CHICAGO TRIBUNE Sunday September 9, 2007

Q SECTION: HEALTH

Green Bag it for your kids'—and planet's—sake

By Julie Deardorff

When 5-year-old Isabelle Weber of Evanston started kindergarten last week, she toted along something her mother, Anne, dreamed up to revolutionize school meals: a Green Bag Lunch.

These healthy, eco-friendly lunch bags come filled with freshly made sandwiches, whole-grain muffins, lean protein, organic fruits, yogurts and vegetables, and bite-size treats that deliver a lesson on portion control.

And because a healthy child depends on a healthy planet -- and the average American child produces 67 pounds of trash just from school lunch each year -- the bags are waste-free; only recyclable, reusable or biodegradable materials are included in the packaging.

Parents simply go online to order, or set up a prepaid account to allow young children to select their own food. The $5 lunches -- which include a main course, two sides of fresh fruit or vegetables plus a dessert -- are delivered directly to schools or camps along Chicago's North Shore by Green Bag Lunch, which has partnered with The Corner Chef in Evanston.

"I want parents to feel good about themselves," said Weber, who launched Green Bag Lunch with business partner Dave Feinberg after struggling to find time to make healthy meals for her two children. "I want kids to learn how to make good choices. And I want schools, parents, students and camps to see that being environmentally responsible just isn't as hard as they think."

So far, the fledgling program has been tested at St. Athanasius in Evanston and at eight summer camps in Wilmette and Highland Park. This fall, it also will deliver lunches to Rogers Park Montessori in Chicago and St. Francis in Wilmette, and they're talking to a dozen other schools. The minimum for delivery is 20 lunches.

Weber acknowledges that a $5 lunch isn't for everyone, every day. But she says parents would probably spend $4 if they packed a similar lunch themselves, and the environmentally friendly packaging costs a little more than standard fast-food containers. She also hopes to get the price down to $3 per meal as the idea catches on. The federal subsidy for school lunch is $2.47.

One way to help expand the program would be to include Green Bag Lunch on special lunch days that many schools hold as fundraisers. But even though the company gives back 10 percent of its profits, it hasn't been able to compete with Pizza Day or Hot Dog Day, which tend to be bigger fundraisers. The question parents need to ask is: Which is a better investment in our children's future?