How much time do you spend preparing meals?

photo by: Kevin Anderson

Wendy Green, assistant manager of food service at West Junior High School, holds a tray of vegetables that were picked from the school's garden. Cafeteria staff members will chop them up and put them on the food bar.

The good folks over at the USDA have put together a report on how much time Americans spend on food. And the numbers are surprising — to me, at least.

I feel like half my life is spent in the kitchen — washing, chopping, whisking and cleaning –yet according to the Economic Research Service report, Americans 18 and over spend 33 minutes in food preparation on an average day, including cleanup. Women spent more time (47 minutes) than men (18 minutes) on food prep while college-age adults spent considerably less time (15 minutes) than senior citizens (42) minutes on meal prep.

How much time do you spend prepping and cleaning up meals?