It’s entirely likely I spend too much time thinking about the lunches I pack for my 7-year-old son. After all, he probably spends all of 5 minutes inhaling my hard work.

But this is a different era from the days when I proudly toted cheese and mustard sandwiches on whole wheat in my metal “Empire Strikes Back” lunch box. For generations, lunch boxes had been just that – boxes that food got shoved into. And frankly, those boxes were better suited as weapons and shields in schoolyard scuffles than as food storage containers.

Today, parents have choices. Lots of choices. Lunch box styles vary from utilitarian soft-sided cooler bags to epicurean bento boxes or even more worldly tiffin canisters. Lunch boxes can have built-in ice packs. They can be microwaved. They can be made from bisphenol-A-free, lead-free, phthalate-free, PVC-free plastic. They can be forged from 18-gauge stainless steel.