Meal kits: what's the point?
Replies
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I don't use them but if my choices are to use them or eat a bagged salad with a can of tuna dumped in, I am definitely choosing the meal prep kit.3
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I also think that it is a bit lazy and shows a lack of creativity. It's not hard these days to find new recipes for free online if you need to change things up a bit.
While I generally don't care about other people's food choices, the amount of packaging and the extra shipping involved are an environmental concern and that is something that has an impact on everybody eventually.
Subscribing to any of these services is going to increase your carbon footprint significantly.1 -
Ready2Rock206 wrote: »I don't use them but if my choices are to use them or eat a bagged salad with a can of tuna dumped in, I am definitely choosing the meal prep kit.
Heh, no kidding.0 -
I'd consider them if i was single and working really long hours. Cooking is not my most favourite past time, and i really struggle cooking for just one person.0
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azulvioleta6 wrote: »I also think that it is a bit lazy and shows a lack of creativity. It's not hard these days to find new recipes for free online if you need to change things up a bit.
While I generally don't care about other people's food choices, the amount of packaging and the extra shipping involved are an environmental concern and that is something that has an impact on everybody eventually.
Subscribing to any of these services is going to increase your carbon footprint significantly.
How's the view up there?11 -
azulvioleta6 wrote: »I also think that it is a bit lazy and shows a lack of creativity. It's not hard these days to find new recipes for free online if you need to change things up a bit.
While I generally don't care about other people's food choices, the amount of packaging and the extra shipping involved are an environmental concern and that is something that has an impact on everybody eventually.
Subscribing to any of these services is going to increase your carbon footprint significantly.
The packaging waste is a concern, though the added delivery transportation is somewhat balanced by people not going to the supermarket as much. Potentially, if the companies grow and establish more local distribution centers in certain cities, they can reduce the transportation and packaging required.
Also, the meal kit concept could reduce food waste which is a current major contribute carbon emissions. This is especially for people who only shop and cook for 1-2 people who find they can't use certain foods before they spoil. Also foods that spoil at the store because they don't have as high demand.
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This looks more like a judgemental statement than an actual question.
- If it's a judgemental statement, cool. It's gotta feel good to be better than other people.
- If it's a legitimate question, I'd say that people order the prepared food because they prefer to have the food vs. make the food.
Really don't see how it's judgmental.0 -
Some friends got together after my last surgery and gifted us two weeks of one of the meal services. My husband can't cook and I wasn't really up to it. The first week someone came in and made the meals for us and after that I was able to cook them. It was great. Much better than me trying to put stuff together while recuperating and it was fun trying the recipes. I don't think we'd use the service on a regular basis but it was great while I was healing up.
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Ready2Rock206 wrote: »I don't use them but if my choices are to use them or eat a bagged salad with a can of tuna dumped in, I am definitely choosing the meal prep kit.
Amen!! I already listed the reasons I can think of to get the meal kits. There are plenty of pros and cons...it ends up being a personal decision that changes over time as life changes over time. I've got nothing against the tuna and bagged salad either, but don't force it on me. Just like no one is forcing anyone to buy the meal kits. :-)
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kommodevaran wrote: »I take back everything I wrote about "lazy" (it wasn't even I who brought it up), but I still think it's stupid/cynical and that we can get everything those companies offer without paying for their "services".
But, like I pointed out upthread, you could say that about any service - restaraunt meals, takeaway meals, ready made clothes, farm grown vegetables, paid cleaners etc
We all pay for things that we could do ourselves.
Everyone just has different choices about what they want to do themselves and what they want to pay others to do.
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azulvioleta6 wrote: »I also think that it is a bit lazy and shows a lack of creativity.
And y'know what? After another ten-hour day doing the work of three people, followed by studying half of a full-time degree, I'm all out of creativity and entitled to a bit of laziness.
I started getting a meal kit service after I broke my brain doing too much (and an unexpected bereavement on top). My executive function - my decision-making capacity - was not working, and I lived on junk food because I literally could not plan meals. Meal kits were an absolute saviour; someone told me what to cook and gave me everything I needed to do it, and I didn't have to think.
Now I get the service I do because it forces me to take the time out of my insane schedule to cook a healthy meal, introduces me to cuisines and techniques I wouldn't necessarily have looked for myself, and works with in-season produce.
And I don't end up with a bunch of stuff rotting in the fridge because I could only get whatever-it-was in a size big enough for a family, and I'm one person.11 -
deannalfisher wrote: »i'll admit the purple carrot (?) one with the vegetarian food is interesting to me - not vegetarian but my sister is vegan and I'm always looking for new stuff to try
See, this is one reason I'd be tempted to try out a meal prep service. Let's say an interesting-looking recipe calls for a parsnip. I don't usually buy that. I don't know if the nearby grocery stores carry it. So either I've got to call around and ask (and even that's not always 100% correct) or I have to go hunting. That can be fun if I've got an otherwise-empty block of several hours and want to spend my time that way. Usually that's not the case.
Or, recipes that call for 2 oz of heavy cream. We don't make a whole lot of them, and then the rest of it sits in the back of the fridge until we're like "hey, what's th- WOAH. how long has THAT been in there???"
Dried spices last a LITTLE longer, but even then, I've got boxes and jars of spices that have likely lost a good bit of their oomph because I don't use them often enough to use them up quickly.2 -
Woooow, so much judgement. I got Blue Apron for fun. I got fresh produce, high quality meats, and new recipe ideas. I don't do it regularly now but I enjoyed the recipes I got. A lot of them used ingredients I can *not* find locally for decent prices (it was cheaper to get the box) and I learned some flavor combinations. I cook for myself all of the time as an adult but it's easy to get stuck in a rut of cooking the same things over and over. I liked the idea of having different types of cuisines picked for me every now and then to get myself out of it. Good grief.3
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leanitup123 wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »LOL OP.... I'm guessing you've never tried a service like Blue Apron or Hello Fresh? Just making some assumptions? Here are a few of this weeks menu choices for Blue Apron:. Keep in mind all the ingredients, including fresh vegetables, proteins someone doesn't cook with regularly, fresh herbs and somewhat obscure or exotic things like Thai basil, fregola, tomatillos, gai lan, are delivered to your door in the right quantities with clear directions on how to prep and prepare them.
Now it is pricey, and for the trial period I did it for I didn't find enough meals that would appeal to my small children on a regular basis, and the recipes themselves were a bit involved for what I really wanted help with which is quick weeknight meals. But, I remember thinking that it would have been great to have this option when I was newly married, getting more comfortable and then adventurous with my cooking, enjoying cooking and then eating together with my husband over a glass of wine, etc...
But yeah, it looks pretty much identical to a bag of salad and a can of tuna....
Can of tuna, bag of lettuce and a dash of pepper.
That has to be terribly boring...some people like variety and complexity.2 -
azulvioleta6 wrote: »I also think that it is a bit lazy and shows a lack of creativity. It's not hard these days to find new recipes for free online if you need to change things up a bit.
While I generally don't care about other people's food choices, the amount of packaging and the extra shipping involved are an environmental concern and that is something that has an impact on everybody eventually.
Subscribing to any of these services is going to increase your carbon footprint significantly.
My friends who use them definitely aren't lazy...they co-own their own business and work all the time 'cuz that's what you do when you run your own company. These things provide a convenient way for them to cook healthier and fresher options vs frozen dinners and take out without having to spend time shopping and prepping...they just have to do the cooking part.2 -
I don't do meal service plans but am considering it for the fall. I work FT, have two children, wake up at 5am every day to work out, so if I can come home and have a meal already prepared that I just have to cook and assemble that will make my life that much easier, I am all for it. Am I lazy? Don't think so. Am I uninspired at times for coming up with new meals and grocery shopping? Absolutely. So much obnoxious judgment in this post. Must be nice to have everything figured out
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I haven't signed up for one of these, but I think about it pretty often, because I hate to cook. And no way am I eating a can of tuna dumped into a bag of lettuce because just the thought grosses me out.
Bad news, guys: like most things, cooking is not inherently virtuous, and liking it does not make you a better person than people who don't like it. In other news, making your own clothes does not make you a better person than those uncreative money-wasting clothes-buyers, and growing your own vegetables does not give you the moral high ground over those lazy people who just buy theirs and like don't even churn their own butter CAN YOU IMAGINE.
For real, if your claim to moral superiority is that you're willing to spend hours of your life doing something that other people are perfectly happy not to have to do, please examine your life choices.13 -
azulvioleta6 wrote: »I also think that it is a bit lazy and shows a lack of creativity. It's not hard these days to find new recipes for free online if you need to change things up a bit.
While I generally don't care about other people's food choices, the amount of packaging and the extra shipping involved are an environmental concern and that is something that has an impact on everybody eventually.
Subscribing to any of these services is going to increase your carbon footprint significantly.
Whoa, there, Nellie!
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Basically, the negative responses (and the OP) fail to comprehend that you can't feed your kids "bag of salad, can of tuna" and just whip through the store in 5 minutes. His perspective is clearly from a very young, single, childless person to not understand that many families and couples are too busy to homecook and shop for everything for a family, but still find a sit-down meal an important part of their families' day...as well as keeping it fresh and healthy.
I think these services are a great way to keep it healthy and spend less time doing chores and more time enjoying your spouse/kids/family.
And if I offered my 13 year old "a can of tuna and bag of lettuce" as a meal, he'd think it was time to take Mom to the Looney Bin.3
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