54 The Bulletin. 



THE SCHOOL LUNCH BASKET. 



By Mrs. F. L. Stevens. 



The school child demands for health and efficiency, food, open air and exer- 

 cise. The schoolroom afCords none of these, hence the importance of supply- 

 ing these necessities from outside sources. The hygienic condition of the 

 schoolroom may be better than some of the homes of its children, but it is 

 always worse than that of their play-places which they make of their own 

 choosing. 



Food, wisely selected, properly prepared, is a matter of chief importance to 

 the growing "child. The problem of the midday meal at school is no end 

 troublesome to the careful mother who constantly asks herself the question. 

 "How can I provide a wholesome, attractive meal sufficient in quantity, yet 

 good to 'study on'?" There are still other questions that the watchful mother 

 asks: "Where are the lunches stored before eating time?" "Are they kept 

 in the cloakroom with wraps, umbrellas, and hats?" "Where and how do the 

 children eat their lunches?" "Do they eat with unwashed hands at the desks 

 at which they have been sitting throughout the morning?" 



The answer to the first question, "What constitutes a good lunch?" is in a 

 measure the answer to the larger question, "What constitutes a good meal for 

 a child?" Some one has said that a well-put-together meal should contain 

 something starchy, something meaty, something fat, something fibery, some- 

 thing sweet, something savory, and something liquid. When we consider the 

 space of the ordinary lunch basket, it would seem that its capacity would be 

 taxed to overflowing by this combination; but foods representing this group- 

 ing may be properly combined in a very simple school lunch. 



The basis of every good meal, school lunch or any other, is a good, whole- 

 some, thoroughly baked bread. Cold soda or baking-powder biscuits, or cold, 

 soggy bread in any form is bad for any one, and it is particularly bad for 

 children. The long, narrow, crusty light roll, well baked, as well as the beaten 

 biscuit, will prove an appetizing substitute for the sliced light-bread. Remem- 

 ber the children on baking day, and make some of these finger rolls for the 

 school lunch. 



The meaty or tissue-building part of the lunch may be provided in the form 

 of milk, eggs, cheese, fish, poultry, nuts, meat, beans, or field peas. Milk pro- 

 vided in a little bottle or curd in the form of cottage cheese: eggs, hard-boiled, 

 serve<l whole or minced and mixed with salad dressing to form the filling for 

 a sandwich, fish, poultry, meat thinly sliced or put through a food chopper for 

 a sandwich filling; salted peanuts, pecans or walnuts, chopped finely for the 

 sandwich, supplies a goodly variety of tissue-building. In fact, there are few 

 foods that cannot be combined to make a good sandwich filler. 



The "something fat" does not mean something greasy, but something con- 

 taining one of the good wholesome fats— butter, cream, egg yolks, bacon. Egg 

 yolks, by the way. are rich in fat, each containing about a teaspoonful. They 

 are rich, too, in iron. They make "red blood," as the saying goes, thus pro- 

 viding a wonderfully fine food for anemic children. 



The fibery quality of the lunch may be provided through the fresh, dried, 

 stewed, or baked fruits, or through the edible portion of green plants, such as 

 lettuce, cress, celery, and radishes. Apples, oranges, peaches, and pears are 

 all desirable because they are refreshiTig and because of the fibery quality of 

 the pulp. The fibery foads are a necessity in every meal, for through them 

 is maintained a healthful, normal condition of the bowels. 



The sweet quality of the lunch may be had from the fruit or custards or 

 from the jelly or jam sandwiches, always so welcome to the hungry child. 

 Let us hope, however, that the jam will be of a more substantial quality than 

 that it> the sandwiches prepared for Tom and IMaggie in "The Mill on the 

 Floss." Maggie, always eager to please Tom. offered to take the slice of bread 

 from which the". iam had run off. Tom insisted that she must choose blind- 

 fold. The desirable half, as you remember, fell to Maggie, and Tom began to 



