constitute 1/3 of the lunch at most.
--Must have at least one thing that has lots of protein: tuna, turkey, beans, etc.
--Must have at least three different foods.
So, a turkey sandwich, carrot sticks with ranch, and a couple of strawberries would count.
Apple slices with peanut butter plus some tuna fish and crackers would count.
Basically, we're moving toward the independence of the kid making her own lunch, but this is not the All Fun Gummy Corn Syrup Shape Hour. She gets points on Chore Wars for making her lunch right, and I want to make sure she doesn't feel that it's an arbitrary decision on my part.
Back in the day, we had the Four Food Groups:
1. Meat (or protein)
2. Dairy
3. Fruits/vegetables
4. Grains
The idea for loving parents who packed their child's lunch was to include something from every group-- for example:
1. Turkey sandwich
2. With cheese
3. Carrot sticks on the side (this was before "baby carrots")
4. Wheat bread on the sandwich.
Plus a Capri Sun (made with real juice, allegedly) or a juice box, or chocolate milk purchased at school.
Then there would be "dessert" which none of us pretended was a food group, consisting of two or three Oreos or something, which we would promptly eat first.
I was a picky eater as a child, which meant I demanded my turkey sandwich dry, and my cheese wrapped and on the side.
Now, we have the Food Pyramid, which splits up fruits and vegetables, goes heavy on the grains and other carbs, and light on the meat.
So, in conjunction with this better living through nutrition, what are parents sending with their kids these days?
Here is an example from the
bentolunch community. Let me note that this is NOT the post which was roundly condemned as containing "way too much sugar" earlier last week (the hapless mother had packed four kinds of candy, a granola bar, pocky, and raisins). This is a typical lunch which was not criticized in any way for its food selection.Non-sweet foods:
1 rice "bunny" (a rice ball shaped like a rabbit, containing about 1/2 c rice)
1 boiled egg
A few cheese cubes, maybe 6 at most 3/4" cubes
Now, lest you be concerned that the poor child is not getting enough to eat, here is the bulk of their lunch:
Half a banana
Apple slices
Strawberry pocky
Chocolate covered cookies
Is this indicative of the changing tastes affected by the amount of corn-syrup-riddled "kid food" that we've been fattening up our young people on, or is this, contrary to my old-fashioned beliefs, actually a good nutritious diet for a young primate?
I'm currently weighing some "basic rules" for the kid's lunch, and I thought the following were strict but not ridiculous:
--No sweet things allowed at lunch except fruits. (a.k.a. no cookies, candy) Fruits can only constitute 1/3 of the lunch at most.
--Must have at least one thing that has lots of protein: tuna, turkey, beans, etc.
--Must have at least three different foods.
So, a turkey sandwich, carrot sticks with ranch, and a couple of strawberries would count.
Apple slices with peanut butter plus some tuna fish and crackers would count.
Basically, we're moving toward the independence of the kid making her own lunch, but this is not the All Fun Gummy Corn Syrup Shape Hour. She gets points on Chore Wars for making her lunch right, and I want to make sure she doesn't feel that it's an arbitrary decision on my part.
