Aug. 25, 2008—School Lunches Made Healthy, Safe and Easy by the Oregon Environmental Council
New Eco-Healthy Lunch Box Kit helps reduce
kids’ exposures to toxins,
increases amount of healthy, local and tasty
foods in school diets
NOTE: The lunch box kit is sold out! Please see our other resources.
PORTLAND, Ore.—Aug. 25, 2008—Just in time
for the back-to-school rush, the Oregon Environmental Council (OEC) is pleased
to introduce the Eco-Healthy Lunch Box Kit. This kit is designed to help kids
eat healthy, local and organic foods while reducing their exposure to toxins
from products we all use every day. The kit includes practical tools for a
youngster's healthy lunch as well as educational materials, recipes and
guidelines for grown-ups.
“It’s our hope that this lunch box can serve as
a guide to making healthy consumer decisions and an example of why we need to
address these loopholes in our consumer-safety system,” said Renee
Hackenmiller-Paradis, MPH., Ph.D., program director at the Oregon Environmental
Council. “Unfortunately, there are still few laws regulating known harmful
chemicals found in products we use every day. We need to be proactive in
protecting our most vulnerable citizens, our children, from exposure. This is an
easy way to educate both parents and students how to do just that.”
The
Eco-Healthy Lunch Box Kit includes the following items:
- A stainless steel lunch box: Many lunch boxes today are made with vinyl. Vinyl is a plastic that releases potentially harmful chemicals throughout its life cycle. During production of vinyl, carcinogenic dioxins are released. Vinyl also incorporates plasticizers called phthalates. Phthalates mimic hormones when they get into the human body and have been linked to a number of undesired health outcomes ranging from early onset of puberty and breast cancer to decreased sperm counts. On Aug. 14, 2008, President Bush signed a federal bill banning six toxic phthalates from children's products. This stainless steel lunch box is a safe, toxic-free container for children’s food.
- A Klean Kanteen® beverage container: Many common beverage containers contain bisphenol-A (BPA). BPA mimics estrogen in human bodies after being ingested. BPA has been linked to reduced fertility, breast cancer, prostate cancer and obesity. Klean Kanteens® are BPA-free and reusable. This helps reduce waste created from single-use beverage containers and reduces exposure to potentially harmful chemicals.
- Spudware® biodegradable, compostable, and re-useable utensils: Unlike regular plastic utensils, these potato-based utensils break down in the environment over time rather than existing for centuries after they are disposed of.
- A re-useable sandwich wrap: Designed with a safer plastic (low density polyethylene or LDPE) and kid-friendly cloth, these re-useable sandwich wraps are far better than single-use disposal plastic bags. Plastic bags are petroleum-based products that release potentially harmful chemicals during their production, clog up our waste disposal systems, and persist in our ecosystems.
- Environmentally (and kid)-friendly stickers: These Oregon-themed stickers help teach children about Oregon’s natural resources. They are designed to be cut out and organized on the outside of the lunch box, giving each child the opportunity to create a uniquely personalized Eco-Healthy Lunch Box.
- Healthy lunch recipe guide: In partnership with New Season’s MarketTM, the kit comes with eight healthy, delicious, and easy-to-make lunch box recipes – keeping the food in the lunchbox nutritious and fun.
- Also included: a seasonal buying guide and organic purchasing guide, refrigerator magnets to help with local, seasonal produce purchasing; OEC’s “Safer Plastics Guide” and “Green Cleaning Wallet Guide.”
NOTE: The lunch box kit is sold out! Please see our other resources. The kits are $25 each. All
proceeds go toward the cost of the kit. OEC has donated 100 of these kits to
low-income elementary school children in the Portland area. Development of the
kit was made possible by project sponsors Kellogg Foundation, Spirit Mountain
Community Fund and New Season’s Market TM.
About the Oregon
Environmental Council
The Oregon Environmental Council safeguards
what Oregonians love about Oregon – clean air and water, an unpolluted landscape
and healthy food produced by local farmers. For 40 years, we’ve been a champion
for solutions to protect the health of every Oregonian and the health of the
place we call home. Our vision for Oregon includes solving global warming,
protecting kids from toxins, cleaning up our rivers, building sustainable
economies, and ensuring healthy food and local farms. Find out more at www.oeconline.org.
