Students, Parents, Kids try a bento box!
Photos by Jim Wilson , NY Times
Look below for more photos!
So I was browsing NY Times website as I always do and came across this amazing article, written by Samantha Storey.
Bento Boxes, a Japanese custom, offer creative ways to prepare healthy lunches. These small boxes are packed with colorful and creative food items that make food more appealing. Some parents dress up the food, by making silly faces with food pieces such as carrots, rice, and seafood; children are more likely to eat vegetables if it looks less like a vegetable and more like an edible toy.
“For dieters, they are an eye popping form of portion control,” because the box is only so big.
Anyone can try this, students can prepare a bento box for lunch and parents can make a healthy lunch for their child.
Bento boxes are becoming increasingly more popular in America which is a great thing, after all the Japanese have the lowest rates of cardiovascular disease and obesity; they are doing something right!*
*Referenced from Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC).
Where to Get Boxes and Supplies
BENTO & CO Bentoandco.com (French language site, ships from Japan).
BENTO CRAZY Bentocrazy.ecrater.com.
FROM JAPAN WITH LOVE From-japan-with-love.com (ships from Japan).
I LOVE OBENTO Iloveobento.com.
JAPAN CENTRE Japancentre.com (ships from England).
J BOX Jbox.com (ships from Japan).
KINOKUNIYA 1073 Sixth Avenue (41st Street), (212) 869-1700.
LAPTOP LUNCHES Laptoplunches.com.
BOOKS: “501 Bento Box Lunches: 501 Unique Recipes for Brilliant Bento” (Graffito Books, 2009) and “Vegan Lunch Box Around the World” by Jennifer McCann (Da Capo, 2009).
