During the School Year, Parents Spend 432 Hours on Meal Prep

During the School Year, Parents Spend 432 Hours on Meal Prep
Jimbo,
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Lunch boxes are shown for sale in a back-to-school section at a Walmart store in San Diego, California, U.S., July, 16, 2026. REUTERS/Mike Blake

Parents, it’s almost that time of the year:  When you get to spend even MORE time on grocery shopping and meal prep, thanks to school lunches.

 

 

According to a new report, during the school year, parents spend a total of 432 hours on meal planning and preparation. That breaks down like this:

 

 

On average, 3 hours per week meal planning.

 

3 hours per week grocery shopping.  (You might do the shopping before the meal planning, but that’s probably a puzzle that ADDS to the overall time.)

 

2 hours per week packing school lunches.

 

4 hours per week cooking, on average.

 

 

That adds up to 12 hours per week, spread across 36 weeks of the school year.

 

 

When it comes to school lunches, the biggest hurdles are: Finding foods their kids will eat . . . keeping lunches interesting . . . and avoiding food waste.  (Which could also be read as:  “Avoiding wasting MONEY.”)  (Talker Research)

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