PARENTS and carers can learn how to create delicious and nutritious lunch boxes that kids will love to eat, and are kind on the environment and family budget.
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The Happy Lunch Box program kicks off this August.
Council’s acting sustainability manager, Dean Chapman, said the free six-week program was designed in partnership with ATUNE Health Centres to show families how to create healthy school lunches.
“Many parents or carers will know the frustration of sending a child off to school with a packed lunch box, only to find the food uneaten at the end of the day,” Mr Chapman said.
“This reality hits home when you consider that a third of the waste that goes into the average bin in Lake Macquarie City is food.”
By learning how to create a healthy lunch box that kids will actually eat, families can reduce waste and spend less on their weekly grocery bill, he said.
The program will cover the financial and environmental cost of food waste, the nutritional risks associated with highly processed foods, how food choices can impact children’s behaviour, meal planning and strategies to reduce waste around the home, and, of course, how to create a ‘Happy Lunch Box’.
Information will be delivered in two face-to-face workshops.
Learning will be supported through weekly e-newsletters and a secure Facebook group in which participants can share tips and ask questions about the program.
Those who sign up will also receive a welcome pack, which includes tips and ideas to create a Happy Lunch Box and to reduce food waste.
The Happy Lunch Box Program will begin with workshops at either Belmont Library from 4 to 5pm on Tuesday, August 16, or at Cardiff Library from 10 to 11am on Wednesday, August 17.
Bookings are essential and can be made online at library.lakemac.com.au or by contacting the branch.
The Happy Lunch Box Program is part of council’s You’re Kidding Me Program, which provides families in Lake Macquarie with free, year-round access to health, education and family services through expert-led talks and workshops that support early childhood development and wellbeing.
For more information about the You’re Kidding Me program, visit lakemac.com.au/community/childrens-programs.
The Happy Lunch Box Program is funded by the Love Food Hate Waste (Food Waste Avoidance Education) grants program supported by the Environmental Trust as part of the NSW EPA's Waste Less Recycle More initiative funded from the waste levy.
