Lunch

Health & Safety

This is not a joke: Chinese people are eating — and poking fun at — #whitepeoplefood

1:25pm July 10, 2023

The playful term is trending on social media: Urban workers are embracing (even while joking about) easy-to-fix, healthy Western-style lunches — think sandwiches, veggies ... a lonely baked potato.

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Young women eat lunch in the Tuileries Garden in Paris in January 1929.

Drop that fork! Why eating at your desk is banned in France

9:34am June 10, 2022

What the French history of the leisurely lunch break can teach us about separating work from rest.

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As the gig economy grows, more people are seeking temporary work spaces, and restaurants and coffee shops are seeking to cater to this need, using tech apps to help them.

Working In While Eating Out: The Evolution of Doing Business While Dining

7:00am August 26, 2019

by Claire Leaden

Though it may seem like the gig economy has ushered in the mobile work style from restaurants and coffee shops, the fact is that working and eating have been intertwined since ancient civilization.

Lunch clubs are becoming a popular trend in offices as a way for co-workers to brighten each other's days by sharing meals they've prepared for one another. They might eat together or at their own separate desks.

National

Rough Day On The Job? A Lunch Club Might Help You Bite Back Those Blues

2:26pm February 06, 2019

by Tove Danovich

Bad food on top of a bad workday is ... bad. So some co-workers have created a bright spot — a good meal. And while the food is yummy, the care that goes into making a homemade lunch is even better.

New Mexico state Sen. Michael Padilla says he has heard of "lunch shaming" practices around the country, including students being given different food if they can't afford the regular hot lunch.

National

Lawmaker's Childhood Experience Drives New Mexico's 'Lunch Shaming' Ban

9:55am April 11, 2017

by Erica Ryan

New Mexico has made it illegal to stigmatize students who cannot pay for their lunches. State Sen. Michael Padilla, who introduced the bill, says he had to mop cafeteria floors as a foster child.

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A Spider-Man lunch box on duty at Payne Elementary School in Washington, D.C.

Beyond The Pail: NPR Unpacks The History Of The Lunch Box

1:00pm October 31, 2016

by Kat Lonsdorf

From re-purposed lard pails to bento boxes, the way students carry lunch to school has changed almost as much as the classrooms they learn in.

Lee's Easter-themed creation, made with an omelet, zucchini, cheese, seaweed, ketchup and red capsicum.

Arts

These Parents Make Lovely Lunch Bag Art. Not Everyone Is Pleased

5:03pm April 29, 2015

by Tove Danovich

Elaborately illustrated napkins. Famous paintings re-created using food. Depending on your viewpoint, these lunch projects are an expression of parental love or another salvo in the parenting wars.

Science
Arts

We're Not Taking Enough Lunch Breaks. Why That's Bad For Business

2:17pm March 05, 2015

by Here & Now

Research shows that only 1 in 5 five people takes a break and leaves his desk to eat. Most workers are simply eating at their desks. But creativity can take a big hit without a change of scenery.