publicradiointernational:

A Japanese kid’s lunch presented in the form of a video game remote control. (Photo: BBC video)

Making a packed lunch for your children to take to school is a chore performed by parents around the world. But in Japan, it is not just the taste and healthiness of the meal that is important – but how it looks.

The country’s ancient emphasis on food presentation has been transformed into a trend for character bento — packed lunches of rice, vegetables and meat or seafood crafted to look like pandas, teddy bears or even real people. The Michael Jackson bento is particularly interesting. Story at PRI’s The World.

Watch video from BBC News.

Rather than giving the thumbs-up to tomato paste suppliers, should we in the U.S. instead give school lunches a visual makeover? We admit it, we’d eat a meal that looked like an angry bird, even if it was good for us.