Lunch and Snack

Lunch/Snack/Water Bottles

Students will provide their own lunch and snacks daily. Refrigerators will not be used to store personal lunches, and microwaves to reheat personal lunches will not be available. All are encouraged to utilize cold packs or thermoses within their lunch boxes if temperature control is desired. Students should pack their own utensils if needed. We ask that snacks and lunches be sent in reusable containers to reduce waste, in line with our values as a Green and Healthy School. All students will bring a water bottle to use throughout the day. Water bottles may be refilled from classroom sinks when needed. They will be sent home each day for washing.

Snacks and lunches need to be nutritious and ready to eat.

The Commonwealth of Kentucky licenses our preschool and oversees our elementary, and there are specific licensing regulations to follow to ensure students learn about and experience the full breadth of a healthy diet. That regulation states for preschool students (and is encouraged for elementary students):

Each day’s snack will include at least items from two of the following groups:

whole or enriched grains (e.g., whole-grain bread, cereal, crackers, pretzels)
protein (e.g., hummus, sliced lean meats, yogurt or yogurt-based dips, cheese, nuts)
produce (i.e., vegetables and fruit)

Each day’s lunch will include at least all of the following:

a whole or enriched grain (e.g., whole-grain bread, cereal, crackers, pretzels)
a protein (e.g., hummus, sliced lean meats, yogurt or yogurt-based dips, cheese, nuts)
two selections of produce (i.e., vegetables and fruit)

Organic milk will be offered to all preschool students during snack and lunchtime.

Since all food is kept individually, students may bring any food, including products with nuts or

other common allergens, unless a severe allergy in the class makes airborne particles a risk.

Any such restrictions will be communicated in the opening packet from classroom teachers.

For more detail, please see the Parent Handbook

Lunch and Snack Supply Options

We strive to inspire environmental sustainability and stewardship as a Green and Healthy School. One way we practice this is through our waste management program. Did you know that recycling plastic is not the first step to environmental sustainability? In efforts to help our planet, we are finding new ways to reduce and reuse!

Water bottle: stainless steel or BPA-free plastic, and labeled with name.

Lunch box: labeled with your child’s name. Looking to reduce lunch packing waste? We suggest: Yumbox or Bees Wrap, both also found on Amazon, including other similar low-waste options. Be sure that the lunch box or lunch box thermal carrier size will also accommodate a daily snack choice for your child. We will not be using microwaves or refrigerators this school year. Please provide an ice pack for the lunchbox and a thermos for food/soup or other liquids you would like to keep warm for lunch.

Utensils: We suggest: Spork or Compact Set, both found on Amazon including other similar low-waste options.

Did you know? Plastic baggies, forks, and spoons may not be recycled in a normal recycling plant.

Eco Lunches and Snacks Suggestions

Please pack your child a healthy and nutritious snack and lunch daily in their lunchbox. Below you may find ideas from our Green Team on how to pack to reduce plastic waste.

Gogurt is considered more of a dessert than a healthy snack and creates a lot of plastic waste. Try Chobani
Sending in the appropriate portions helps to reduce food waste.
Buy cheeses as one large block that may be cut instead of individually wrapped.
Applesauce is not fresh fruit and uses packaging.

Other things to remember when packing lunch and snack

Students will pack uneaten portions of their lunch and snack in their lunch boxes to be disposed of at home. Would you like to learn more about how to compost at home? Please contact our Environmental Specialist, Rachel Beck, to learn more.

All are encouraged to utilize cold packs or thermoses within their lunch boxes if temperature control is desired.

Per the Commonwealth of Kentucky's licensing regulations, families are to send in snacks each day of the week and to ensure that snacks are:

Nutritious
Ready to eat (cut block of cheese into cubes, fresh apples into slices, carrots cut into strips)
Fruit (at least two days) and vegetables (at least three days)
No nuts or nut products (please read labels carefully)
Since all food will be kept individually, students may bring nut products unless a severe allergy in the class makes airborne particles a risk. Any such restrictions should be communicated to families before the start of school.

Snack supports a healthy diet and follows state licensing regulations. Snack shall include two of the following:

Dairy (cheese, yogurt, or cream cheese)
Bread/Grains (whole grain bread, cereals, crackers, pretzels)
Fresh fruit/vegetables (apples, bananas, oranges, melon, cucumber, carrots, celery)
Protein (hummus, deli meat slices, yogurt).

The school has faucets so that reusable water bottles may be refilled. Preschool and Elementary are offered organic milk to drink with snacks and lunch.

Read the research project from our 2018-2019 Green Team:

During the school year of 2018-2019, our Green Team noticed that, at times, our trash was heavier than our recycling. They educated the school about what we may recycle and helped students develop recycling signs to remind them about what waste goes where. Did you know that plastic forks and spoons may not be recycled? Because of their size, the recycling company that sorts all of our recycling can not recover any of these plastic items as they are too small and fall through the machinery. The team also discovered that something is only recyclable if a company is willing to purchase recycled goods. For example, aluminum cans may be recycled over and over and can be created into something new however other products, like plastic, are not being recycled as successfully; therefore, the team looked to a new way of looking at our waste. Let's first reduce, reuse, and then recycle.

Click the links below to learn more:

National Geographic, Planet or Plastic?

NPR, Where Will Your Plastic Trash Go Now That China Doesn't Want It?

Louisville Public Works: Recyclable Materials