The Lunchbox of Joy

 This morning, my son got up as early as 5Am to confirm if he had school today. I asked him why he was so curious about school.

The menu in today’s lunch provided at school was one of his motivations.

That makes me think the amazing benefits of nutritious lunch provided at school.

Many of us doting parents are very concern about the diets of our children especially for those of us who have fuzzy eater at home. Most of the children leave aside greens on their plates and are picky eaters. My son is no exception in it but when the lunch program got introduced at school, I was so at ease. Undeniably, my worries about my son not eating like the way I let him eat at home or letting food go waste were still hovering my mind.

But above everything else, first, I want him to learn adaptability: school is that place where grooming of a child’s personality takes place. Preparing a child to be as flexible as a rubber-band in adapting food habits from early age is the best way of preparing a future adult who would learn to survive through adjusting any circumstance.

In addition to that, I loved the school’s sole perspective of a standardized lunchbox, where every student would receive the same lunch no matter what family they are from. For students, providing school meals for all reduce unnecessary comparisons among peers. The classroom is often filled with judgy kids. Students often compare their lunchboxes with others, and sometimes these may lead to inferiority complex t . They are likely to grow self-conscious and become weary of their own lunch. In the long run, this could have detrimental impacts on students’ mental health and social life.

Accordingly, these toxic comparisons would no longer be an issue.

Parents must also acknowledge the amount of investment made by the management to ensure the best food being served to our children every day. Behind the delicious food, there are lots of investments: monetary, time, patience and emotions.

The monetary expense is humongous for the management as the meal served is charged at the minimal. While, the amount of food intake by our children is double of what is charged. No wonder, a plate of rice cost not less than a hundred now. One must come and watch the joyfulness of our children during lunch break. You will see, the same kid who is going for the third serving at school is the same one at home who picks out the greens on the plate.  

Let’s change our perspective and put on the shoes of those behind managing these tasks of ensuring a healthy food habit to promote healthy mind and body to our children.