An Organic Lunchbox

Thoughtful brown bagging for everybody

by Dag Falck

If you were to make coming up with one week’s worth of delicious, healthy, and fun lunches your most important project, where would you start? First, you need to ask yourself a couple of questions:

• What do you want? Well, you want to have a meal that will last you until supper (or at least till your mid-afternoon snack), right? And you want it to be healthy and tasty.
• What do you not want? Remember, a truly healthy meal does not contain GMOs, pesticide residues, artificial preservatives, or hydrogenated fats (organic accomplishes all this and more). If you’re vegetarian, you don’t want meat, fish, or fowl. If you’re vegan, no egg, milk, cheese, or honey. And if you have food allergies, the list grows.

Oh, and perhaps you’re like me: I’m sensitive to gluten, food colouring makes me hyper, and MSG gives me a headache. Looks like you’ll need a spreadsheet to figure this all out. Argh—already it’s no fun. And “fun” is on the list. But you can keep it simple and cut out the hand-wringing by making whole foods choices from many places. Here’s my own plan of attack:

When I make my lunches, I first turn to my own organic garden (how’s yours coming along?). Second to my own backyard, I select any organic products from farmers’ markets, community-supported agriculture associations (CSAs), or farm-gate (buying produce directly from a farm). Alternatively, I sometimes shop for fresh organics in local natural food stores. Overall, the idea is to prepare meals from whole foods.

If I find I need to save time, I will consider supermarkets, delis, and prepared and processed foods—choosing organic foods when available. At the end of the line (I try not to cross it) are processed, non-organic junk foods.

Realistically, I end up eating from a variety of these sources, but I try to always stay conscious of aiming high. Most importantly, I remind myself that convenience is a trade-off for awareness.

Brown Bag Strategies

Now that I’ve met all my needs in what I want and don’t want, let’s start packing lunch. Here are some key rules of thumb that I find helpful:

• Make more for supper so you have leftovers.
• Stock up on foods that are easy to tote—fruit, cucumber, celery, peppers, and berries, for instance.
• Have on hand an assortment of organic breads, pita pockets, and crackers (non-gluten if you’re sensitive).
• Use organic spreads (hummus, nut butters, pepper paste, pâté, avocadoes, etc.).

So, take some leftovers from supper, and supplement them with a sandwich, pita pocket, crackers, and/or salad. For a fast and delicious Greek salad, combine a handful of olives, chopped cucumber and tomatoes, some feta cheese (leave out if you’re vegan), and a drizzle of lemon juice.

For a quick and tasty pita pocket: cut up a veggie burger, and add mustard, lettuce, sprouts, and cheese (again, simply leave the cheese out if you’re vegan).

Add a dessert of fruit or the ever-popular “bumps on a log.” (Don’t know about these? They’re celery sticks spread with nut butter and topped with raisins.)
If my lunch bag takes me a little longer to prepare, and looks different enough that people comment on it at lunchtime, I know it’s because I put extra energy into my own health and happiness. It’s a great excuse to talk about it with others. Take it from me: bumps on a log keeps the conversation going.

Organics expert Dag Falck is the life of the party—especially when it comes to potlucks.