{"id":8712,"date":"2013-07-18T14:41:09","date_gmt":"2013-07-18T14:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/?p=8712"},"modified":"2013-07-18T14:51:28","modified_gmt":"2013-07-18T14:51:28","slug":"lunch-wars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/lunch-wars\/","title":{"rendered":"Lunch Wars"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are rumblings. Rumblings in tummies across the UK as the idea is mooted that packed lunches for kids should be banned.<\/h3>\r\nHead Teachers are being urged to encourage the take-up of school dinners and promote healthy eating in schools.\r\n\r\nThe authors of the School Food Plan say that packed lunches are rarely as nutritious as hot school dinners and as a parent, I must admit that I have struggled to find interesting things to put in my children\u2019s lunch packs over the years.\r\n\r\nThe ideal packed lunch should \u00a0contain a fruit or vegetable, some protein in the form of meat or fish, something starchy like bread or pasta, a little dairy such as cheese or yoghurt, plus a non-sugary drink such as water, a fruit juice or smoothie.\r\n\r\n
\"Typical

Typical Lunch Box<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\nMy kids staples have been cucumber, carrots, raspberries, cheese and ham sandwiches, yoghurts and smoothies. I often tried to branch out into say, a pasta salad, a falafel or a cherry tomato, only to receive these items back later the same day, soggy, uneaten, leaking out of their containers. What is one to do?\r\n

It is with horror that I recall the contents of my lunch box throughout the 1970s. It consisted of:<\/h3>\r\n–\u00a0 Honey sandwiches on white bread\r\n–\u00a0 A\u00a0 Penguin chocolate bar\r\n–\u00a0 Crisps (with a little bag of salt you had to hunt around for in the bottom of the packet)\r\n–\u00a0 A custard cream\/bourbon biscuit\r\n–\u00a0 No drink (this was pre cartoned drink days)\r\n\r\nI distinctly remember how my sugar-laden lunch made me as wired as a puma on acid for about an hour afterwards. Then I would then crash in a hideous sugar-low and usually be crying by pick-up time. Thankfully, awareness about nutrition is more commonplace these days, but packing healthy lunch boxes has become a proverbial yoke around parent\u2019s — usually the mother\u2019s — neck and is the source of a disproportionate amount of anxiety for children and parents.\r\n\r\nSo what is it with our kids and packed lunches? Is it an indulgence to send our children off to school with only the things we know they like? What does this teach them about trying new things? Should children just eat whatever is put in front of them? School dinners should be affordable and nutritious, but are they? And even if they were, would your child ever make the switch?\r\n\r\n
Image License – Creative Commons by comedy nose & notfrancois<\/em><\/dt><\/dl>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are rumblings. Rumblings in tummies across the UK as the idea is mooted that packed lunches for kids should be banned.","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3500,3348],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tasty-family-food-and-recipes","category-lifestyle-tips-for-families"],"yoast_head":"\r\nLunch Wars - KidStart Magazine<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/lunch-wars\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lunch Wars - KidStart Magazine\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There are rumblings. Rumblings in tummies across the UK as the idea is mooted that packed lunches for kids should be banned.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/lunch-wars\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"KidStart Magazine\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-07-18T14:41:09+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-07-18T14:51:28+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/sal1.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"704\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sara Bran\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sara Bran\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/lunch-wars\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/lunch-wars\/\",\"name\":\"Lunch Wars - KidStart Magazine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/lunch-wars\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/lunch-wars\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/sal1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-07-18T14:41:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-07-18T14:51:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ebbe4da9fc671ca188236556c0aa2a31\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/lunch-wars\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/lunch-wars\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/lunch-wars\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/sal1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/sal1.jpg\",\"width\":704,\"height\":400},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/lunch-wars\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lunch Wars\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"KidStart Magazine\",\"description\":\"KidStart - a little help along the way\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ebbe4da9fc671ca188236556c0aa2a31\",\"name\":\"Sara Bran\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/efc9f179c5d2fc6710c68ab971bb826d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/efc9f179c5d2fc6710c68ab971bb826d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sara Bran\"},\"description\":\"Sara Bran is a writer, blogger, social media consultant and mother of two daughters living in London. She has an unbelievable tolerance to caffeine and an extreme aversion to brass sections.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/author\/sara\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lunch Wars - KidStart Magazine","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/lunch-wars\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lunch Wars - KidStart Magazine","og_description":"There are rumblings. Rumblings in tummies across the UK as the idea is mooted that packed lunches for kids should be banned.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/lunch-wars\/","og_site_name":"KidStart Magazine","article_published_time":"2013-07-18T14:41:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-07-18T14:51:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":704,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/sal1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sara Bran","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sara Bran","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/lunch-wars\/","url":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/lunch-wars\/","name":"Lunch Wars - KidStart Magazine","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/lunch-wars\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/lunch-wars\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/sal1.jpg","datePublished":"2013-07-18T14:41:09+00:00","dateModified":"2013-07-18T14:51:28+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ebbe4da9fc671ca188236556c0aa2a31"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/lunch-wars\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/lunch-wars\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/lunch-wars\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/sal1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/sal1.jpg","width":704,"height":400},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/lunch-wars\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lunch Wars"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/","name":"KidStart Magazine","description":"KidStart - a little help along the way","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ebbe4da9fc671ca188236556c0aa2a31","name":"Sara Bran","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/efc9f179c5d2fc6710c68ab971bb826d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/efc9f179c5d2fc6710c68ab971bb826d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Sara Bran"},"description":"Sara Bran is a writer, blogger, social media consultant and mother of two daughters living in London. She has an unbelievable tolerance to caffeine and an extreme aversion to brass sections.","url":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/author\/sara\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidstart.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}