And just like that…I’m packing school lunches for my toddler. We’ve come a long way from the bagged lunches of my day, feat. Dunkaroos and soggy sandwiches in plastic bags. RIP.

But with great progress comes…product-sourcing criteria for portable toddler lunches that may be impossible to procure. Or not? Let’s ride. 🐴

SEEKING: Lunch gear that is:

COMPONENTS:

MATERIALS PREFERENCES:

Why plastic-free? See our food storage / kitchen edition from Plastic-Free July. For more on PFAS, read some of our past Sway coverage.

First: I need to be transparent and share that I ordered a lunch box for the first day of school, but no lunch bag. Which means I’ve been packing my son’s lunch this week in a free soft cooler that we got at work years ago, company logo and all. We now have to make the joke that my son is a “company man” and has a thermos full of coffee in his giant lunch cooler that takes up the entire cart in his toddler classroom. It’s fine, we’ll tell this story for generations. 

In hindsight, I think a part of me must have known that finding an insulated, plastic-free lunch bag would be near impossible, hence why I skipped out in favor of using whatever I could find in the garage. 😉 Free business idea! Polyester is a literal diss! Not only were there few options, I also needed to double check measurements to ensure they could fit the stainless steel lunch box(es) of my choosing. Anyway, will report back on lunch bag insulation efficacy.

Back to lunch boxes. If you’re seeking the stainless steel variety, you can create a more leak-proof situation by opting for one with a removable silicone seal/lining, or simply use smaller containers to hold anything messy/liquids. I like the latter approach as I’m not a fan of cleaning stains and smells from a large piece of silicone; plus, from an environmental POV, silicone has its drawbacks. But to each their own.

Where I landed: A few options for stainless steel boxes that fit neatly inside two insulated organic cotton lunch bags. Give her a Fields Medal!

The Nourish Box Mini, Earth & Maker: $69.99
Stainless steel + silicone, 9 × 7 × 2.5 in

Shuttle Stainless Steel Lunch Box Set, PLANETBOX: $32 (on sale)
Stainless steel + silicone, 7.8 × 5.2 × 2 in
I bought this and I love it VERY MUCH. The Shuttle comes with one tiny, lidded container to enclose cut fruit or other leaky foods; I also have the bigger round container for packing pasta with sauce and the like. You can buy all of these neat little containers a la carte.

Organic Cotton Insulated Lunch Bag, Simple Ecology: $48.95
GOTS-certified organic cotton, 9 × 8 × 4.5 in

Wool Insulated Organic Cotton Lunch Bag, Life Without Plastic: $50
Organic cotton, wool, 10.5 × 9 × 5.5 in 

Verdict: How would I rate this product sourcing mission? 7/10, not my favorite. Tedious, with unexpected twists and turns, and I need a third job to afford these premium pieces. (Though I do believe in buy once/buy better when possible, and there’s always the secondhand market.) BUT it all enabled me to reach my desired end state: preparing tiny foods to place into my toddler’s lunch box compartments. IT’S ALL SO CUTE.

And the best news ever = the authors of my beloved Baby Food Bible, dog eared and bookmarked and shared in this newsletter probably ten times, recently dropped their new book, Lunch Box Bible. Their Instagram account is full of inspo (e.g. packing for allergies + school rules) even if you don’t pick up a copy.

Experienced lunch packers, report back with your plastic-free faves, pls!

✨

BON APPETIT
Jennifer @ Sway