The lunchbox has been a schoolyard staple ever since the heavy duty ‘lunch pails’ of the working man began being marketed to a smaller, stickier audience.

The basic idea hasn’t changed since then, but what’s inside couldn’t be more different.

Homemade sushi, lettuce cup sandwiches, green juices and ‘treat’ fruit now fill the esky-type devices held in the hands of Aussie kids. We decided to visit lunch over the past 30 years to see how much has changed.

EIGHTIES

It was a time when allergies were fixed with a 'she'll be right' and a sit down. (iStock)

Those attending school in the eighties would have been chuffed with two slices of bread adhered together with something sticky, a form of cheese that would never make it past today's food standards, a packet of chips and a vaguely fruity liquid.

The above image is a 'healthy' example of what made it to the lunch boxes or bags of thousands of eighties kids.

NINETIES

#health. (Source: Twitter, Smith's Chips Facebook, iStock.)

Nineties kids were a snack food company's dream. Lunches were packed to the hilt with Le Snaks, Tiny Teddies, Space Food Sticks, Mamee noodles, Dunkaroos, Bega Cheese Stringers, Roll-Ups and a poppa that contained enough 'fruit' to be considered a juice.

If you came from a 'healthy home', you might even see anactualpiece of fruit too.

NOUGHTIES

Acceptable amount of health on the left, too much time on their hands on the right. (Source: iStock)

Kids from 2000 - 2017 have been at the forefront of a kind of lunchbox revolution. Awareness around nut allergies, the detriments of high-release insulin foods and refined sugars has transformed the simple lunchbox to a kind of nutritional degustation.

At risk of being pelted by a bento box-wielding mum on my way home, I'm going to say a lot of these meals are bogus.

I'm not even exaggerating.

Here are a couple of lunchbox recipe suggestions by the NSW Government:

- Veggie Quesadillas

- Thai Chicken and Brown Rice Salad

- Salmon, Ricotta and Quinoa Cups

- Tuna Felafel and Tabouleh Salad

If I had asked my mother for a 'veggie quesadilla' she would have passed me some Panadol and asked when the delusions began.

Agree? Disagree? Refuse to serve your child anything less than a zucchini folded into three different origami birds? Share your thoughts below.

Looking for lunchbox tips that are 100 per cent doable? Listen below.