What we feed our kids is critical for countless reasons, from their general physical and mental welfare, to promoting healthy (or unhealthy) habits, to aiding in optimal growth. If you ask any parent, they want their kids to be healthy, yet they don’t know what to feed them so they resort to relying on school breakfasts and lunches for the bulk of their kids’ nutritional intake and then feeding them convenient, cheap, rubbish in the evenings. IF they pack their kids’ lunches for school, they may be even worse than the school lunch, which is really saying something.
The USDA, whose wholly unhealthy guidelines we wrote about at length, sets the minimum nutritional requirements for school lunches. Aramak, Compass, and Sodexo, for profit corporations who provide food for both prisoners and students, only meet these garbage minimum requirements 40% of the time. When they DO meet these requirements by incorporating meat, dairy, and eggs instead of the 2 most consumed foods (seed oil-laden french fries and something that slightly resembles pizza), these foods are typically from factory farmed, corn and soy fed cows and chickens. Read why that’s problematic here. We could go further in discussing the vilification of red meat in schools and the detriments of meatless Mondays and vegan Fridays pushed on an already underfed population of food insecure children. We could tell you how these meat-free meals have ZERO DHA, K2, B12, D3, choline, creatine, carnitine, and carnosine which are ALL brain critical nutrients, but it’s likely you already know that school lunches aren’t the best choice for our children.
But…
If you look in the average backpack of those who bring their lunch to school, oftentimes it’s even WORSE than the pile of garbage the schools are feeding kids. Processed, boxed, bagged, and pouched convenience foods dominate the space and it’s a tragedy.
It’s no wonder that the latest generation is the first in history with a life expectancy shorter than their parents. It’s no surprise that they have diabetes at record levels, obesity at insane ratios, and mental health diagnoses like we’ve never seen before. Their brains and bodies are being fed nutritionally void, seed oil rife garbage by both the schools AND their parents when all they crave are the necessary nutrients that serve as building blocks for a happy, healthy future.
At the Fittest, we’re parents, so we understand the plight of trying to figure out just how to feed our kids a portable, nutrient-dense lunch, and to do so economically and without spending our whole morning cooking when we have so many other tasks to tackle. We’ve had to figure out how to do it and we’re here to share that knowledge with you so you can feel confident that you’re sending your kids to school with a delicious, nutrient-dense meal that sets them up for success in the classroom and in life; so they can have the adequate energy and mental fortitude to tackle every challenge that presents itself. So what do we pack for our kids?
You wouldn’t feed your dog Oreo cookies, Pop Tarts, and Cheetos, so why would you feed those things to your precious kids when you could just as easily feed them foods that will give them the nutrients they need and deserve?
For more suggestions, email our performance experts who know what it looks like to send kids off to school prepared to feast!
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