Tips

What to put in your child's lunch box**:

Fruit (how clever it is!), examples:

banana
apple
grapes
peach
cherries
strawberries
fruit with tahini or almond butter (bananas are good)
green apple slices with lemon squeezed on them
blended coconut meat and coconut water with berries or other in season fruit
goji berries or other dried berry

Veggies:

snappy green beans
cucumber slices
baby carrots
lots of cut up veggies, carrots, peppers, jicama, cucumber and something for dipping, hummus or salsa
celery with nut butter
fresh veggie slices with dip or dehydrated veggies with dip
guacamole and salsa with veggie slices or flax crackers
mixed salads with their favorite dressing

Soups:

container of cold carrot/avocado curry soup or other raw soup (tomato basil with macadamia)

Drinks:

bottled water
fresh cucumber/celery/sprout juice (sweetened with apple, carrot or coconut water)
nut mylks in a bottle
For the boys, the INCREDIBLE HULK smoothie (by lisa m):
grapefruit/orange/spinach
Blend the fruit, then add enough spinach so that it resembles an attractive green goo colour/consistency. He can impress his friends by saying it's made from nuclear waste or something.
For the girls, the PRETTY PINK smoothie (by lisa m):
tomatos with seeds/nuts: blend.
You could also adapt the above 2 by thickening the consistencies (don't add any water), making them more of a paste, adding button mushrooms, and providing 'chopsticks' - a couple of asparagus spears - to eat them with (warning: you may have some extra clothes-washing to do that night)

Crunchy things and snacks:

pates/hummus and flax crackers
homemade granola bars or fruit nut bars
dehydrated nori chips (nori spread with nut pate then dehydrated)
soaked nuts/seeds dehydrated with curry or chili spice and Celtic salt
collard rolls or nori rolls filled with sprouted nut pates or tahini, avocado, sprouts, herbs, dulse, fermented veggies, etc..
zucchini chips (dehyrated with garlic powder, slil sea salt and thyme and seasame)
cashews
soaked almonds

Sweets:

dried fruit
raw fudge or dehydrated cookies
bliss balls with coconut, nut butter, carob, coconut oil, spices and honey or agave
Anabear says that her friend makes these wonderful macaroon cookies that are so crispy and light. She uses dried coconut, coconut oil, mangos, bananas and pineapple, then dehydrates them until crunchy. The pineapple sugar crystallizes and gives it an amazing texture.

Whatever you do, don't give 'em ham and mustard in wonderbread with a side of Ritalin and a couple bucks for milk and cookies. ;-)

** This list has been created thanks to help from fellow raw foodists that I met at rawfoodsupport.com , namely Anabear, David Mason, lisa_pe, Rayncatt, bananseats, lisa_m, StillNarz, Melinda and monkeyboy.

We can trust our bodies. We can especially trust the bodies of children. Your kids still have their innate ability to reject foods that are inappropriate, and accept foods that are healthful. You can trust your kids to select their own foods, as long as you're only offering foods within the range of healthy foods (very important!). Included in that range are ALL fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Some foods within this range are better than others but you can trust the bodies of your children to choose the ones that are best! If your child rejects a salad but wants fruit for dinner, trust him. His body is a far more reliable indicator of what it needs than any so-called nutrition expert who tells you to force-feed greens to your child.
(Nora)

Diet alone is not enough to heal a sick person. All the conditions of good health need to be present: a hygienic diet, sufficient rest, clean water, air, sun, exercise, mental and emotional balance.
(Bryan)

Becoming raw is a process not an event.
(Bryan)

I have said, there is no way I would stick to a diet by eating only one thing, I like variety.
(Peace)

Eat a variety and abundance of raw foods!
(TigerDak)

It seems to me if someone is worried about his/her hair falling out then one thing to try is a raw food diet! It doesn't get much better than that! And the food...oh my goddess!
(Steve)

I was just stressing about what to make (actually cook) for supper for my children (as they are not totally raw). I gave them a couple of choices - neither of which sparked them at all. Then my 5 year old daughter said "I know, why don't you cut up a bunch of different fruit and a bunch of different vegetables and put them on a plate and then we can choose what we want to eat"!!!! WOW!! what a great idea I said - she said "I know have great ideas mommy". There you go - problem solved. Just a little inspirational message for all of us who are trying to sometimes make things more complicated than they have to be!!
(Wootsie)

Every person on the planet is a raw vegan but they are just breaking the rules!
(Road Runner)

Acknowledgements: Maura (logo).
Quotes on raw foods by fellow raw foodists.
Other quotes from The Quote Garden.
Photos: Free Stock Photos