Media: “Nurse & Blue Collar Worker Meal Prep for the Week” (TikTok)

Link: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTB8mm1rD/n

Meal prep videos like this one often show people buying groceries and preparing food on their day off to make busy workweeks easier. At first, these videos may look aesthetic or motivating, but they also reveal the labor behind cooking. Meal prepping involves grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, organizing, and planning meals ahead of time, which are all forms of unpaid domestic labor. This connects to our discussion of cooking and food work because meal prep is not just a “self-care” routine, but labor that helps people continue working, especially those with long or irregular schedules.

The discussion on food sovereignty and domestic labor also made me realize that cooking at home is not equally accessible to everyone. Meal prep culture often assumes people have enough time, money, energy, and stable schedules to maintain these routines consistently. However, many working-class families may struggle to sustain this lifestyle because of financial stress, caregiving responsibilities, exhaustion, or limited resources. Online meal prep culture can make cooking seem like a personal lifestyle choice, even though class, gender, income, and work conditions strongly shape who is actually able to maintain these routines.

Question:

Does the way meal‑prep culture appears on social media reflect a realistic option for most working people and families, or does it hide how unequal and exhausting domestic food labor can be?