Nude Food Comes To Australia In November
Have you heard of Nude Food? If not, get ready – this event may be coming to your child’s school this November! Nude Food Day used to take place on one specified date, but this year, the movement’s organisers have decided to expand its focus to cover the entire month of November.
Nude Food: The concept
The Nude Food movement rests on the tenant that packaging and wrapping are a drain on resources. The event encourages schools and kids to embrace fresh, natural, packaging-free foods on a daily basis.
By spreading awareness about the issue, the movement’s organisers hope to inspire kids to eat more sustainable (not to mention healthy) lunch meals. They also hope the trend will encourage schools to provide more education about sustainability, nutrition and waste prevention.
Why Nude Food?
Organisers point to a few reasons why the concept of packaging-free food is important. One of the biggest impacts of packaged food is its intensive consumption of energy and resources.
“Nude food uses less rubbish and energy,” the event’s website, NudeFoodDay.com.au, states. “It helps decrease landfill because we are using reusable containers, not wrappers and cartons. Nude food also saves energy because we don’t buy the little containers, so less energy is used making the big containers.”
Reducing the use of packaging can also be good for wildlife. The event’s website states that many native animals eat plastic rubbish and packaging because they believe it to be food. National Geographic also noted the importance of solving the problem of debris pollution. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch – a collection of debris and microplastics that spans a vast area of the Pacific Ocean – is a known problem for marine life. Fish and algae consume the plastic debris, which can lead to death in individual creatures and create great problems within the ecosystem.
Of course, one happy coincidence is that packaging-free food also tends to be healthier! A sandwich on whole-grain bread wrapped in a reusable sandwich bag is often a much more nutritious choice than a frozen or pre-prepared meal. Vegetables and fruits also come naturally free of packaging, and are some of the healthiest foods for kids to eat.
Eating ‘nude’ also saves cash!
Nude food saves money because if you buy a big tub of yoghurt and put it in containers it is cheaper than buying lots of little tubs of yoghurt. It also saves money because the price of buying a nude food lunchbox is less than buying all the small packages for a week of school,” NudeFoodDay.com.au notes.
How schools are participating
Schools across Australia are raising awareness of the issue in a number of ways. Schools can run waste audits for various classrooms within their institution based on how many packaged goods are being brought to class. They can then reward create competitions based on reducing each classroom’s waste output.
Another option is to host competitions for a variety of food-related goals. Schools might hold healthy lunch competitions, for example. They can also use the event as a springboard to talk about health and nutrition with cooking demonstrations, meal-creating competitions, and teaching about composting.
Eating Nude Food at home
You can encourage your kids to pursue less wasteful food habits by incorporating the Nude Food movement at home! Take your kids shopping and teach them how you can reduce packaging waste with reusable bags. Focus your shopping trip on finding nude food items that are packed lunch-friendly, such as fruits, veggies, eggs (for boiling) and other healthy options.
