Two Gabriola Elementary School students have raised $500 towards eliminating packaged processed foods by purchasing re-usable stainless steel containers for each child in their school lunch program.

Kalen Lumgair and Winter Morningstar applied for a grant from the Sunlight Green Clean Kids fund, and their project was chosen by a selected panel of 10 kids from across Canada, Emily Hubbard reported on behalf of the Sunlight corporation.

Carmen Mattes, who runs the school lunch programme, said: “The Gabriola School Lunch Program is very proud to be on the leading edge of a “Go Green - Eat Local - Reduce Waste” movement. We hope to be a living example of how eating locally grown nutritious foods (as much as possible) while simultaneously reducing waste is not only healthier for our bodies and our earth, but is also very rewarding on a personal level”. She said the containers will increase the variety of healthy foods the lunch programme can offer students.

Hubbard said the competition will continue until Nov. 2010 and children from ages six to 13 are welcome to apply with their ideas on “how to put their green ideas into action”.