Lunchbox lessons: how to pack a school lunch that actually gets eaten

The Guardian

07-03-2025

No one with school-age children is a stranger to the drudgery of the lunchbox and chances are, at some stage along the way – possibly weekly – you've found yourself at your wits' end about what to send, not to mention what comes home.
Once upon a time it was socially acceptable and not even considered a health or sustainability issue to slap some Vegemite and margarine in white bread, cover it in Glad Wrap and shove it – along with a Prima and bag of Tiny Teddies – into a plastic lunchbox. Those days are gone.
Most of our kids get more nutritious lunches than we ever did, and that's great. But food waste is a serious problem. You don't necessarily need to opt for the elaborate bento boxes that have become de rigueur in recent years, but it's worth considering how we pack it and what will actually get eaten.
A 2019 study estimated that each year Australian students throw away 5 million sandwiches, 3 million pieces of whole fruit and 3 million items of packaged food. Mark Boulet, the study's lead researcher, says getting kids more involved in choosing and preparing the food they bring to school is a crucial step in bringing those numbers down.
The first thing parents should think about is how much food they're sending to school with children. 'Everyone wants to look after their kids but that 'just in case' food often gets wasted,' he says, adding that too often 'we give them far more than they can get through in the given time at school'.
It pays to be aware then of what their eating schedule looks like: when and where your child has a chance to eat and how much time they have. Ask your kid, check in with their teacher and start to develop a suitable school day menu around that.
Packing things your child is familiar with and enjoys eating is obviously a good first step, but that doesn't mean hitting the chips and choccy milk aisle. Most processed and packaged food is going to be less nutritious and will produce more waste than food you can make at home and send in reusable packaging.
Of course not everyone has time or inclination to prepare homemade everything, but provided the ingredients you use aren't ultra-processed, a good old-fashioned sandwich, some fresh produce and a treat should be nutritionally adequate and limit packaging waste.
Who among us doesn't remember the disappointment of a soggy tomato sanga, squishy pear or damp crackers at recess? 'If it's not stored and packaged properly it can become pretty unappealing by lunchtime,' Boulet says.
He reminds us it's worth investing in the right kit (cooler bags, ice blocks and containers that don't cross-contaminate) to ensure food makes it to lunchtime as something you'd be happy to eat yourself.
Every parent knows their child the best, but Boulet reckons we often do more for them than is needed – and it's good to think about what they're capable of doing themselves. Boulet's study indicates that working with kids on a reasonable shopping list for lunch and taking the time to teach them how to prepare parts of it – even if that is just putting things in the cooler-bag – is empowering and can make a big difference in how interested they are in it come lunchtime. His advice: 'Start earlier than you think.'
There's not much more disgusting and infuriating than unpacking a lunchbox at day's end only to find a pile of mutilated, half-eaten scraps. But Boulet says it's imperative parents don't 'go crook when food comes home uneaten'. He says some waste is inevitable and we should encourage kids to bring home any leftovers, moderate our reactions and assess the waste together so it can be used to inform future choices.
'Have that dialogue around their tastes and what they actually feel happy and comfortable eating in the confines of the school day.'
Like most things with young kids, what works for lunch is not a set-and-forget thing. 'It's never static, checking in with kids every day is important,' Boulet says.
Boulet, a parent himself, says he is more than sympathetic to how tedious it can be to make school lunches a focal point of your week any more than is strictly necessary.
'The food provisioning routines in most family households are pretty tightly wired, so there's always a bit of discomfort that comes with change. But we have found that if you can sit with that for even a short period of time, you will quickly see a pretty significant change in how much food is getting wasted during the school day.'
What are your strategies for reducing waste in school lunches?