Making time to cook delicious and nutritious meals every day can be tough for busy families. Meal kit delivery services have gained popularity as an alternative to eating out or getting takeout. But the question is, are these services any good? In this blog post, you’ll learn about the pros and cons of using meal kit services.
PROS:
- Convenience
Convenience is one of the reasons meal kits are so popular! Meal kits simplify grocery shopping and meal planning by providing preportioned ingredients and detailed instructions. After selecting the meals you want, the ingredients are delivered right to your door! By removing the need for planning, they also reduce decision-making fatigue and mental load (1). Thus, meal kits provide you with a cooking experience that saves you time and effort.
- Less food waste
Going to the grocery store and knowing exactly how much to buy of each ingredient can be difficult for anyone. When you buy too much food and don’t use it before it spoils, you create food waste . Meal kits provide you with exactly enough ingredients to create their recipes. This minimizes the chances of overbuying or having excess perishable ingredients go to waste.
- Food skills and exploration.
Meal kits can be a great way to learn how to prepare food and explore new foods. They typically provide you with a recipe card with instructions and pictures for each step. This can increase your confidence in cooking (1). Many of these kits include recipes inspired by different cuisines so you can try new flavours and ingredients. So meal kits can introduce you to dishes you may not have considered making before. Whether you’re a novice in the kitchen or not, meal delivery kits can help you broaden your culinary repertoire and skills.
CONS:
- Expensive
Though convenience meal kits are enticing, they are often very expensive. When comparing the cost of meal delivery kits to traditional grocery shopping, they can be more expensive. In fact, a study suggests the cost of a meal service kit can be three times more (2). Meal kit services usually provide a deep discount in the first few weeks, so watch for price changes if you order.
- Excessive Sodium
Meal kit services usually include pre-packaged seasonings to enhance flavours. This can lead to concerns about excessive sodium intake. An Australian study found that the average sodium in Hello Fresh recipes over 36 recipes was 1256 mg (3). Consuming too much sodium regularly can increase blood pressure and the risk of heart disease. If you are using meal kits consistently, looking at nutrition facts tables when selecting meals is important.
- Excessive packaging.
An environmental concern related to meal delivery kits is excessive packaging. Each meal is typically individually packaged, and so are each of the ingredients (4)! This leads to increased waste generation. However, some meal delivery services are shifting to more sustainable packaging.
Conclusion
Meal delivery kits offer convenience while reducing food waste and promoting new food skills and exploration. However, they are expensive, use lots of packaging and have excessive sodium content. You can decide whether meal delivery kits are right for you by weighing these pros and cons.
References:
- Fraser, K., Love, P., Campbell, K. J., Ball, K., & Opie, R. S. (2022). Meal kits in the family setting: Impacts on family dynamics, nutrition, social and mental health. Appetite, 169, N.PAG. https://doi-org.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/10.1016/j.appet.2021.105816
- Moores, C. J., Bell, L. K., Buckingham, M. J., & Dickinson, K. M. (2020). Are meal kits health promoting? Nutritional analysis of meals from an Australian meal kit service. Health Promotion International, 36(3), 660–668. https://doi-org.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/10.1093/heapro/daaa095
- McKay, F. H. (2023). What’s in a commercial meal kit? Structured review of Australian meal kits. Public Health Nutrition. https://doi-org.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/10.1017/S1368980023000265
- Khan, S. A., & Sowards, S. K. (2018). It’s not just dinner: Meal delivery kits as Food Media for food citizens. Frontiers in Communication, 3. https://doi-org.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/10.3389/fcomm.2018.00039
Written By Jessica Odyjewski. Edited by Emma Wiwchar and Doug Klein. Photo by emy on Unsplash