Great Lunches for School

• If you are trying to stay healthy, try eating at least two servings of vegetables or fruit for lunch. This is a great way to help you get the recommended servings of vegetables and fruit that you need everyday! (Teens should try to eat three servings for lunch)
• Teen girls need 7 servings of vegetables or fruit everyday and teen boys need 8.
• Eat vegetables and fruit for lunch. Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide recommends we eat between 4 – 10 servings of vegetables and fruit every day, depending on our age and gender. Did you know the average Canadian eats only 3 servings daily? We can do better than that!
• Have some vegetables and fruit for lunch. Research shows that many Canadians do not eat enough vegetables or fruit.
  • 30% of 4 to 8 year olds do not eat enough vegetables and fruit
  • 50% of Grade 7 students in Peel do not eat enough vegetables and fruit
  • 50% of Canadian adults do not eat enough vegetables and fruit
• Do you eat enough vegetables and fruit each day? How can you eat more?
• Why not be creative and make your parents day? Ask your parents to add more vegetables and fruit to your meals and watch their faces light up. You just may inspire them to add more to their own lunch. Here are some suggestions:
  • When making homemade "submarine sandwiches" add lettuce, tomatoes, green peppers and other vegetable toppings
  • Add veggies to soups, stews, chilli, pastas and lasagne
  • Serve veggies and fruit with a variety of dips.
• Are you looking for something crunchy at lunch? Crunch on healthy choices like veggie sticks or fruit. If you feel like trying something new, add a small amount of low-fat dip.
• Grapes are a friendly little fruit. They always come in a bunch. They‘re perfect to keep you company at lunch.
• Do you eat sticks for lunch? I do! I love green pepper sticks, red pepper sticks, celery sticks, and carrot sticks. Can you think of any other sticks you might eat at lunch? (Zucchini, cucumber, bread sticks etc.)
• Pack a couple of apricots, baby carrots or green and red peppers in your lunch. Canada’s Food Guide recommends we eat at least one dark green and orange vegetable each day.
• Pack lower fat, 2% yogurt as a dip for fresh fruit or mix it with canned fruit.
• Have at least one vegetarian lunch each week. Try beans, peas or lentils in soups or salads. Have you heard of textured vegetable protein, also known as TVP? Try it in chilli or spaghetti as a substitute for ground meat.
• Are you looking for something sweet in your lunch? I know I am. Go for a delicious fresh fruit, fruit salad or fruit sauces. They taste great and you’ll feel good you made a healthy choice.

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• Student #1 - Oh No, I forgot my drink at home!
  Student #2 - What was it?
  Student #1 - Some kind of juice drink box
  Student #2 - Was it 100% real fruit juice? My mom says that’s the best kind
  Student #1 - I don’t know, I’ll take a look when I get home. At least I packed some fresh fruits and vegetables. I know they are packed with fibre and other important nutrients.
  Student #2 - You can always have a glass of water. It’s the best way to quench your thirst.
• We should get most of our vegetables and fruit by eating whole vegetables and fruit. They contain more fibre and other valuable nutrients than juice.
• What do you drink at lunch? If you like juice, ask your parents to look for juice that says 100% juice. Try using a frozen juice box to keep your lunch cool. It will defrost by lunch time.

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• In a hurry to make lunch. Grab the perfect fast food that doesn’t need a container – bananas, apples, pears, oranges are all easy take along foods.
• Tasty, easy and fast. Plan to make leftovers of your favourite food. Warm up the food and the thermos and you can have a hot and delicious lunch.
• Make it easy. Make it healthy. Try having soup for lunch. Canned or homemade soup made from vegetables, peas or beans makes a great lunch. Read the label and look for soup that has less salt. (Senior grades: Choose soups that have sodium content of 5% or less Daily Value per serving.)

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• Are you looking for something sweet in your lunch? Go for a delicious fresh fruit, fruit salad or fruit sauces instead of choosing a chocolate bar, supersized muffins, ice cream or fruit-flavoured roll-ups.
• Are you looking for something crunchy at lunch? Crunch on healthy choices like veggie sticks or fruit. If you feel like trying something new, add a small amount of low-fat dip. You will feel much better if you walk by the flavoured cheese puffs, caramel corn or corn chips.
• Explore, discover and try new things!
  Look to see what healthy foods kids are bringing for lunch. Do a survey and ask your friends what their favourite lunch foods are. Try one new food for lunch every week
• Be adventurous.
  Ask your parents if you may try one new fruit or vegetable in your lunch every week. Try them fresh, canned, or mixed together – you’ll be amazed at how good they taste.
• Be Helpful.
  Ask the person in your house who does the grocery shopping if you may help by giving them a few ideas for yummy healthy lunch choices when they are planning menus, making a shopping list or going grocery shopping. Tag along.
• Look around and evaluate.
  Does anyone have a tasty healthy lunch food you would like to try? Give your parents some ideas and help them make lunches you would enjoy.

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• Save the Planet: Use refillable water bottles.
• Save the Planet: Use cloth napkins.
• Save the Planet: Use reusable containers for lunch food.
• Save the Planet: Use lunch bags that can be washed and reused.

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• Be the Assistant Chef: Ask your parents if you can help them pack lunches.
• Make your Parents Smile: When you get home from school empty your lunch bag and put it on the kitchen counter so it can be washed with soapy water.
• Everybody Wins: Ask your parents if you can help make packing school lunches easier for them by giving them ideas for yummy healthy foods you would like to eat.
• Family Teams: Work together. Talk to your parents. Give them information. Compliment them when you like your lunch. Give them new ideas for healthy lunch foods you would like to try. Help your parents make a list of yummy healthy lunch foods.
• Shopping Detective: Be sharp. Help your parents buy food that is tasty and healthy. Explore food labels and look for grains that have at least 2 grams of fibre per serving. Keep an eye on juice packages. Make sure the drinks and cocktails don’t sneak into your cart, but welcome 100% fruit juice.
• Use Nature’s Toothbrush: Keep your smile bright by lowering your risk for cavities. At the end of lunch, eat hard crisp foods that will help clean your teeth by increasing saliva flow. Avoid food that sticks to your teeth and feeds bacteria that cause cavities. Drinking water after eating also helps!
• Be the Family Expert: Learn about food labels and show your family how interesting they are to read.
  • Teach them how to find healthy foods with “a lot” of fibre calcium or iron by looking for food labels with 15% or more Daily Value of these important nutrients.
  • Help them find healthy foods with just “a little” fat and sodium by looking for food labels with 5% or less Daily Value of the nutrients we want to avoid.

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• Why not make your own “lunchables”. Don’t buy over-packaged lunch foods that are expensive and often contain too much fat and salt. Use a plastic lunch container with compartments or a few separate containers. Add your favourite healthy foods including cut-up vegetables or fruit, salsa, crackers, bread sticks, French toast pieces, cheese chunks, yogurt, sliced meat, tuna, boiled eggs or low-fat dip. Do you have any other ideas for foods you might like?

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• Have whole grain breads, pita or tortillas for sandwiches, wraps and quesadillas to up your whole grains for the day.
• Everyone should eat two servings of fish each week. Eating tuna or salmon in a sandwich, wrap, pita pocket or salad is an easy and tasty way to eat fish.
• We all need a small amount of healthy unsaturated fat in our diet. It gives us nutrients necessary for our body and brain. It also helps absorb vitamins A, D, E and K. Use soft non-hydrogenated margarine instead of butter when making lunch.
• Don’t drink your calories. Satisfy your thirst with water.
• Try bringing soup, stew, pasta, curried vegetables or any hot food to school for lunch. Make sure it stays hot by warming up your thermos with hot water then adding hot food.
• Pack a couple of apricots, baby carrots or green and red peppers in your lunch. Canada’s Food Guide recommends we eat at least one dark green and orange vegetable each day.
• Pack lower fat, 2% yogurt as a dip for fresh fruit or mix it with canned fruit.
• Have at least one vegetarian lunch each week. Try beans, peas or lentils in soups or salads. Have you heard of textured vegetable protein, also known as TVP? Try it in chilli or spaghetti as a substitute for ground meat.

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• Do you know... your lunch choices matter? Respect your body by limiting food and drinks that contain a lot of calories, fat, sugar or salt.
• Do you know... lunch is very important? Lunch gives us vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, antioxidants and fibre. These nutrients help keep our minds and bodies strong!
• Do you know... The secret to looking better, feeling better, having more energy and growing strong muscles and bones? Eat a healthy lunch, as part of Eating Well and Being Active.
• Do you know... a 12-inch submarine bun equals 4 to 6 servings of grain products? Smart size your lunch and eat a smaller sub.
• Do you know... most parents are happy to get lunch ideas from their kids? Help your parents by asking them to make extra portions of your favourite foods so you can take them to school the next day for lunch.
• Do you know... drinking milk with your lunch is a great idea? It will help you meet the Canada’s Food Guide Recommendations. Everyone in Canada should drink at least 2 glasses of milk each day to get enough calcium and vitamin D for their bodies.
• Do you know... you can phone the Region of Peel – Public Health and ask to speak to a Registered Dietitian if you or someone in your family has food or nutrition questions?

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• Student #1 - Your lunch smells great! What is it!
  Student #2 - I don’t know what it’s called, but it’s one of my favourites. My grandmother made it last night and there was some left over for me to bring for lunch today. My grandmother loves to cook and is looking for some new healthy ideas, but she doesn’t read English very well.
  Student #1 - Did you know that Health Canada offers Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide in 12 languages? They include English, Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, French, Korean, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Tamil and Urdu. They also created a cultural adaptation for First Nations, Inuit and Métis people.
  Student #2 - Hey, that’s a great idea! Thanks!
• I have a friend at school and his grandparents have trouble reading English. His grandmother makes his lunch every day and is looking for some healthy ideas.
  Do you know… Health Canada offers Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide in 12 languages? They include English, Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, French, Korean, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Tamil and Urdu. They also created a cultural adaptation for First Nations, Inuit and Métis people.

Note: Schools can order various copies from Health Canada or Region of Peel – Public Health to display at the school, use in classrooms or to send home to parents.

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• I'm a fruit that originates from New Zealand. I have brown fuzzy skin and I'm named after my country's flightless bird. What am I?
  • If you guessed "Kiwi," you're right. Cut me in half and eat me with a spoon or peel me and slice me. I'm delicious and a great source of vitamin C.
• I'm a food with culture. I may be plain or flavoured with fruit. What am I?
  • Answer: Yogurt
• Did you know that the saying "cool as a cucumber" is really true? The inside of a cucumber is at least 10 degrees cooler than the outside air. So try cucumbers for a cool snack!
• This is a test: can you name the one food that supplies all fifty nutrients that our bodies need for good health?
  • If you can't come up with an answer, you're right! There is no single food that supplies everything we need! That is why eating a variety of foods is so important. It's also much more interesting that sticking to the same old foods all the time.
• Student #1: I have a riddle for you. Try to figure out the answer: It is made at home, it is eaten at school. It tastes yummy. It contains at least 3 of the 4 food groups from Canada’s Food Guide. What am I?
  • Student #2: Could you be a great lunch?
• Student #1: I love riddles, don’t you? I have another riddle for you. It comes in many colours. It is insulated. I bring it to school. It is helpful to the environment. It gets washed with soapy water every night. What am I?
  • Student #2: Are you an insulated lunch bag?
• Where did the hamburger go to dance?
  • To the meatball
• What do you call a drawing of pasta?
  • A noodle doodle
• What is a sheep's favourite food?
  • Baaaananas
• Why couldn't the orange get up the hill?
  • Because it had run out of juice
• Why did everyone leave the kitchen?
  • Because they were embarrassed by the salad dressing
• If you had six oranges in one hand and seven oranges in the other hand, what would you have?
  • Very big hands
• How can you turn one kind of fruit into another?
  • If you put two apples together you would have a pair
• What do you call it when you use a grapefruit at the bowling alley?
  • Fruit bowl.
• How do you make a hamburger roll?
  • Give it a shove off a steep hill
• When can you knock over a full glass and not spill any water?
  • When the glass is filled with milk
• Which food from the Meat and Alternatives group is the most serious?
  • An egg. It's afraid to crack a smile
• Which vegetable's name and first letter are exactly the same?
  • A pea
• How do you divide 17 tomatoes amongst 9 boys and 9 girls?
  • Make tomato juice
• How do you fix a broken pizza?
  • With tomato paste
• What do you call two banana peels?
  • A pair of slippers
• What kind of lunch does a tightrope walker eat?
  • A "balanced" lunch, with all 4 food groups

Selected food jokes and trivia were used with permission from materials by Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph.

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