Packed lunch

What It Means

A packed lunch is a meal made at home and carried in a lunch bag or box to school or work, instead of buying lunch there. Two questions come with it: what it costs next to the school's lunch price, and how to keep perishable food such as meat, eggs and dairy cold until lunchtime. USDA's answer to the second is an insulated bag with at least two cold sources.

How Parents Say It

• "Are you buying or bringing today?"
• "Don't forget the ice pack, there's yogurt in there."
• "Packing lunch saves us a bit, but it's another job every night."

The Breakdown

Worked example (example prices; your store and your district's menu will differ)

Over a 180-day school year, used here as an example, the packed lunch comes to $495 and school lunch to $585, a difference of $90 for one child.

What the result means. A positive gap is what packing saves for one child over the year at these prices. Change one input at a time to see which item moves it most, and remember the first year also carries the cost of an insulated bag and cold packs.

What moves the number

• The school's lunch price, which your district sets
• How many days you actually pack, since some families mix the two
• Whether your child qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which Buhata's free and reduced lunchFree and reduced lunchFederal school meals at no cost or a reduced price for children whose household income is at or under 130 or 185 percent of the poverty guidelines, or who qualify another way. See more page explains

Good to Know

USDA's food safety rule for lunches is time and temperature. Perishable food shouldn't sit at room temperature for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour when it's above 90 degrees F, because bacteria multiply quickly between 40 and 140 degrees F. Pack it in an insulated, soft-sided bag or box with at least two cold sources: two frozen gel packs, each at least 5 by 3 inches, or one gel pack with a frozen juice box or frozen bottle of water. Put them on top of and below the perishable food.

Related Terms and Categories

• Free and reduced lunch

  Federal school meals at no cost or a reduced price for children whose household income is at or under 130 or 185 percent of the poverty guidelines, or who qualify another way.

• Morning routine

  A set series of steps you follow each morning, in the same order, to get yourself or your household up, ready and out the door on time.

• After-school routine

  The same set of steps a child follows between getting home from school and dinner, usually a snack, active play, some downtime and homework.

School and education for parents