When we moved back to the US, I was utterly appalled (and disgusted) at the things we were served. My mom would often pack me a lunch; I loved it, and would often trade with jealous classmates. My favorite was sushi made with leftover rice and other leftover scraps (including weird things like ham) or just strips of omelette.

I would like to see the dollar calculation of the great green luches suggested. If we can appeal to the pocketbook of the average mom who packs these lunchs that would help a lot!
Samuel

I always send my son packing with his lunch, but it's not really a pocketbook issue. The school lunches are cheap, but so is the food: very unappealing and often unhealthy.

Also, if we're talking school lunches and being green, I don't know how we can do so without explicitly encouraging more vegetarian meals in addition to as much local and organic as possible. All of this is good in terms of health, environment, and education.

I hate to say this, but any student who is an athlete or has after school activities is not going to get by on some veggies and dip. It's a nice thought, but this is where the disconnect between idealism and reality happens. I love vegetables, but would not have touched this lunch as a kid. It would have gone straight into the trash bin. It's really tough to create a healthy lunch for a kid with a three hour practice at the end of the school day with nothing but vegetables. And a portable salad? Forget it. That requires a fork, separate dressing, and a large container that won't get smashed in a backpack (as if there is even room in kids' overloaded packs these days). It's up to the school districts to force the cafeterias to provide better food- portable, edible and healthy still don't go together and kids shouldn't be forced to choose between something healthy and something they want to eat.