To Buy or Not to Buy: The Lunch Dilemma
Compare nutrition and cost
"If I keep this up, I won't be able to fit into my new jeans!
— Nicole Keep What Up?
"Now I know I can't afford to eat the school lunches every day, price-wise and nutrition-wise.—NicoleNicole's not too worried—she's just having fun. But what would happen if she consistently chose to eat food that's high in calories?
For example, say you ate 200 calories over your daily requirement everyday and didn't burn it off by exercising—those calories add up fast!
By the end of the week, you have eaten 1400 more calories than you should have. And with one pound of fat equaling 3500 calories, that is almost one-half pound you've gained in one week.
And that's by just eating only 200 calories over what you should. Imagine if it was 500 extra calories a day!
Close Here's some good news: the school lunches have around the same amount of protein as the lunches from home.
Click here for some help understanding all this nutrition lingo.
Understanding Nutrition Lingo
A calorie is a way to measure energy. (Note that some people capitalize Calorie to indicate that food calories are really kilocalories.) The number of Calories you need to get from food each day depends on your age and your activity level.
Fats are not all bad. They help absorb vitamins that are essential to growth and development. The government recommends that your daily diet include about 29% total fat. Bear in mind, however, that some kinds of fat are better than others.
Carbs are short for carbohydrates. They provide you with the energy to live, move, think, and work. Examples of carbs include bread, pasta, grains, potatoes, cereals and many more. The government recommends that carbohydrates make up about 55% of your daily diet.
Proteins help your body grow strong. They are also important for using energy. Sources of protein include meat, eggs, beans, milk, cheese and many others. The government recommends that you make proteins about 18% of your daily diet.
Make sure that your diet is balanced with these and other nutrients. For more information, check out the online food pyramid calculator.
Close Liz has always brought her lunches from home. She says, "I bring my lunch everyday, but I never realized how much money I was saving."
You could save $1,620 by taking your lunch instead of buying it for three school years.
If you were to invest that $1,620 at 6% for four years you would have $2,045 in the credit union.
Liz compares prices over 3 school years. Three school years
"Home lunches taste better and cost less."—Liz Here's how much you could save by taking your own lunches for three school years.
I did my calculations based on 4.5 weeks/month and 8 months of school.
| Lunch | $/Day | Days | Years | Total |
| Home | $2.00 | 180 | 3 | $1,080 |
| School | $5.00 | 180 | 3 | $2,700 |
Close Just think—you could earn $425 just from bringing lunch from home in while you're in middle school!
I know I'm going to keep it up in high school too.
Taste wise
When my friends taste-tested the four choices, only one choice, school lunch #2, got rave reviews from all three: the school's pizza.
"The pizza might be great," says Danielle, "but it's the most expensive thing we tested!"
"The slushies are a great treat!—Danielle Great Slushies
Try this simple slushie recipe!
- 4 large strawberries, fresh or frozen
- 1/2 c. milk (using skim milk keeps the calories and fat low)
- 1 ripe banana
- 5 ice cubes
- 1 1/2 tsp. sugar (optional)
Combine strawberries, milk, banana, and ice. Blend until perfectly smooth. Add sugar. Blend for 1 minute. Makes approximately 32 oz.
Close She won't be eating a lot of pizza at school.
Home lunch #1, the turkey sub, ranked second for taste. "I love the home-made turkey sub. I could eat one every day," says Liz.
School lunch #1, the salad with ranch dressing, got good ratings. Home lunch #2, the peanut butter and jelly, got the worst rating.
"Eww, that's inedible, but for the money I save I can learn to love it," says Nicole.
"I'll keep bringing my lunch in high school to save money."
—Katy All This Research!
"Saving money and having fun's a good thing."—Katy"At our school, we have some of the best chocolate chip cookies ever. All of my friends would normally eat one every day for dessert after lunch.
After I did my research and found out how many calories were in them and how unhealthy they were, I was eager to tell my friends about it.
Now, we know we have to limit our intake of the chocolate chip cookies to maybe one every week.
CloseIt might be inconvenient to make lunch when you could easily stuff a five-dollar bill into the back pocket of your jeans, but bringing your lunch from home has its definite advantages.
Overall impact
If you'd hop out of bed five or ten minutes earlier each day you'd have time to make a lunch.
If you don't wish to wake up early you could always make it the night before and leave it in the refrigerator until school the next morning.
Doing simple things like that can save you money and get you on the track for a healthier life style.
With all the money you saved from bringing lunch you could pay the down payment on your first car and maybe have a little left over for a couple gallons of gas.
Little changes in our everyday life have huge affects long term. So what are you going to do?
Learn more about Katy.
Katy
Katy lives, works, studies and eats in Alamo, CA.My name is Katy and I'm fourteen years old. I'll be a freshman in high school next year.
I'm always busy with all my activities. I am in a creative writing club, take advanced art classes and play water polo.
Being a vegetarian, I like to play around in the kitchen creating my own lunches. My favorite lunch that I eat almost every day is an avocado sandwich.
I make it with a fresh ciabatta roll and spread slices of avocado on each side. I then drizzle balsamic vinegar over it and sprinkle dried pepper flakes for a kick.
True or False: Andrew Jackson never weighed more than 145 pounds.
Click Andrew's head for the answer.
TRUE: Jackson was 6 feet 1 inch and never weighed more than 145 pounds.
Close
contributed by
Katy
Age 14
Alamo, CA
10/21/09
10/08/09
07/05/08
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