Build Your Own Back-to-School Lunch Event

The start of the school year is fast approaching and one of the major topics on every parent’s mind as their child re-enters the schoolyard is health. When it comes to staying healthy throughout the school year, eating a balanced, nutritious meal at lunch time could be the key component to maintaining a strong mind and body. In order to keep our kids healthy, it takes proper education to ensure they are making the right choices.

That is why Whole Foods Market in Sonoma is hosting its third annual “Build Your Own Back-to-School Lunch” Event at the store from 3pm to 5pm on Monday, August 17, 2015. Local elementary school students and their families are invited to come in to enjoy a free lunch-building event where good nutrition is the primary focus. In previous years, the event drew more than 150 local kids who were eager to prepare their lunch with healthy foods for their next day at school. This year, we are expecting an equally large turnout, and offering kids a complimentary colorful lunch tote, along with various options for a wholesome meal. In addition to the free lunch, which is made by kids at stations set up in the store’s café area, parents receive a shopping list that includes suggestions of healthy items, such as multigrain bread, apple sauce, organic raisins, nutritious trail mix, and fruit options, among others.

For this year’s event, Whole Foods Market is once again partnering with its generous local vendors, including Fork in the Road Foods, Organic Girl, Organic Valley, and KIND Healthy Snacks. Representatives from some of these companies will support kids in their lunch-building efforts and provide nutritious products for the kids to include in their totes. Along with the meals and snacks, participants will receive educational literature to encourage deeper learning about economical, healthy lunch options to help facilitate conversations around this topic as the kids continue to grow. The Whole Foods Market café area will serve as an assembly line during this two-hour event, enabling students to select their lunch tote, build a peanut butter and jelly or meat sandwich, and collect their fruit salad, snacks, and juice or milk box.

For more information about Whole Foods Market in Sonoma, please visit http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/sonoma or contact Amy Pellegrini at (707) 938-8500 or amy.pellegrini@wholefoods.com.