5 Benefits of Packing Your Lunch

Childhood and adulthood are wildly different, but they do have one thing in common—both kids and adults must make a decision on whether to pack their lunch, eat at the cafeteria, or go out. Granted, in the case of children, it’s usually the parent that decides, but the fact remains—it’s a choice that must be made.

While cafeterias and restaurants are starting to become more health-conscious and diverse in their offerings, it’s important to understand the benefits you can gain by packing a lunch—whether it's yours, your child’s, or both.

You'll save money.

This one is pretty obvious, but still worth noting. Once you’ve got it down, preparing your own meals ends up being a lot cheaper than buying them at restaurants or cafeterias. 

Of course, it’s easy to save money when you’re buying cheaper foods like boxed mac and cheese. A lot of people look at the price or organic produce and healthy ingredients and sigh—it seems like it’s so expensive to eat healthy.

With a reasonable meal prep plan, the cost of all the ingredients together ultimately creates more meals—for a lot less. The biggest reason why home meal prep ends up being more expensive for people is that they often end up buying ingredients they don’t end up using, or excessive amounts of produce, which spoils before it’s used.

The trick is finding out your rhythm with meal prep and only getting ingredients you know you'll like, and you know you'll use.

You can eat healthier.

Of course, your packed lunch is only as healthy as you want it to be. But if health is your priority, you’ll be a lot better off packing your own lunch.

Many cafeterias are innovating and pushing towards healthier options, but it’s not something you can always rely on. While some cafeterias have a nice budget to work with and are starting to offer quality ingredients and well-balanced meals, there are just as many others that are still serving pizza slices, frozen chicken tenders, and pop. 

Healthiness is especially important to consider when you’re packing lunch for your children, because it’s the only way to ensure that they’ll eat reasonably well. Even if your child's school cafeteria serves quality, nutrient-dense meals, it probably still serves everyone's favorite junk foods, too.

Here are some quick and easy lunch ideas you can try:

—Peanut butter and apple sandwiches (can use the apples as bread or wrap it all up with a tortilla).

—Homemade Lunchables: Try chicken and guacamole together, ham and cheese roll-ups, or even turkey wraps (use romaine lettuce or a tortilla).

Another tip—have clean, chopped fruits and veggies on the counter when kids get home from school and when you get home from work. You'll be more likely to snack on healthy fruits or veggies that are already prepped while you're waiting for dinner. Add a side of hummus or healthy dip to make it even better.

You can reduce your footprint.

The more we buy, the more we throw out. Think about how many single-use plastic containers, utensils, straws, and paper we throw away each time we get takeout.

According to a 2015 study by the EPA, Americans threw out 262.4 million tons of trash and 137.7 million tons ended up in landfills. And the average American school lunch creates about 67 pounds of trash each year, totaling to as much as 4.6 billion pounds of waste.

The majority of this pollution is easily preventable. One way parents can help the environment is by packing their own and their child's lunch. Make sure that you are using reusable containers, bottles, and lunch boxes to reduce waste.

You can even get your children involved—let them know the impact waste has on the planet and how packing their lunch can help reduce their impact.

It builds good habits.

Preparing your own lunches is a fantastic habit to form, which will serve you well in the long term. Adults who pack their lunches are far more likely to be health-conscious later on, as they have already overcome the mental hurdle of setting aside the time for food prep. 

Developing the habit of preparing your own food will be helpful to you your whole life, but it can also be positive for your children.

If you’re packing your kid’s lunch, they may not be forming the habit of food prep themselves, but they will form the habit of eating quality food. And you can always get them involved and prep meals together as they get older. This will get them excited about trying new healthier foods, and help set them up for success when they need to prepare meals as an adult.

It's safer.

Food sensitivity is a big concern for many parents and working adults. A lot of people have severe allergies and they have to be attentive of what they eat. When it comes to children, it’s especially important to be proactive about their food because they might not always know what foods they have to avoid.

Suppose your child has celiac disease, or a severe peanut allergy. Even if they go out of their way to get gluten-free meals at their school cafeteria, there’s no guarantee they’re avoiding cross contamination. Packing your own lunches is an easy way to avoid this stress and guarantee you and your child are eating allergen-safe foods.

We hope these benefits and tips for packing a lunch will help you form healthier habits for you and your family. At OnSite Wellness LLC, health and wellness is our specialty.

Incorporating a wellness program at your workplace can have massive benefits for your employees in managing their health. Contact us to learn more!