And with a high-end e-commerce Web site, kids as young as seven can learn how to order their Kid Chow lunch by picking and choosing one main item, three sides and a drink, all in the six dollar price range. Jamie even ran a survey this last year and found that most parents and kids go the ordering together. “My first grader orders for herself,” she says. “There is so much education in that. I tell her she has to pick a protein and a veggie, but then she can pick something else of her choice.” Right before her young consumer hits the order button, she can click on “Nutrition,” and the site calibrates the nutrition needed for her age. Middle-schoolers are even involved in customer feedback and Jamie enjoys the dialogue she has created with them. “One middle-schooler insisted that I don’t take the Caprese sandwich off the menu, but I had to explain to her that tomatoes weren’t in season, so we would bring back the sandwich when it would be tastier.”
How Else Is It Green?
One of Kid Chow’s selling points is that it is nearly all waste free. So instead of seeing those plastic Ziploc bags floating across the schoolyard, Kid Chow prides itself on packaging that is 90% biodegradable and/or recyclable. Jamie says that this is a natural extension of their mission. “The woman we use at Green Earth Office Supply is, literally, scouring the earth for new green packaging.” That translates into utensils made from non-GMO corn, potatoes, or wheat that can be put into the compost bin after used. And what about the container that holds a Caesar Salad? It’s made to look like its clear plastic counterpart, but is made from polylactic acid (PLA) from corn and potatoes, as well, which is also biodegradable and compostable. Kid Chow spends fifty cents on each bag for the green packaging and Jamie mentioned that even McDonald’s is starting to see the benefits of said packaging and utensils.
But there has to be a system in place, and not just at the grassroots level. Marin County, just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, is known as the land of the rich hippies, but it’s the one Bay Area county that uses Kid Chow in its schools but nulls its waste-free status. “In Marin, homes can compost, but composting hasn’t reached the schools or a commercial level,” which Jamie says is odd.
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