It’s National School Lunch Week. Since 1962, there has been a focus on healthy school lunches for American schoolchildren.

In Michigan, most parents don’t have to think about packing a lunch if they don’t want to. The 1.4 million children in Michigan public schools have access to free school lunches and breakfasts, starting this school year. The food is paid for with a $160 million appropriation in the School Aid budget.

The tax-payer-funded meals are part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program.

For districts that opt into the program, students in pre-kindergarten through Grade 12 will receive one breakfast and one lunch per student, free of charge.

However some parents choose to pack lunch for their kids even though the “free” lunch is available. Some students have allergies, food sensitivities, or just don’t like what’s on the menu, and some non-public schools don’t provide food for students. Lunch packing is still on the to-do list for many busy moms and dads.

What are parents packing in lunches these days? We asked Blue Water area parents what they were putting in lunchboxes, and we got a variety of results.

Answers included yogurt, Slim Jims, crackers and cheese, cut fruit, mini cucumbers, and Nutella biscuits. Others said they make deli rolls, peanut butter and graham crackers, and “homemade” Lunchables. Some parents include a juice box and a bag of chips. Hard-boiled eggs were high on the list also.

Peanut butter and jelly or honey were popular lunchbox sandwiches, along with ham and cheese. Leftovers in a thermos were another option from local parents. One suggestion was dry cereal with school milk added to the bowl at school.

No one mentioned packaged Lunchables, but the truth is that over 49 million Americans are eating the heavily packaged, highly processed convenience food every year.

What’s in your lunch? Join the conversation on the BlueWaterParent.com Facebook page.

Story by Jennie McClelland