I consider myself lucky that our school district made a commitment two years ago to improve the quality of the hot lunch program. They contract with a food service provider that delivers fresh food that each school prepares on site. So, for example, if the lunch is pizza, instead of delivering already cooked pizzas that are kept warm (and always end up soggy),  the school gets an assembled pizza that they bake in their kitchen and serve fresh and hot. Also, every day the students get raw or cooked veggies and fresh fruit. My 12 year old son eats baby carrots, celery, and a fresh orange or apple every day.  It’s $1.75 for my 5th grader and $1.90 for my 7th grader, we did the math and it’s cheaper for them to buy school lunch than for us to pack it!

Gather.com, the leading social network to make new friends and form new social circles, recently conducted a survey of Gather Moms to determine the most popular back to school lunches.

Some highlights from the survey:

• There is a nearly even split between those that pack lunches (52%) or buy school lunch (48%)

• The PB&J is the most popular (37%), but a surprising 24% of parents don’t pack a sandwich for their kid’s lunches.

• Which fruit is most favored? In a close race, the banana came out on top with 33% of the vote, followed by apple with 31% and grapes with 26%.

• More parents pack fruit juice (38%) than milk (35%) for their child’s lunch

• When it comes to getting it there, the overwhelming majority (68%) of parents use insulated lunch bags, compared to 19% who “brown bag it” and 13% who use the classic plastic lunchbox.

To take the survey and see how others voted, go to  http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977805714

MomCooks readers, tell me about your child’s school lunch. Do they brown bag it or buy hot lunch? Do they eat the same thing every day or do they like variety?

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