What they are A delicious convenient lunch is one key to a good day. And there's nothing like coming home to a wonderful dinner, prepared and waiting for you. At lunch time in Calcutta there are small fleets of bicyclists delivering home-cooked meals from spouses in the suburbs to office workers. In Japan, the bento (literally "lunch"), is a sectioned box with a variety of food. Bento can be bought fresh from restaurants, on bullet trains, in transit stations and elsewhere. It's the main way that the Japanese eat their lunch. At lunchtime in the rice paddies of rural Thailand, fresh meals from home arrive in bamboo and stainless steel carriers with several sections for a variety of food. These are called pin-tho, which is pronounced "bin-dho." Pin-tho are rarer in cities where Thai workers eat lunch at roadside stands and restaurants, but you will still see city folk walking down the street in fine outfits, carrying them. Most likely they are taking food to Temple to offer to the Buddhist monks. My housemate recently asked the owner of a Thai restaurant here in San Francisco if he knew about pin-tho. The owner was excited that my housemate knew what this was, and told him stories of growing up with them in Thailand. It would be like asking me, "Did you ever have a Scooby-Doo lunchbox with a little plastic thermos?" Food Chain uses four-compartment, clamp-shut, stainless steel pin-tho with handles. They are easily cleaned, great for keeping food separate, and great for reheating in ovens. Unlike plastics, they don't leach nasty flavors and petrochemicals into your food, and they are fully reusable.

How we use them When you subscribe to Food Chain, you pay a refundable deposit for three pin-tho and several condiment jars that we use for dressings, chutneys, sauces, and fresh herbs. We promptly label them as yours for the duration of your subscription. You are responsible for cleaning and returning the pin-tho and the condiment jars at your next delivery. Because you have three pin-tho in your name, if we are unable to pick one up when we drop off a meal, there is a third we can use for your next meal. At that point, you can return the two that you have. However, because we have limited bike-trailer space, it's important that you return the pin-tho as consistently as possible. At the end of your subscription, you'll still have one pin-tho. Guess what, we'll come pick it up! On what would be your next delivery date, we will come by your delivery site, pick up your remaining pin-tho, and drop off the refund for your deposit. If we can't get it then, you will need to make arrangements to drop it off at our location to get your full deposit back. Confused? It's like learning a new game: the rules make lots of sense once you start playing.