Dear Lunchables

Dear Lunchables (and many, many other companies in the convenience food industry):

You have created a great product for parents to press the easy button. But what you don't realize is that for the school lunchroom you have created a problem.

Kindergarteners are rarely able to open your "sealed for (forever) freshness.  For the first ten minutes of lunchtime in our school cafeteria, I walk up and down between the six cafeteria tables and open lunches for the 90+ kindergarten students at our school.  I open the dreaded Gogurts with scissors, since they never open as easily as intended ("tear here" - yeah, right. I've had it splatter all over me more times than I can remember). I twist off lids to water bottles and the occasional thermos. I tear into bagged fruit, granola bars, and sadly, the candy bar that Lunchables seems to think are required as part of a five year old's lunch.

I know these are easy, fairly nutritious, and a hit with kids, at least at the check out line at the grocery store.  I hate to tell parents that most of the food goes in the trash. Except for the candy, and the flavored water pouch - a kid has to have their sugar fix!

Now if you are listening, marketing gurus and product developers, please take my plight into consideration when you create the next great lunch item. How about a nice chewable tablet to replace food overall? Bam! Problem solved!