Organize a Lunch Swap

A lunch swap is a great way for you to get out of your usual dietary rut while getting better acquainted with your classmates or coworkers. Lunch swaps are very similar to potlucks in that each person brings a dish to share with everyone else. For your lunch swap to go off without a hitch, you'll have to do some planning first. After that, it's simply a matter of enjoying the meal and cleaning up.

Steps

Planning Your Lunch Swap

1. Get approval for your lunch swap. Some schools or workplaces may have policies that prohibit this kind of lunch sharing. This means that planning your lunch swap without permission could land you in trouble. Ask your manager or supervisor something like:
   • "I've been reading a lot about how lunch swaps help employee morale. It's like a mini-potluck at lunch time. Do you think we could try this here?"
   • "Lately, I've been wanting to share some old family recipes with my friends here at work. May I organize a lunch swap so we can all share recipes together?"
   • "Principal Smith, I think it's important for us to learn how to cook to prepare for living on our own. Do you think we could practice cooking by having a lunch swap at school?"
2. Gather participants for your lunch swap. Not everyone has to participate in your lunch swap for it to be a success. As a matter of fact, it may be best to start with a smaller group, as fewer people will be easier to coordinate. However, you lunch swap could be as large as you desire.
   • Be sensitive when asking classmates and coworkers to join your lunch swap. Some people may prefer to eat alone, or they may be self-conscious of their cooking ability.
   • If you have enough people bringing food, you might want to open up the lunch swap to the entire office or class to show people how much fun it can be.
3. Discuss potential dishes and dietary restrictions. Food allergies can be deadly, so before you decide any dishes, inquire with other lunch swappers about dietary restrictions. Once you know what ingredients to avoid, you can begin planning dishes.
   • The quantities and kinds of food for your lunch swap group will be determined by its members.
   • Generally, there should be enough food for each person to get a portion of a main dish, a salad, one to two sides, and a drink.
   • Just because one swapper is allergic to a dish doesn't mean you can't make it. However, it should be kept separate from other food and clearly labeled.
4. Make a sign up sheet. This will help you keep track of who's part of your lunch swap group and who's bringing what. This is important, because your lunch swap group might change week to week, or even day to day.
   • You could post your sign up sheet visibly in a common area, or you could use a shared online document for planning.
   • You can have as little or as much information on your sign up sheet as you desire, though you may want to include name, dish, and contact information on it.
5. Set the date(s) for your swap. You can organize your lunch swap as a monthly, weekly, or daily event. You may have to experiment a little bit to see what frequency works best for your lunch swap group.
   • Many schools and workplaces have a calendar posted for group events, birthdays, deadlines, and so on. Mark lunch swap days here so everyone knows.
   • A shared lunch swap calendar through your email or phone can be set to notify lunch swappers when the day approaches.

Enjoying Your Lunch Swap

1. Label food with allergens clearly. In the event that one of your lunch swappers has a serious food allergy, be sure to label all food that contains that allergen. This can be done easily by using a sticky note and a marker to list the offending ingredient(s).
   • Keep utensils for the food with the allergens separate. You can easily spread allergens in this way.
2. Try new and interesting dishes. New food can be intimidating, but you have a great opportunity to get to know the features of various dishes during your lunch swap. If you're an adventurous eater, take a small sample of each dish.
   • Picky eaters shouldn't feel obligated or pressured to try food they don't like. Doing so can create unnecessary friction during lunch.
3. Get to know other lunch swappers better. Many lunch swap groups make it a point to avoid the topic of work while eating. This is a good way to disconnect during the workday and recharge your batteries with some pleasant conversation.
   • Ask other lunch swappers about hobbies, family, friends, and free time activities. You never know when you might share something in common with someone.
4. Tell fellow lunch swappers about your dish. You may have prepared an old family recipe, or maybe you tried to make a new dish. In either case, you can teach other lunch swappers what you know or learned about your dish.
   • This is a great way to tell other swappers about family they might not be able to meet in person.
   • Throw in preparation details to help others who might want to make the dish themselves. For example, you might have noticed that a dish tastes better with less salt, cooks better at a lower heat, and so on.

Cleaning up Afterwards

1. Organize a cleanup crew. Smaller lunch swap groups might require each person to pitch in with cleanup, but for larger groups, most of the cleanup can probably be handled by three to five people. Rotating between swappers for cleanup duty will fairly distribute the work among everyone.
   • As a perk for those cleaning up, you might allow members on the cleanup crew to take leftovers home in plastic containers.
2. Throw away garbage and store uneaten food. Paper products, utensils, sauces, and similar items often become garbage when used. These should be thrown away in the garbage when your meal is done. Separate recyclable material and put in proper receptacle. Uneaten food can be stored and taken home in plastic-ware.
3. Wipe clean the surfaces you've eaten on. Bits of food left on your desk or lunch table can become home to bacteria and attract bugs, like ants and cockroaches. Take a mild cleaning agent and spray the table with it. Then use a clean rag or paper towel to wipe the table clean.
   • Crumbs and other dirt will collect under your rag as you wipe. Push this buildup off the edge of the table and into a free hand, then dump the crumbs in the trash.
4. Take out the garbage, if necessary. Creating a mess is a surefire way of getting lunch swapping banned in your office. Most of the cleanup at this point should already done, but it's easy to overlook a full garbage can. If you've filled up the garbage over the course of your meal, take it out when you're finished.
   • Additionally, if you've thrown food away in the garbage, it can attract bugs or rot and give off a bad smell. Taking out the garbage after eating will prevent this.

Tips

• Lunch swaps don't have to be only between colleagues and classmates. You can also organize a lunch swap with neighbors, church members, and friends, too.

References

See also

• Improve Your Working Environment
• Stand Up for Yourself at Work
• Innovate
• Return to Work After Having an Extended Unemployment Gap
• Get a Job when You Have a Work History Gap Due to Disability or Illness
• Be a Middleman
• Survive Working at Home As an Extrovert
• Expert Taxable Retirement Accounts
• Be an Asset to Your Company
• Get Proof of Employment

Read more ...