Cost efficiency:

The cost of bringing one’s own lunch to school can vary greatly based on location. Also, free or reduced lunch programs make it more appealing for low-income families not to pack lunches. Nonetheless, packing a lunch can be more cost efficient if a lot of effort and time is put into it.

Comparing Cost of School Provided  Lunch vs Packed Lunch:

• Caruso and Cullen Study Findings (89):
  • average cost of packed lunches was greater for elementary students ($1.93) than for intermediate students ($1.76) and ranged from $0.69 to $4.78 for elementary and $0.63 to $3.91 for intermediate school students
  • student cost for full-priced lunch was $1.80 for elementary and $2.05 for intermediate school student
  • the average lunch from home for elementary school students cost more than the school provided meal
  • However, purchasing al-la-carte items from school is much more expensive, with the least expensive item being 60 cents

• This shows that it depends on may factors whether what type of school lunch is more cost effective or not. It depends on how the family goes about choosing what to buy in school lunches and could depend on whether there was a sale on bread at the grocery store one day or not. 
• Bringing lunch can cost more because families may buy bigger brand names, which tend to be more expensive. The want for a certain brand name is fueled by consumerism in America. However, to save money on packed lunches, smart shopper can by store brand items, or search for good deals, if they put effort into being cost effcient.
• The prices of school lunch also can greatly vary based on areas. In the suburbs it tends to be higher because families spend more in taxes, so lunches are more heavily subsidized than in poorer, inner city locations (Poppendieck 188). This is the opposite of how it should be.
• However, this doesn’t take into account students receiving free or reduced lunch

Free and Reduced lunch

• The National School Lunch Act has made it so kids who are deemed to not be able to afford lunch can get it for free or reduced (Poppendick 59). This makes it so poorer families are more likely to not pack their children lunch because they know they can get it for free.
• However Poppendick explains that on the daily schools see kids without 30 cents to buy even reduced  lunch (252)
• This could be caused by more than just the family being too poor. It may be because they just do not have cash for students laying around, so Poppendieck suggest to eliminate the need for school lunch money- suggesting it could be a credit system (216)
• This also solves other problems with lunch money or bringing lunch related to bullies or misplacing it (Poppendieck 216)