Play then eat: a recipe for reducing waste at lunch
Food waste in schools. It exists, and there’s no way to eradicate it completely. Whether you’re packing your child’s lunch from home, buying lunch at school, or even letting your child pack lunch themselves, chances are they’re not eating it all.
First instinct here is to assume that the problem is with the food. Maybe they don’t like what you chose for them? Or maybe they just weren’t in the mood for it that given day? Or maybe you sent a bag of Cheddar Bunnies that competed with their turkey sandwich and whole apple, and the cheddar bunnies won out. All of these are plausible reasons for waste, but what if the larger problem wasn’t WHAT was in their lunch, but rather when and how long they were given to eat it?
Moving recess ahead of lunch is an idea that is increasing in popularity, yet is still rare in implementation among our schools in California. The idea itself has been around for quite a while, including a study in 2004 concluding that kids eat more of their lunch and more fresh fruits and vegetables if they are allowed to play before eating. The New York Times even refreshed the concept with national coverage in 2010. Yet still, the vast majority of schools continue to structure lunch as “eat first then play”.
I can see the hesitation from the school administrator’s perspective. “It’s like herding cats trying to get the kids back into the classroom, let along back into the lunch room.” Or “What if they’re hungry already come lunch time and need to eat first?” I even see the dilemma this would cause for those serving lunch at school, as the most efficient lunch lines are those where students are lined up by classroom in alphabetical order to speed them through the line. Try pulling that off after you’ve scattered them all over the playground.
But let’s think about this from the kid’s perspective. They’ve likely been sitting inside for a few hours, and come lunchtime, that turkey sandwich is the only thing standing between them and the monkey bars. Cheddar Bunnies are far more portable and easy to eat on the run, and if it’s between the sandwich and a few extra minutes basking in the glorious sunshine, the choice is obvious for kids.
Of course, our kids aren’t thinking about the long-term implications of not eating a good lunch. They don’t realize that they’re setting themselves up to crash later in the day. They only know that they want to run and play and be with their friends. And we want nothing more than to encourage that behavior as well! But instead, we must stand over them and implore them to eat, making the dining experience more combative than communal, and turning food into a necessary evil and a barrier to fun.
Am I taking a little creative liberty with hyperbole here? Perhaps. Or maybe that’s really how it feels as a kid. And besides, how would you feel about eating first and then running around? Any of you go to the gym on your lunch hour? Tell me, do you eat your entire meal prior to hopping on the elliptical? Why do we expect any different of our kids?
