Why are Lunchables SO Popular?

If you grew up in North America, Lunchables had a cultural stranglehold on your childhood, and they haven’t let up yet. Lunchables have been in supermarkets around the world for decades, and today they can even be found in school cafeterias. And the story of how they got there? It’s sketchy to say the least.
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Script: Caroline Eaton-Pickard
Editor: Melody David
Lead Editor: Kirsten Stanley
Project Manager: Lurana McClure Rodríguez
Host: Levi Hildebrand
Want to work with Future Proof? Suggestions? Hate mail? Get in touch with the project manager, Lu: [e-mail]

[@slushpuppii]

My daughter thought the school lunch ladies were back there cooking from scratch meals. She was devastated when I told her the truth

[@FutureProofTV]

😞we can all dare to dream

[@bloodlove93]

considering children usually believe in santa and don't even question religion, I'm not surprised. we are not the most perceptive and intelligent at a young age, i think all of us can think back and honestly say "yeah,past me is kinda stupid"

[@ZombieBarioth]

@@bloodlove93 In fairness we certainly paint the picture as things still being like that, pretty much every cartoon and live-action show features an old-school lunch lady. Anybody remember Gramma Stuffum?

[@saraviegas2141]

They were in my school, in Portugal, I'm honestly confused how crackers or a sandwich is considered a lunch for children, I've always had warm lunches at school all my life. My parents payed for it, but low income families don't pay

[@ttopero]

Already in the 80’s & 90’s, most large school districts in the U.S. had centralized commissary kitchens that made HUGE batches of warm food to go with the sometimes fresh fruits & vegetables from the fridge/freezer. And Red Delicious apples were NEVER delicious!

[@finkelmana]

I sincerely feel your pain. I remember being kid in elementary school and being so jealous of the kids with Lunchables. My horrible, evil, mean spirited mother had the utter gall to make my lunch every day. I attribute that as the path that led me of crime, drugs, and prison.

[@shaylenwayne9284]

😂

[@FutureProofTV]

Blame the whole wheat bread is what I always say...

[@2okaycola]

Same

[@meikahidenori]

Bro your mother did you a solid favour.

[@uselesscause3178]

😂 😂

[@RyanBrown-bz9nh]

Oscar Mayer is responsible for the charcuterie board trend amongst millennials. Lol

[@kayshah233]

The irony is that between them and Kraft they own a large percentage of the brands that are on even the highest end charcuterie boards. They really played the long game

[@FutureProofTV]

the lunchable to meat and cheese board pipeline is real...

[@maenad1231]

@@FutureProofTV 😂🤣

[@daniellejones2962]

😂 this is REALIST COMMENT, meat, cheese and crackers, WHAT’S UP!

[@monzorella1]

In the UK, you can't even order McDonald's or fast food to a school. Even if you are an teacher that wants it for lunch. The delivery app wiill not allow it to be delivered.

[@jadefalcon5166]

I don't recall them being that cheap when I was growing up - they were a luxury item (or at least it felt like it to my poor self). I only ever got them for the rare field trip where you needed a pack-lunch, so they were something special. I haven't had one in like 30 years, but I recall them fondly

[@radfoo72]

#Relatable

[@Napalm_Candy]

It was like that for my sibbling and I too (although I have eaten a few as an adult, they just aren't the same).

[@meatballhead15]

I came here to comment this, too. My single, disabled mother with her little food stamp book of coupons could NOT AFFORD lunchables for me. I didn't get them when I was young for this reason, they were much more expensive than using the saltines and lunch meat and/or cheese she already bought for sandwiches for me that would last much longer. Only when I visited and then moved in with my dad and step family who were living the standard middle class lifestyle could I get lunchables, and it was like gold to me. In fact now that I'm an adult, I still buy them when I want a small meal.

[@fgregerfeaxcwfeffece]

Here they did cost (~5$) more then full sized packages of all the foods they pretended to be. 200g sliced sausages (apparently some americans call this "meat" for some reason) 400g sliced cheese (cheap cheese, but actual cheese) 300g salted crackers Literally cheaper then a pack of lunchables. And then you even have a pretty good choice of cheese and sausage options. So of course they where cheap to manufacture. Because they did not actually contain that level of quality that the real products would deliver.

[@newtscamander2461]

In my family too they were a rare treat, usually for field trips. The cost depended on how fancy of a lunchable you wanted, the dinky little just crackers and cheese lukchables were cheapest but if you wanted it to come with a caprisun and a crunch bar it was more expensive

[@Kalabint]

7:31 Correction: miligram, not grams, i doubt that the whole portion consists of 750 grams of Salt

[@nakko6624]

Almost a kilo lmao

[@frozenjune83]

What do you mean? Is your luncheable not made with ~1.6 lbs of salt?

[@m0bb42]

shortly after you see, that their source got it wrong too

[@Pseudynom]

​@@m0bb42 How did they miss that? Doesn't Canada use metric for weight?

[@Kalabint]

@@m0bb42 That is why I put the time marker on the News Post.

[@gligarguy4010]

Whenever I ate lunchables I was always able to feel the taste of evil.

[@FutureProofTV]

feel the taste of evil 😂

[@gheorghenegruta7578]

Ok

[@I_am_glace]

LMFAO 🤣

[@arikalamari19]

riiiight!

[@nguiklian]

Apparently that was the lead

[@roxou493]

As a french, I simply can't imagine these lunchables being considered an actual meal, especially compared to what I ate in school as a kid. These would at best be considered a pre-meal snack, like at the aperitive.

[@Ray_Vun]

as a portuguese, same. this is like, something you'd snack on in between meals, at like 10am, because you're a bit hungry and it's still a while until lunch time. but not as a replacement for an actual meal. i'd be starving if i had that for lunch

[@savanafantastica]

And yet obesity runs rampant in the US and very much less so in Europe. Go figure. But yeah eating crackers with ham and cheese for lunch is really strange. Even our mid morning snacks were more substantial back when I was in school. 😅

[@Pr0toPoTaT0]

As an American, I'm totally for this. I effing love lunchables 😆

[@savanafantastica]

@@Pr0toPoTaT0 I love me some crackers with cheese myself. Just not as a school lunch. But hey you guys do you 🤣

[@Der_Kleine_Mann]

​@@Pr0toPoTaT0Me a german loved them a lot as a kid, but then they unfortunately stopped selling them here😔

[@melissaprice2880]

My kids favourite lunch is homemade lunchables. Mini naan bread, cheese, meat, pizza sauce or hummus for dipping with some carrots and cherry tomatoes. It's a healthier, more filling version that the kids are still excited about and can pack for themselves.

[@ipupi8784]

Sounds delicious!! I will try and make that, now lunchables just tastes far too salty for me..

[@janelle_beans]

Are you taking adoption applications? XD

[@NamhadiNdemufayo]

That's the strat. Gonna try this when mine are old enough.

[@bearsigagmd]

that sounds good!!!

[@brandizzle238]

I highly appreciate my Filipino-American family sending me to school with home cooked chicken adobo and lumpia amongst other things for lunch through most of grade school. Once I actually had to buy school lunches I could taste how trash it was and hated it

[@bloxzlol2346]

Same I'm glad my family packs lunch with home cooked rice chicken pasta and many more. I only tried school lunch once and it tasted fake like plastic. Good thing I'm still going to school with a packed lunch because school lunch is honestly trash

[@zerocool5395]

It's still weird to me how Filipinos are kinda like Spanish Asians lol. The food is pretty much the same stuff we eat in South and Central America lol

[@darinw.3580]

@@zerocool5395 They are definitely similar to Spanish in some ways but legit they got some VERY different foods apparently. Some similar but to explain my wife is Filipina and she came here when she was 20. She is a good cook and I have also eaten her family's cooking (Tito and Tita). She worked with a lady who was from Venezuela and they would have a lot of fun sharing their foods and talking about it. It was a dayhome so they could cook as well as the lady had 2 kids to take care of with it. There is some in common but my wife says its quite different. Filipino's don't use beans much and they eat LOTS of seafood but that may just be her family. Thought I would give you my take on it. They definitely have that fire that lots of Latinas/Italians have. haha We get along.

[@gorkaaustin5306]

@@zerocool5395it’s because they got colonized by the Spanish bro

[@zerocool5395]

@@gorkaaustin5306 What, really? I mean the Spanish names they have, but I'm too dumb to put it together.

[@OshieTCG]

imo lunchables are a splurge item. $2 for them is actually kinda expensive to me for how little food it is. Also congrats on becoming a dad 🥳

[@MarisaClardy]

Lunchables are definitely cheap when your time is expensive. $2 for something that is ready-made and requires no work on your end as a parent can be worth it. Sure, it's not a lot, and sure, it's terrible. But if you are a parent with 2 or 3 jobs, trying to get by, your time is unfortunately more valuable, and so a $2 lunchable for school is an easy and cheap win. And mind you, I completely agree with you. But we have the luxury of time, which some parents just *don't*.

[@OshieTCG]

@@MarisaClardy I can definitely understand paying for the convenience factor. I work at Walmart and occasionally will grab the cheaper brand of lunchables in a pinch if I'm hungrier than I thought. But usually I have the time to prepare a cheaper, healthier snack

[@mind-of-neo]

10 bucks a week for lunch doesn't sound like it's be that much more than making your kids real food for lunch lol

[@OshieTCG]

@@mind-of-neo well, maybe not. But look at the quality and quantity. Lunchables are really more of a snack than anything. They're not substantial enough to pass as a meal. Maybe I see it different because I eat more as an adult, but even as a kid I don't think I would have been fine with just a lunchable. I probably would have gotten really hungry again quick. But if you look at $2/meal cost of something you make at home, you can definitely get way better food out of that than a lunchable. Can't forget the time it takes to prep that food, though, I know. Pros and cons, pros and cons... Lol

[@mindstalk]

@@OshieTCG Amazon Fresh: 2.79 for a Lunchable ham and cheese "cracker stacker", 340 cal, no fiber, 11 g protein. and a lot of the calories are from a cookie. 1.33 for a hotdog ($8/6 pack), 190 cal, 10 gr protein. 0.17 for a slice of whole wheat bread (2.79/loaf, lol), 100 cal, 3 g fiber, 5 g protein. So $1.50 for a hot dog + bread that's equal in calories (290) to the Lunchable minus cookie, with more protein and fiber. Or double the calories to 580 for about the same cost as the Lunchable. Not that that's a great lunch either but it's cheap and convenient and _better than Lunchable_. In reality I'd probably aim for a ham-cheese-lettuce sandwich, hell that's what my father gave me half the time (other half, PB&J with whole wheat bread and natural peanut butter) but that's slightly more research work.

[@Bunny-ch2ul]

Growing up in the 90s what confused me most about Lunchables was that they cost the same as our school lunches did. And it was a box with like four crackers and a piece of bologna. I'm probably biased because I'm lucky and grew up going to schools where the cafeterias *did* make the majority of our lunches from scratch each day, so our school lunches didn't look like prison food. I seriously question how bad cafeteria food has to be where Lunchables become the more appealing option.

[@mindstalk]

Yeah, I just did some math for another comment, and hot dogs + whole wheat bread would get you 2x as many calories for the same cost, plus proportionally more protein and waay more fiber. Not that that's a good lunch but it was easy to research from my laptop, and it's indicative.

[@biancag2461]

Funny story. My parents are from Europe and never let me have white sandwich bread as kid. Only the rye bread from a Polish bakery. Yet somehow I managed to convince my mom, a registered nurse, that lunchables were a good idea. No clue how I pulled that off...

[@agnieszkamajer1088]

I grew up in Europe, and this is the first time I'm hearing about Lunchables. I had no idea what people in the US had to fight against - as an adult, living in a heavily US-influenced culture, I see how much my eating habits (and health) were shaped by what I ate as a child at home and at school. Thanks for this video - it explains so much!

[@slite2k59]

Is americans live in your heads 😂

[@radfoo72]

Throwing out your boring sandwich because it wasn't a lunchable😂 Understandable 🤷🏻‍♂️ That's definitely kid logic lol

[@FutureProofTV]

biiiiiiig kid logic lmfao

[@sarcasticluigi]

As someone who was in school when Michelle Obama was trying to improve the school lunch program, a lot of schools purchased the food that they did because they couldn't afford better food. The disappointment on my face when I was still hungry after eating the three (3) mozzarella sticks I was rationed on mozzarella stick day was immeasurable. And the sheer volume of poorly seasoned, rubbery vegetables we were graced with was ridiculous

[@janelle_beans]

I wrote an article when I was in high school for the yearbook 10+ years ago how the program had good intentions but had fallen flat. I interviewed students and the cafeteria ladies and they all agreed that it had negatively impacted the food quality and nutrition of the food that they were now allowed to provide. This was when news outlets were releasing stories about how a volleyball player collapsed because of their lack of nutrition and how athletes needed to consume more than the kids sitting at a desk every day without additional physical activity.

[@Matt-fl8uy]

And now the military is freaking out because of how many potential recruits they have to disqualify due to obesity. The lunchroom feeds America's future defenders, and giving them junk food isn't helping.

[@AzraelThanatos]

It also, completely, trashed a lot of things for the school I went to since it covered things not part of the actual program. Several of the high school grades did fundraising by selling various other foods that they'd worked with places to have. The school, until Obama's messing, did nothing about it and it meant that you could get some really good options on occasion from some pretty high end places (along with some cheaper ones). They didn't fit the requirements, so they got blocked and the classes after it suffered pretty badly with their class finances which were what covered most of the class trips. It also meant that a pile of the recipes the school had used for years had to be thrown out because of them, and the school lunch program had made a decent amount of money from selling a few cookbooks over the years with some of it (with total volume turned way down). Then there's the even more annoying portion of it where the school budget got screwed with paying early releases for deals that they had made...the big one being with Yum! Brands who basically paid to build the gym and the entire schools computer system in exchange for 1/week days with one of the restaurants they owned providing lunch along with exclusive concessions and soft drink sales including vending machines which were supposed to include lunch periods and before school/post school hours...but those were locked down fifteen minutes before school started to the same afterwards and all of the snack foods in the school shop were removed which included baked goods from a nearby bakery. But the school district had to buy out the remaining three years of it because the new rules meant that they couldn't keep their end of things which screwed the schools and taxpayers over.

[@user-sf9gs2pg1b]

I actually really liked some of the food. There were three main dishes I enjoyed the most. The salad (even had avocado in it and it was big!), the orange chicken (I added hot Cheetos as a topping as a treat and hot sauce), and idk what it’s called… taco soup? A large amount of tortilla chips accompanies by a delicious soup. Out of those three, the last one was as my favorite. Maybe I just had a better school, I do live in a rich state despite being pretty poor.

[@growtocycle6992]

​@@janelle_beans if kids eat the WHOLE amount of food provided (including milk, fruit), I don't think the collapse is because of lack of nutrition

[@stagehits]

As a child, I used to despise how my mum packed wholegrain crackers, homemade chutney, and high quality cheese and ham from the local deli in to a reusable tupperware container, rather than buy lunchables for me. Only now do I realise she cared too much to let me eat ultraprocessed food.

[@Ray_Vun]

in portugal, you either go home to eat, or you eat at the school's canteen, which served just regular meals for lunch time, you just had to buy a ticket, which was at most like €3(probably more expensive nowadays). if you came from low income, you ate for free. something like a lunchable looks more like something a kid would bring as a snack for the middle of the morning, not as a meal. not even for the nutritional aspect or whatever, just because it doesn't look like it'd fill you up. by the time you went to class you'd be hungry again

[@KellyS_77]

We couldn't really afford them when I was a kid, and I was a bit too old to be their target audience anyways. My kid begged me to buy him one so I did. He hated it. It was "yucky" he said. He's never asked for one again. But I do make him bento style meals all the "fun" of a lunchable but with real food that I get to pick and pack for him.

[@user-xk4ez9nu3m]

Lol I'm with your son tbh. The fact that like 99% of Lunchables were ice cold (but were weird DIY versions of foods that were normally hot) did it for me. It felt uncanny valley.

[@BrittanyArtPoetry]

I’m in Canada, my highschool cafeteria was actually a class you could take in grade 11, and everything was made from scratch by the students. They got a good cooking course, learned about working a job, and still made money for the school. Mind my school was lucky in that regard, I don’t think all high schools do that. I know in elementary school it tended more towards pre packaged things but still tried to be healthy. Every school I’ve been too has a stock pile of granola bars, fruit, applesauce, bearpaws, juice boxes, string cheese etc. usually if a kid doesn’t have something to eat or they just need an extra snack they can come in and take one of each. Dedicated lunch programs usually also feature cup ramen, sandwiches, etc.

[@austinrhymer757]

Lol I just imagine that at the start of every school year, your just like " Okay wtf is this, I ordered a cheese burger not a live cow." cuz the students have no idea what their doing yet. The sad part is that I KNOW that it tasted better than what I get at school. Hand made food will ALWAYS tastes better than school food even if its someone's first time making it, because what they serve at school tastes like, and is, shit. Just today I had 4 bags of cheese puffs instead of anything on their "menu", because they have served the same shit since I've been there, which is two years. And the same items and recipe's have been on the "menu" at the schools I've been to since I was in elementary, and I've moved city's. Oh yeah, and the cheese puffs(and chips in general) taste terrible too, cuz their chips have reduced fat or are whole grain, but even the normal ones are worse than store bought.

[@darinw.3580]

Same here. I am in Canada too. It was great to eat the food the student cafeteria cooked up but it was pretty expensive. Was cheaper to go to McD*cks and grab a Double hamburger and maybe a soda. Not the healthiest but I was raised paycheck to paycheck so what can I do. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@kdihalas]

I suppose 750 milligrams instead of grams. One is less than a teaspoon the other is a bug of salt

[@niek024]

I had to rewatch to make sure it really said 750 grams, and then tried to imagine how gross those Lunchables must taste...

[@frozenjune83]

Hahaha. Was looking for someone who caught before I did. It's more than 1.6 lbs of salt!

[@aca48]

Americans when they meet the metric system. 😂

[@hurrrdurrr6079]

Yeah 750 grams is literally enough to kill a fully grown adult :DD how did nobody catch that before publishing

[@calummoore8284]

I'm kinda disappointed seems he's just reading of mashable as his research and parroting whatever they print, like how can you record that line without going wait how is there that much salt?!

[@Janokins]

It's nutty that McDonald's partnered with schools over in the US, but if you order from them in the UK, you have to tick a box that says you're not delivering to a school. Also, Reagan?! Again!

[@HAFBeast91]

Reagan had impact, whether you like him or not.

[@FutureProofTV]

He just keeps popping up doesn't he!?

[@arikalamari19]

@@HAFBeast91impact 😂 no one is denying that

[@marcyklatt5170]

I was the mom that refused to buy that garbage. And I’m so glad that I did. I just always thought that they were really disgusting and pretty expensive. I happened to go to my kids school one day early and found myself in the cafeteria at breakfast time where the kids were getting free breakfast and as a mom who forced my kids to eat things like eggs for breakfast or maybe a waffle with peanut butter I was really shocked to see that the free breakfast they were giving out was apple juice and frosted flakes. Talk about a sugar rush that didn’t even fill you up. I actually really felt sorry for those kids.

[@nimravus01]

As you said, Lunchables didn't invent combining cheese, meat, & crackers, but their marketing sure did intertwine the brand with the product. So much so, that when I sometimes eat cheese and crackers, (especially if I include pepperoni), my wife calls it "adult Lunchables."

[@RoyalDarjeeling]

I´m Spanish and my girlfriend is Portuguese, both born in the 90s, and neither of us knew about Lunchables. Thank God for that. We were grossed out watching this video and thinking kids would eat this trash on a daily basis. It blows our minds that parents would think this is an acceptable meal for a kid, really.

[@SuperFlashDriver]

Personally, even my mom as an american never bought Lunchables. Heck, I tried it myself and uh...my goodness the crackers and the meat did NOT taste well. I used to have myself pack either a PB&J sandwich, or a Ham, Turkey, and Cheese on a whole grain sandwich and pack that for school, as well as a drink and yogurt with me, and those were better than what the school cafeteria was selling pre-packaged food as if I was eating fast food but three times worse.

[@Marina.Kudrevskaya]

Levi, congrats on becoming a father! 🥰

[@FutureProofTV]

he says "thanks! It's pretty chill" but maybe take chill with a grain of salt ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@EvanRustMakes]

@@FutureProofTV More like with 750 grams of salt

[@CultofThings]

Now with more Lead

[@TheREAL_WatermelonCat]

And cadmium

[@ameliaarrows2790]

I know that lunchables were trash but you gotta admit they have a nostalgic taste to it. Pizza was my fav. ALSO how on earth was I not starving with those food sizes - it looks more like a snack than a lunch

[@tanikokishimoto1604]

But if the pizza lunchables aren't heated and warm.... Gag ...

[@ameliaarrows2790]

@@tanikokishimoto1604 it’s literally just a cracker with pepperoni and cheese. Besides cold pizza is actually pretty good - if you’re starving. Or you could microwave it using a paper towel- can’t microwave plastic lol

[@bellathemusicaddict]

I remember them being around for a brief time in Germany when I was a kid, and I found them pretty exciting, but I think I was allowed to have them maybe twice for a day trip as a snack. My mom would often take Ritz Crackers and cheese and ham cut to the right sized squares on hiking trips and roadtrips, which is just the cheap and better version of Lunchables 😊 No way they would ever be seen in schools around here though.

[@monzorella1]

In the UK, you can't even order McDonald's or fast food to be delivered to a school. Even if you are an teacher that wants it for lunch. The delivery app wiill not allow it to be delivered.

[@Firevine]

McDonald's is garbage, but that's a wee bit overboard.

[@MatthewHeraghty]

What??? @@Firevine

[@jjpg2000]

"Canada is the only G7 country without a national school food program." Well done, this is a rare self own.

[@kphoria1009]

but that means some schools can cook gourmet meals and some can feed the children dirt

[@richfromtang]

So glad I grew up before lunchables. I remember when they arrived and thinking, hu, that garbage won't last, "lunch" that ain't lunch. Deaam... how wrong was I? That garbage flies off the shelf.

[@megaira86]

As a german I'm actually quite shooked that this shit still exists and found its way into the schools... Overweight unhealthy adults in the making who bring a shitload of money for the pharmaindustrie in the future...yeah 😈

[@FutureProofTV]

the sad reality of the world we live in 💔

[@dannydaw59]

It's not like those Bratwurst and sausages are healthy either.

[@allstones1462]

It's not like they eat them every meal don't they

[@tymondabrowski12]

​@@dannydaw59 why? I'm genuinely curious. They seem way less processed than something like a hotdog sausage or a bologna. It has saturated fat in it, and maybe a bit too high amount of salt per gram, but that's it, especially when compared to ultra-processed food.

[@marcossanchezcordoba7901]

In Spain literally by law no fast food or bagged food (like Doritos and so on) can be shelled in cafeterias and in the public, concerted or private schools or high schools the meal is super cheap and have to contain all the 5 groups of food everyday. Only once a week can eat french fries and super controlled portionsand you have literally all days a good amount of salad and legumes. Proud Spanish

[@sentinel151]

We use to feed lunchables to our son for his school lunch, but one day I turned the package over and was disgusted at how processed it was. We immediately stopped buying them, he feels like he’s missing out on something now.

[@seleyav.7101]

Just do them yourself. Crackers, cheese and meat can be bought seperately. You cut cheese and meat so that it fits the cracker or use cutters (depending on the age of your son). You can experiment with the food: different crackers, meat and cheese, fruits or vegetables like cucumber or carrots, cream cheese as a sauce or you can go sweet with Nutella, peanut butter or sprinkles. There are a ton of different varieties your son can use and still have fun with it. He can even make pizza, they sell these small pizza bases or you can use Tortillas. Or you take a wrap, put some sauce or cream cheese on it, other things like meat or vegetables, roll it up, then cut it in pieces, it looks good. You can even put them on pretzel sticks. With a bit of fantasy you can give your son a fun meal. And if you need more ideas, look at videos of parents making bento boxes. Some of them are a bit over the top, but the general ideas are useable.

[@JohnBaroshi]

Growing up I remember a high school a county away from me had a McDonalds / Subway / Chick-fil-A pop up shop inside the cafeteria. Many at my high school wanted it. Looking back I’m actually glad we never got it.

[@CamronC]

lol both my manager and I ate lunchables for lunch today❤

[@andersongutierrez3672]

I ate one this morning

[@turtleanton6539]

Yyyyyyy😅😅😅😅

[@Ryan.zelenski]

Yeah I eat them now because I didn't as a kid 🤦‍♂️

[@ateyy7148]

I know that we all made mistakes as children, but admitting to throwing out your lunch out of embarrassment is next level.

[@FANGwoof]

My mom always told me that I couldn't have Lunchables because there was too much salt, but I learned that even back in the late '90's - early '00's they were pretty expensive. My family was horrible with money so I can see why I never got them. As for school food in the US, I remember our food either tasting very artificial or like cardboard and there was no in between. They wanted to charge us $7.50 a day for a meal that, for example, consisted of a chicken patty sandwich, cold, flavorless fries and a fruit cup. Most days I skipped lunch all together. There has to be some way to improve school meals without resorting to fast food and sugary drinks.

[@VTrucker777]

From 2002 -2008 during my elementary Very often i refuse to go home just because the food lady still have some food Its that tasty, i Miss the spaghetti

[@t0maz.m]

I love you go throu the companies and producta of your childhood, and realize every time you had best paranets who cared about your health

[@Nachokinz]

Lunchables has a strange nostalgia to me; as someone who contracted horrible food poisoning that left me bed ridden for a week and has not touched a Lunchables for decades, I found this immensely amusing. Thank you for taking the time to put this together.

[@sunnyscott4876]

I'm a 75 year old lady and I love Lunchables. I don't eat as much any more and they're the perfect size for me. I enjoy them very much 😊.

[@narendrakadam3894]

In India most of us get home made meals cooked by our mom's. It's like vegetables, flatbread, salad and if we are lucky something sweets

[@thebirdchannelforfans623]

If there’s any tradition those in India should keep, it’s that. I’m Canadian and grew up during the popularity of Lunchables but my parents refused to by them. My mom showed my sister and me how to make simple lunches and the three of us took turns making lunches for school and work. A homemade lunch is always healthier and tastier

[@nenislucio23]

My husband grew up in the 90's in rural Chiapas, Mexico 🇲🇽 and he honestly had quality food. He would eat caldos from chickens raised ethically. Rice, beans, corn, and all types of fruits and veggies that were harvested there. Meanwhile, I grew up with reheated chicken nuggets in USA.

[@fi1299]

I'm Indonesian and I used to be forced to eat our school catering which has some veggies in it and I thought it was torture. But in hindsight I think even our lunches are still better than lunchables

[@runklrgurlexe]

Nutritionally garbage or not, I still eat them now as an adult, as a “treat.” I think the pizza ones taste great, I don’t know why; nostalgia probably. Still, I am unashamed for knowingly eating nutritionally worthless food. I personally struggle with the energy/motivation to cook and eat to the point where I basically starve myself. Lunchables and other “grab and go”items solve a problem for me. It gives me enough calories that I can later cook myself a “real” meal, while tasting good enough (to me) that it won’t end up wasting away in my fridge or pantry. Some calories is better than no calories. Great and valid points in the video, though.

[@fabangatang]

As a junior in hs living in california, i can definitely confirm that lunchables are being served in cafeterias now. But as a kid who’s parents bought them once in a blue moon, honestly i really don’t mind i still love them. My school has the cheese and cracker ones although i never get those, and the pizza ones which i really like. They don’t have them all the time though, especially not the pizza ones, it’s mostly the cracker ones like once a week.

[@user-vt3jy1yj2n]

Congratulations on your first child! Glad to know that he/she has such awesome and informed father.

[@ScotHarkins]

I remember when these rolled out, in my early 20s, and they became a good road snack. When the super Lunchables came out, with their sauce packs and little Andes chocolate mints. Mmmmm... BTW, the original Lunchables WERE NOT a meal replacement. They were snackk foods from the start. Think just home from school. Snack, then homework, then supper or dinner later.

[@jon-paulfilkins7820]

Mid 90's, exchange from a UK university to a US mid west University. Student digs were a shock. Shared rooms (not acceptable in the UK, you need study time free from distractions) and in basically a tower block of several hundred students, there was ONE kitchen, and you had to go through hoops in order to use it. There was a food hall, it was all fast food joints. In the UK, every 5-10 students there was a kitchen, often with 2 cookers and 2 sinks because people cooking at the same time was expected. Yes we also had a food hall in the UK but that was more an old style cafeteria set up and the food was OK to reasonable and the cost was cheap.

[@mindstalk]

Dang, that's brutal. My college was tiny so probably unusual, but we had little kitchens in all the dorm hallways, and needed them since the meal plan only fed us on weekdays. Meal plan was a cafeteria/food service, with (student) waited dinners even.

[@splatterbrained]

Usually these videos are a "don't buy this, buy that" kind of deal. This video felt refreshing

[@helenagaleano6818]

I love FutureProof videos and I usually focus more on the actual content but that ending was so sweet. Congrats on being a dad!! 🥳🥳🥳🥳

[@zizou521000]

Lol the dinning hall workers went on strike at my college (which they should they deserve better working conditions). The majority of people living on campus were freshmen and because no body was working the school gave the freshmen lunchables for dinner and eventually refunded their dinning hall fee

[@allisont.6878]

My parents only bought lunchables for me once in a rare while, as a treat. Like maybe once every few months I got ONE. Back then I didn't agree, but now as an adult I appreciate that they were in a fortunate enough situation to be able to afford decent lunches. Even if it was assorted types of basic sandwich and a fresh fruit or celery sticks most days. (side note, I love that my spell check's first suggestion for "lunchables" is "untouchables" 🤣)

[@MTurner504]

Still at almost 38 years old I have zero shame knowing I tend to keep a variety of them in my fridge consistently for myself.

[@thohangst]

After they discontinued their best offering, the tacos, they were dead to me. Dead, I say. Tacos was brilliant and tasted darn good. Whoever formulated the tacos package at Lunchables Inc., bravo, you are the unsung hero of our times.

[@aeforiadesign]

Great video:) Just to point out, wouldn't it be 750mg of sodium instead of 750g at 7:21?

[@Firzenizer]

Yea that made me laugh. I'd like to see a meal with 750g of salt :DDD

[@lnplum]

One serving of rock salt

[@PostalXD]

best part is that the editing shows it as grams aswell

[@aachenerrangiroa]

with 750 gram of salt in his lunchables😆, a kid will immediately end up in E.R

[@moonasha]

at school i more or less refused to eat the 'food' on the menu. They thankfully made PB&J and tunafish sandwiches every day on order if you asked, so I always got one of those, along with an apple or something. Some gems from the menu... a tiny slice of "pizza". MRE pizza looks more appetizing, I kid you not. "spaghetti" and "meatballs". The meatballs bounced on the floor like bouncy balls. Nachos and cheese. Or as I liked to call it, some chips with a cup of cheese whiz. For lunch. Chips for lunch. But I was eating good with my over filled tunafish, probably got mercury poisoning

[@ErinGoBragh11]

These are super cheap in the USA. My local BJ's sells a 6 pack for 10 bucks. I don't personally feed these to my kid. We do the DIY version with a bento box so i can do less processed versions of the crackers, meat and cheese and add fruit but it's significantly more expensive and time intensive. Don't judge parents who don't have those resources.

[@angrynoodletwentyfive6463]

Honestly most of the junkfood that exists would be fine if it were only purchased as a treat once in a while. thats not how its being consumed though. Whole foods are difficult to prepare in away that tastes good and spoil more quickly. they are also often more expensive and difficult to access. My biggest issue with it is that they are hard to produce in small portions you really have to cook for like 4-6 people when you buy that kind of stuff so if you live alone you will be eating it for like a week. alot of the issues with both food waste and people choosing junkfood is that grocery stores sell products in packages that are WAY larger than the average house hold would be able to use before it expires, and there often are not smaller options. Celery for example is typically sold in a 2 pound bag... who eats two pounds of celery before it expires? Like yeah i am sure SOME people do... but not everyone who wants celery is going to be eating a pound of it every week....

[@jenny123311994]

As a Canadian from Vancouver, going to elementary school in the late 90s to early 00s, my school had a lunch program for $20 a month with free breakfast for me and my grandma. We ate spaghetti meatballs, Hawaiian pizza, and quiches. My school was in a lower-class neighbourhood, so that might be why we had this option?

[@dustmybroom288]

I went to elementary school in Surrey in the 2000’s and no lunch program here except for the occasional hot lunch.

[@JMMidday]

At my highschool (in canada) we had a class called cafeteria. The first test in class was getting food safe certification. Then, first block would plan and prep food, second block would finish and serve to other students during lunch break(and get a free lunch from what we made), third block would clean the kitchen, and 4th block would do a quick study on what was served and how it was balanced, then go home early to make up for the lost lunches, and every day we had a different block order. I was already interested in cooking but I bet a lot of kids that took it for the free lunches 1-2 times a week and early dismissal ended up learning some really practical skills that they carried with them.

[@notoriousnitram3996]

When I grew up in Kelowna, we didnt have lots of money. I had to sign up for a brown bag lunch program, the milk was often sour and a few times the sandwiches were moldy. The bags of carrots we got were literal soup half the time, it kept me going but we have a big need for school food programs.

[@fazzitron]

I had my first lunchable in the 6th grade and I was so excited...until I actually got to eating it 😂

[@DrawciaGleam02]

Oof.

[@Sophie-kn3gh]

I think kids getting messy and playing with their food is great! I did my masters portfolio on sensory integration

[@heidiperry6022]

Lunchables in the late 80s/early 90s were gourmet compared to what they are today. We actually got deli turkey/ham, different cheeses, and…DIJON MUSTARD. The crackers and slabs of meat/cheese were bigger, too. The first “dessert” that came with them were Andes chocolate mints. I’d kill to have that version again.

[@MzShonuff123]

CONGRATS ON YOUR NEW BABY!

[@Der_Kleine_Mann]

We didn't have much money when I was a kid, but my mom still got these for me from time to time, which was awesome👍 One has to know that Lunchables were relatively expensive here in Germany, and I guess that's why they stopped selling them here, because they were just too expensive, and probably for other reasons as well.

[@sarahrichardson3692]

I’m Australian so the entire school lunch culture is super weird to me. We have a canteen tuck shop in most schools which parents can order a lunch from (by paying extra money) or give money to the children to spend and buy some of their own food. These are usually seen as a treat and a way to teach your kids about money, in many schools they are only on certain days of the week. I do love that kids who’s may not be fed at home do have an option, unfortunately Australian children don’t have that. Breakfast club is starting to become popular, schools will put out a simple breakfast before school (cereal, toast and fruit) which is free and kids can help themselves. It’s funded by donations from parents although I think that the state governments are trying to encourage specific funding for it. I don’t agree that we should be keeping our children from lunchable type foods (they aren’t popular at all in Australia), no food should be taboo, that’s how you cause issues and eating disorders. AS you said they do serve a purpose… just not as a school lunch option. Btw, as a seasoned parent, I guarantee you will feed your kid some processed junk like lunchables at some point ;-) in fact I encourage you to, it’s a terrific learning opportunity for kids and it’s a great way to talk about nutrition, branding, marketing and how companies are always trying to take advantage of us.

[@waterfallband]

Thank you for this. You are making a difference.

[@philmoe5392]

Facts about it’s lasting power. I was eating them in the 80’s and 90’s as a kid and teenager and my my 10 and 8 year old nephews still eat them now. Genius marketing.

[@fredoswego]

We somehow managed to never have to buy these for our daughter even though she knew of them and lunched with kids who packed them. We always knew they were probably the worst thing we could pack for her and let her know that. Luckily that worked.

[@ERICLRICH]

I want to add a correction: at 7:30 the article states 750 grams of sodium, which at that dose would be enough to kill you. I think they meant 750 milligrams!

[@sirmant1651]

"Enough to kill you" is an understatement

[@jiaweichew3370]

You killed me with the “crapeteria” . 😂

[@TheOnlyTaps]

Great watch 🙏🏿

[@familythomas2828]

It will never not bother me that tomato sauce and ketchup are considered vegetables by the school system, it's actually a fruit cocktail y'all, get it right.

[@TwiztedHarlequin]

German here, I remember back in the days when that stuff first appeared in German supermarkets. I was a teenager back then, most people I know including myself bought that stuff for fun once to try it out and thats it. To us that shit was just a funny little gimmick, no one in their right mind would think of this crap as an actual alternative to a real breakfast / lunch item. Probably one of the reasons why they've stopped selling this stuff over here after just a handful of years.

[@Amy-yh8kf]

I never bought this for my daughter and she’s 21 years old now! It always looked gross to me, so I definitely was not going to feed it to her!

[@dakolev]

Idk if this is the impression i should be getting, but Levi's rants are so good and sound so honest, that when he was talking about the USA's National School Lunch Programme, I actually forgot he was Canadian.

[@The_Keh27]

not sure what your lunches were like at school, but in elementary, we had a "hot lunch" available for a few dollars one day a week. then in middle school and high school there was a cafeteria but they were similar to a canteen in where we had to choose from a menu of items and pay then and there, or bring our own from home (I basically skipped most lunches in high school)

[@ThurmanJamison]

When I saw the title my first thought was that you just hate America :) As always you brought up some good points. I'm ols so Luchables were popular when I was leaving High School so I never had them as a child. I've had them as an adult and I can see why kids love them. I didn't know they served them in lunch rooms. When I was a kid the people actually made lunch in the kitchen. But that was in the 70s/80s. Levi congrats on becoming a Father! :)

[@FutureProofTV]

We just made a post on our Community Tab about why serving "real food" is no longer a priority in these school kitchens - check it out! kzbin.infoUgkxW2meS2jvfSicylLDq8o7UDq4lwSNstQ2

[@ThurmanJamison]

@@FutureProofTV Ok I admit it america sucks. I'm glad I got to eat real food in school though. I hope one day it is preferable to have real food in schools again. But if I was a kid I wouldn't mind having dominoes pizza everyday :)

[@powndy24]

750g sodium should be mg?

[@frozenjune83]

He copied the grams claim from the source without doing a double-take on the obscene number.

[@xena1675]

Congratulations to you and your partner for becoming parents! And thank you for making sure your kids’ food is safe! ❤️

[@daniellejones2962]

Cheese Pizza, PB&J Sandwiches, Hamburgers, Cheeseburgers, French Fries, now Lunchables. Aye Parents lets go ahead and start making our children home lunches, this is crazy.

[@ThinkDad]

Congratulations Dad! My son was also born two weeks ago, I'm constantly on burp and fart patrol! Also my daughter just began public school, and withdrew because school lunch was free for everybody where we live... Yeah it affected her way too much. I feel inspired to do a video response, Thanks for bringing me back into the fold mate

[@AnnmareeTV]

You got lunch made for you!! Jealous, much better than lunchables! I made my own sandwiches which were fine but having them made for me is a treasure that people should be more grateful for!

[@Tall_Order]

Back in the late 90s. I used to work in a school cafeteria in my high school. I can safely say that the standards were better back than they are now. While most of the things were still reheated from the freezer room, I was there to watch the lunch ladies actually making some of the stuff by scratch. The apple crisp was my favorite dessert they made. Up until I found a fingernail in it...

[@ns0n]

I thought ketchup considered as veggies in USA is a Japanese meme until I find out that they're bold enough to really do it

[@inscrutablemungus4143]

I have never had a lunchable and boy do I appreciate my parents making home-cooked meals everyday for school.

[@LadyOfRain1]

Basically, the school food programs are left up to the boards in Canada. Our Board has what's called a breakfast program, which is available to any child to access (so there's no stigma). My child's elementary school also keeps snack bins in the classrooms that the kids are allowed to take from at any time. This is all paid for through the board and also some individual schools fundraising to pad out their food program accounts. As far as I know there isn't a federal program.

[@KratosAurionPlays]

12:31 I remember having dominos at my high school lunch program.

[@sluggo206]

In the 70s there were other cheese-and-cracker packs. I didn't have them often or for lunch but they were more tasty than regular bread/crackers or cheese, and I preferred other branded foods for the same reason. Now I realize it's because of the added sugar. So if schoolkids are now going through a Lunchables phase, it sounds like the same phenomenon.

[@sk8luv]

I lived in a small city with one high school and all of the schools were controlled by the city. The cafeteria workers ACTUALLY made the food- we could see it. It was a town with many descendants of Italian immigrants. The pizza was top-notch. There were some homemade options in another city-run school in a wealthy city I lived in. The city I lived in during my early years was wealthy, but the school was county-run and all of the schools were underfunded.

[@huneto]

Congratulations !! 🎉

[@masterpye69]

750gr of Sodium? Well that's the helm lot of it, I think it was confused with mg...

[@CrisjoseCruz]

I like how he said “sauce is the vegetable” as if sauce is not actually a vegetable lmao

[@power0ngames449]

dude i still eat them to this day when i have absolutely nothing to eat, no time to make food, or just need some sort of added calories

[@tesshiva]

School lunches have been wretched for years. 50 years ago, my school lunch consisted of reheated #10 cans of mixed starchy vegetables, doled out #10 cans of fruit cup in heavy syrup, some form of brown meat protein on dry-flake reconstituted mashed potatoes with ‘gravy’, and chocolate milk in a half-pint carton. It cost maybe 15 cents, and it was awful. Lunch from home consisted of Oscar Mayer bologna with a slice of Kraft processed cheese on Wonder Bread, a handful of Lays in a plastic baggie, a thermos of Kool-Aid or Tang, an apple (that you threw out) and two Oreos.

[@radfoo72]

"A lot of school crapaterias"😂

[@venom5809]

Shoutout to Levi's mom for not feeding him that garbage. lol