You Know What’s Not Tariff-Proof? Your Kid’s Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich. Here’s Why.
August 26, 2025 | Source: Market Watch | by Genna Contino
As kids prepare to head back to school, experts say parents shopping for backpacks, pencils and other supplies haven’t yet experienced the full extent of the tariff-related sticker shock expected to hit retailers in the coming months.
They might, however, notice their kids’ packed lunches are more expensive than last year.
Packing a school lunch in 2025 costs $6.15 on average, 3% more than it did at the beginning of the 2024 school year, according to a report from Deloitte’s Consumer Industry Center. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich lunch with an apple, baby carrots, cookies and milk is the cheapest type of packed lunch at $4.84 — but it also saw the steepest price increase from last year, 6%, driven by higher retail costs.