Life

Whole Foods Is Giving Away Free Bento Boxes & Lunches This Week

by Lia Beck
Whole Foods

Unless you work from home or in the food business where can make your own thing, there's a good chance you've thought at some point, "Man, I should really bring my lunch in more." Well, Whole Foods wants to help you do just that this fall. Whole Foods is giving away bento boxes at select stores across the country on Saturday, August 24.

Now, is it a surprise that Whole Foods, a grocery store that sells foods that can be used to make lunch, wants to encourage people to make lunch? No. But, the bento box itself really could help. Different foods organized neatly into different sections is more appealing than some aluminum foil wrapped sandwich. And if you were already in the market for a bento box, now could be the time to get one for free. Or maybe you want to give it to your kid and become one of those parents who makes those cute lunches with the wide variety of foods.

Whatever your situation may be, if you'd like a free bento box, they'll soon be given away to the first 200 shoppers at eight different stores across the United States. Each box, designed by Austin, Texas-based artist Will Bryant, will contain a $10 Whole Foods savings card so you can buy your own lunch on the spot, plus "tips and tricks to get you started on upgrading your lunch."

Whole Foods

The Level Up Your Lunch event will be held at the below Whole Foods locations on Aug. 24. Customers (or bento box hopefuls) can line up between 8 and 9 a.m. local time.

  • Los Angeles — Downtown LA: 788 S. Grand Ave.
  • New York City — Tribeca: 270 Greenwich St.
  • Austin — Domain: 11920 Domain Drive
  • Miami — Davie: 1903 S. University Drive
  • Seattle — Kirkland: 12501 120th Ave. NE
  • Atlanta — Midtown Atlanta: 22 14th St. NW
  • Philadelphia — Center City: 2101 Pennsylvania Ave.
  • Boston — South End: 348 Harrison Ave.

More details about the event, and information and restrictions for the savings card, can be found here.

While the Level Up Your Lunch event is only happening in big cities, there is a way to get a free bento box if you live elsewhere. Whole Foods is also doing a giveaway on Instagram. For the rules for this giveaway, those interested will need to look out for the @wholefoods Instagram post on Monday, Aug. 26 that will include the details and rules.

And if you don't win, well, there's plenty of bento boxes on the market, meaning you can get exactly the one for you. This double-level one comes in nine different colors. This sleek black one has a removable divider. This stainless steel one comes with five compartments and two extra food containers. This one looks like a Russian nesting doll. This one looks like a tiny pink house. This one is shaped like a cat and the top of the cat's head is a bowl.

Good luck if you try for the free bento box from Whole Foods, but if you miss it, you can rest easing knowing you can get yourself a bento box with unicorns on it if you really want one.