Why Do I Bento?<\/p>\n
1. \u00c2\u00a0Health.\u00c2\u00a0 Better control over your childs diet.\u00c2\u00a0 You know what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in it, and can make sure you are packing a nutritionly sound meal that your child will eat.\u00c2\u00a0 You can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t necessarily count on your school providing that.\u00c2\u00a0 My kidlet is only in Kindergarten and although there is a healthy option each day, there is also always a junk food option (deep fried nuggets, fries, pizza, etc). When the kidlet was our foster child he was in early head start and I learned that federal guidelines say that a little ranch dressing provided as a dip counts as a dairy serving.\u00c2\u00a0 Boggle.<\/p>\n
2. Cost.\u00c2\u00a0 Packing a lunch is almost always cheaper than a school lunch.<\/p>\n
3. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Green\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Solution.\u00c2\u00a0 It has been estimated that on average a school-age child using a disposable lunch generates 67 pounds of waste per school year. That equates to 18,760 pounds of lunch waste for just one average-size elementary school. Packing a bento box means no plastic baggies, aluminum foil or other excessive packaging to go into the landfills. If you send a cloth napkin instead of paper (and the japanese make a lot of cute little \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Oshibori\u00e2\u20ac\u009d cloths for their lunch packing, so you can find something that appeals to your child, although you likely will have to shop ebay or the internet to find one if you happen to live in the US, as I do), and rely on a reusable drink container, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s even better.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
4. Overcoming Picky Eating.\u00c2\u00a0 Kids love colorful, attractive foods.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s often more appealing for a picky child to eat something they normally would avoid when its shaped like a smiling animal or fashioned in the form of their favorite toy.\u00c2\u00a0 A sandwich in a bag smushed under an apple in the bottom of the lunch bag sure doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t look very good next to a candy bar in its shiny wrapper or the deep fried chicken nuggets shaped like stars.<\/p>\n
5. Self Esteem.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a daily reminder that they are worth the effort of packing such a cool lunch. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not the food that is the love (I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m completely against the idea of food as reward or pushing food to show you care), but that you are willing to spend the time for them.\u00c2\u00a0 My son also LOVES the attention that he gets from him lunches.\u00c2\u00a0 Other teachers come by each day to see what he has.\u00c2\u00a0 The kids in class think his lunches are super cool.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a little thing, but it makes him feel\u00c2\u00a0 good.\u00c2\u00a0 I remember that every time I think about sending a plain jane lunch =)<\/p>\n
6. Weight Control. Bento boxes are the perfect meal size (I know they seem small, but you pack them tightly, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the whole point!) so your child gets just how much they should be eating.<\/p>\n
7. It’s fun.\u00c2\u00a0 I am a creative person.\u00c2\u00a0 But I don’t always have time or space to dig out all my scrapbooking materials or to sit and work on a cross stitch.\u00c2\u00a0 Creating a bento is a creative outlet that I can start and finish in an hour (usually much less than an hour).<\/p>\n