It’s time to send your little one off to school, but with obesity afflicting 1 in 5 American children, according to the Obesity Society, and pesticides lurking in common foods, you’ll want to be selective about what she eats. Start by equipping your tyke with organic alternatives to ageless lunchtime favorites. Then visit www.farmtoschool.org for tips on bettering your school’s lunch program. (For Alice Waters’ thoughts on school cafeterias, click here.)
PB&J. Choose organic, unsalted peanut butter to avoid pesticides and added sodium. For a new spin, try almond butter, which contains a healthy dose of calcium and vitamin E. Sweeten the deal with no-sugar-added organic berry jam.
Yogurt. Filled with probiotics for digestive health and calcium for growing bones, Stonyfield Farms and Horizon Organic’s yogurt tubes are spoon-free faves. At home, frozen yogurt tubes make tasty desserts.
Fruit juice. Rather than conventional juice boxes, whose 4-5 teaspoons of sugar per serving wreak havoc on kids’ teeth and blood glucose levels, opt for a naturally sweetened, caffeine-free, vitamin C-rich organic juice pouch from Honest Kids, or a flavored water from all-natural Wateroos.
Dessert. To satisfy a sweet tooth, add bulk-bin organic dried fruit, such as apricots or mangoes, to your child’s lunch box; or toss in a Clif Kid Organic Twisted Fruit snack. If you’ve got a cookie monster, try Eco-Planet’s new organic cinnamon snacks.
