Laptop Lunchboxes on Australian shores

Jennifer's (The Vegan Lunchbox's mum) choice of lunchbox lead me to the next major crossroad. It looked fantastic - she was able to pack the most wholesome meal and make it look like something that you'd be mad not to want to eat. Where did she get it? It was a question posted time and time again and she pointed her eager readers in the direction of the Laptoplunches site. I went to visit and scoured the pages for information about how I could find one of these lunchboxes here in Australia. It was possible, but very expensive to ship them out here. I decided (as I do when I get my mind on something) that it would be worth the expense and I ordered two. They arrived and they lived up to their reputation that seemed to be growing as quickly as the blogs that logged the their daily contents in households all over the States and Europe.
Once I had my own, I began to think about how wonderful it would be if parents, perhaps a little more financially responsible than I, could order this lunchbox in Australia. I could then offer suggestions about how they may want to fill it, provide shopping lists to help make it easier and share my ideas with others. As a working mum, I know all too well what it's like to wake up in the morning and have to come up with ideas about what to pack in lunchboxes. I wondered if I could do the thinking and planning, whether or not I could help others avoid that first thing in the morning panic when the day's menu planning can be hard to stomach?

Food and Parenting

As a parent my children's food choices have been very much a part of my parenting. From those long nights when breast feeding them sometimes seemed too hard to be 'natural', to their first foods until now when we sit down to dinner together as a family, I am trying to instill in them the joy of eating that was passed down to me.
As the years have gone by, I have become increasingly persuaded that organic and non-processed foods are the way forward. We have our weekly box of seasonal produce delivered to the door and despite the fact that we've been doing this for years now, Thursday afternoon is always like Christmas. "Mum, look we've got some bok choi this week!", "Look mum, there are these things with roots!" The toughest task is to stop B2 from sinking his teeth into all that he pulls from the box.
The local Farmer's Markets are also a great source of inspiration to both me and my children - they love to wander in the outdoors, chatting with the farmers and sampling their wares with their dad. The food lives and breathes in that environment, well away from the sterility of the supermarket.
So it is no surprise that when I came upon the Vegan Lunchbox blog nearly a year ago that I jumped for joy. Here was a mum, sharing her son's lunches with the world. She is Vegan and I am not, but the paths collide and the values to a great extent are shared. I followed her blog and its increasing fame with interest - with all the focus on the nutritional negatives in the wider community, it was wonderful to see her blog and its followers grow.

Where did it all begin?

I guess when I sit down now to think about it, it all began a long time ago when a little girl opened her lunchbox to reveal the goodies that her mother had so lovingly packed way back in the 70's. Inside my lunch box were all sorts of things that reminded me of home. Tabbouleh pita pockets lined with hummus, taramasalada sandwiches, apple cucumbers, sliced kiwi, half a passionfruit...it was all out there back then. My mum loved to prepare food for her family and lunches were no exception! Mum made a commitment long before childhood eating habits were on the National agenda that her children would be exposed to the foods of the world and sugary treats would not be something her children would become accustomed to. It must be said that there were days when I would have readily traded my tongue sandwiches for one of the tic-toc biscuits that my friends had packed in their lunchboxes but looking back now and looking at the legacy that she has left me to pass on to my children, I will always be grateful that she took the time and care to pack lunches for us like she did. There was always a little bit of her in those boxes and my memories are fond.
So today here I sit as one of the founding partners of Lunch Matters. A business that is making its business the promotion of healthy lunches for children. I have taken all that my mother shared with me and am now hoping to inspire other parents who are looking to pack interesting lunches for their children. Technology means that the act of sharing is instantaneous. I can pack a lunch for my boys, take a digital photo and within minutes people from all over the world can take a look at what's on offer in our household today.