Appalling. I can't think of a better word to describe the trash generated and food wasted in our school lunchrooms. Here's a sad statistic from an MSNBC article:

A single student produces 45 to 90 pounds of garbage a year in disposable lunches, according to New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation. A federal review of the National School Lunch Program found that wasted food costs more than $600 million, plus an untold nutritional loss.

Unless I homeschool, I have very little control over the amount of food my kids throw away. (My daughter is horrified at the thought of homeschooling. I threaten her with it when nothing else works. Just kidding.) What I can control is the amount of trash they throw away.

I typically pack my kids's sandwiches in old bread bags and the other items in plastic butter containers and ziplock cranberry bags. (Quite eclectic, don't you think?) When I do use baggies, aluminum foil and plastic utensils, they obediently bring them home for reuse.

The other day, my 6 year old son came up to me, sat on my lap and said, "We're so lucky to have a mom like you who cares about the earth and makes us not eat meat." I was speechless. (Rare for me...)