Back to School Special: Pack Better Bag Lunches

Back to School Special: Pack Better Bag Lunches

By: Mary Choate

Brown Bag Lunches can get boring if they are the same old thing over and over again. Kids may trade to get a lunch that they find more fun to eat. For adults, boredom can lead to a trip to the vending machine or convenience store- a difficult place to find healthful choices. The solution is to mix it up with nutritious and fun choices from the Choose My Plate's Healthy Eating Tips.

Think outside the bag

To start thinking “outside the bag,” use the ideas below to put together a fun lunch that brown baggers of all ages will enjoy. Be sure to add your favorites to the list!

Note: Add a freezer pack and insulated bag to keep foods safe until lunch time.

Pick from these whole grains choices—pick one or two:

• Whole grain crackers
• Whole grain mini-bagel or pita bread
• Toasted whole grain English muffin
• Low fat granola in a one-quarter cup container
• Low fat bran muffin
• Whole grain rice or pasta salad

Vegetable choices—pick two or more 1/2 cup servings:

• Three bean salad, with added beets and olives, dressed with balsamic vinegar and olive oil
• Hummus (garbanzo bean spread)
• Vegetable soup (1-cup) in a thermos or microwave safe container
• Baby carrots
• Celery sticks
• Cherry or grape tomatoes
• Cooked okra pods
• Cooked green beans
• Sweet pepper strips
• Cooked corn the cob (6”ear = ½ cup; 8-9” ear =1 cup)
• Salad (1-cup) with one tablespoon of dressing

Fruit choices—pick one:

• Favorite fall apples
• Dried fruit packed in a one-quarter cup container
• Frozen berries packed in a one-half cup container (they thaw by lunchtime)
• One-cup 100% juice

Dairy/high calcium choices—pick one:

• Chocolate milk or calcium–fortified soy milk
• Yogurt
• String cheese
• Light cheese rounds or triangle wedges
• High calcium hot cocoa packet or already made up in a thermos
• Pudding

Protein choices—pick one:

• Turkey or chicken breast or roast beef slices
• Canned tuna, salmon or other fish
• Bean salad or spread from above (beans count as protein AND vegetable)
• Flavored baked tofu or tempeh chunks
• Chunky peanut butter, sunflower seed or almond butter

You can create delicious lunch combinations, for example:

• Whole grain crackers and cheese, chicken and vegetable soup in a thermos, a serving of celery sticks, chocolate milk to drink and a Ginger Gold apple.
• Three-bean salad with grape tomatoes, low fat bran muffin and thawed frozen fruit topped with yogurt.
• Toasted whole grain English muffin with tomato, turkey, and low fat cheese with 100% grape juice to drink.

Brown bag lunches won’t be boring anymore!

Printed with permission from the Hanover Consumer Cooperative Society, Inc. Copyright 2010.

Feeding the Palouse — Working to Reduce Food Insecurity in our Community

Co-op shoppers are different from those in a regular grocery store          

—  and the Co-op strives to keep up with you all. When we built our Ends Statement, it was clear that as a community, our goals are much bigger than bringing unique produce and local ingredients to the Palouse. We, as a collective group of dedicated grocery store owners, also strive to increase access to healthy, sustainable food for everyone.

Food accessibility is a major concern of our owners and a driving factor in our business model. We live in one of the richest agricultural hubs in the northern United States, yet too many families on the Palouse struggle to get adequate nutrition. 

One way we understand this problem is through food security, a metric developed by the US Department of Agriculture. A household is considered food secure if they meet two standards: the ready availability of nutritionally adequate and safe food, and the assured ability to acquire that food. 

In 2016, the USDA found that around 12 percent of households nationwide were food insecure. Much more alarming, however: on the Palouse, that number is as high as 18 percent.

This information has made it all the more vital for us to provide services like our FLOWER program. Through FLOWER, an acronym which stands for Fresh, Local, and Organic Within Everyone’s Reach, families who qualify for state or federal benefits — including SNAP, WIC, Medicaid, or free or reduced school lunches — receive a 10% storewide discount every time they shop at the Co-op. FLOWER is a powerful tool to help increase food accessibility for those among us who are in need – and it isn’t the only one in our toolbox.

We're delighted to see our owners work hard through Co-op programs to support local food banks. We provide a food pantry shelf at the front of the store, as well as  the opportunity to make direct financial contributions at our check-out lanes. Co-op shoppers can choose to purchase donations in $5 or $10 denominations for products that go directly to local food banks. 

Through this program, you, our customers and owners, donated over a ton of food (2,053 lbs., to be exact) to food banks in 2017. And this doesn’t even count the bread that was donated – our bakery alone contributed more than 3,500 lbs. of nutritious bread last year.

One of our vital partners in this endeavor to reduce food insecurity on the Palouse is the Whitman County Community Action Center (CAC). This Pullman nonprofit is an outstanding resource hub for Whitman County residents who struggle with food insecurity. Many of our food bank contributions went supported food packaging projects at the CAC, thanks to help from Washington State University’s Center for Civic Engagement. 

These events turn our bulk food donations (lentils, pasta, banana chips, and other staples) into grab-and-go bags for easy pick-up by community members during food bank hours.

CAC Food Bank Manager Ashley Vaughan asked us to keep in mind that hunger doesn’t go away during the spring and summer. The holiday season is typically the busiest for food banks, but it's always a good time to pitch in and contribute healthy, delicious ingredients to local families. It takes a combined effort from everyone in our community to reduce food insecurity. You have the power to change someone’s life for the better – and the Co-op can help you do it.
-Max Newland