You’ve probably seen the ads for home-delivered ingredients that you construct into dinner, or pre-packaged meals that you microwave or cook in a special oven. The concept of prefab meals is common in weight loss programs such as Jenny Craig or Nutrisystem. However, the new companies are targeted toward busy families.
The selling points of these companies are easy to follow recipes, less food waste, and less need to go shopping. Julian refers to these meals as “cook by number.” There are many limitations to these programs.
- You’ll still have to go shopping for staples. Not all of the food you eat in a given week will come in the box. And these companies don’t deliver tissues, paper towels, or toilet paper.
- Consider the capacity of your refrigerator and freezer. The standard-issue apartment freezer could easily get stuffed with meal constituents for a family of four.
- While we’re on the subject of cold storage, these meals may be packed in dry ice in styrofoam containers. Dry ice could be a coveted commodity once Covid-19 vaccines get shipped across the country. One of these vaccines has to be shipped and stored at -94° Celsius (about -137° Fahrenheit). And how environmentally sustainable is all of that packaging?
- The amount of food for a particular meal may not be sufficient for households with teenagers.
- Families who have food allergies or intolerances may have problems finding meals that everyone can eat. Although a given meal may be “free” of allergens, the packaging machines may have been used in previous runs for allergens such as gluten, corn, eggs, dairy, or nuts.
While these companies offer portion control and easy recipes for novice cooks, it’s not clear to me that they save money. Sustainability is also an issue. Bottom line: Learn how to use a knife and make your own meals with ingredients you buy yourself.
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