Farming men, women and workers often work long hours and need to pack a lunchbox to keep them fuelled and energised for the farming task at hand. At certain times of the year lunch is often eaten ‘on the go’.

Coming up with a nutritional lunchbox and having food items that are easy, appealing to eat and also store well in a lunch box can be a challenge.

Being familiar with The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating and recommend daily servings can assist with incorporating the five core food groups into lunch boxes.

The bulk of foods in a lunchbox should come from:

• vegetables & legumes
• fruit and vegetables
• grain foods

Followed by:

• Lean Meat and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds and legumes/beans
• Milk, yoghurt, cheese and/or their alternatives ( mostly reduced fat)

With a small touch of:

• healthy fats

A farmer lunchbox which provides a variety of foods from a variety of food groups is key ingredient to fuelling a successful day’s work. A healthy lunchbox will:

• promote health and wellbeing
• reduce the risk of diet-related conditions, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and obesity; and
• reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some types of cancers.

For more information on Food variety and a Healthy diet visit Better Health Channel

Healthy Eating Tips for the Farmer Lunch Box

• choose healthy fats instead of saturated and trans fats
• limit salt and added sugar 
• limit high kilojoules/calorie food and drink
• eat well– have a healthy breakfast, don’t skip meals & snack on healthy snacks
• switch to eating mainly low GI carbohydrates (oats, barley or bran-based cereals, grainy breads, a variety of fruit and vegetables, a variety of carbohydrate-containing foods) as they provide a more sustained source of energy
• prepare and store food safely

Drink plenty of water

Farming men and women should always have a drink bottle of water packed and drink plenty of it throughout the day. There are many benefits from drinking water and keeping hydrated.

• increases energy & relieves fatigue
• promotes weight loss
• flushes out toxins
• improves skin complexion
• maintains regularity
• boosts immune system
• natural headache remedy
• prevents cramps & sprains

For more information on the importance of drinking visit Better Health Channel 

Health Star Ratings

A Guide to Healthier Farmer Lunchboxes

The Health Star Rating is a front-of-pack labelling system that rates the overall nutritional profile of packaged food and assigns a rating from ½ a start to 5 stars. It is a quick, easy and standard way to compare similar packaged foods.

The more stars, the healthier the choice! Read more – Make the Healthy Choice the Easy Choice

Looking for inspiration

Better Health Channel
Lunch box tips
Healthy living recipes 

References used for this topic page

More information:

Australian Government
Eat for Health – The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating

Nutrition Australia
Healthy Eating Pyramid

Better Health Channel
Healthy living

CSIRO
VegEze App – creative recipes & ideas to increase vegetable intake

Clinical care:

National Health and Medical Research Council
Dietary Guidelines 2013

Research & reviews:

World Health Organization (WHO)
Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Disease

Fast facts:

• Healthy eating is essential for health and wellbeing.
• At times during the annual farming calendar, farming men and women and workers may require to pack a lunchbox due to long hours of work.
• Increasing your knowledge on the 5 core food groups and recommended servings from each will assist in placing healthier choices in lunchboxes.
• Using the Health Star Rating system can assist with buying healthy packaged foods for the lunchboxes.
• Drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration.
• Care, prepare and store food safely.

Last updated: 18th January, 2019