Volume 38, No. 11
September 8, 2017
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Are Meal Kits the New Grocery Store? BY: April Johnson, AOS Culinary
In an era where people are seeking convenience, online food delivery services are becoming more and more popular in American households. With the ability to have meal kits and
A hello fresh meal kit photo courtesy: Hello Fresh
groceries delivered to your front door, companies like Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, and Amazon are making millions of dollars with this new trend in family meals. The meal kit market is currently worth
2.2 billion dollars, according to CNBC. and is projected to continue to rise in the foreseeable future. With the ease of meal delivery services, how are these companies affecting grocery
stores? Will we be seeing more and more online meal kit services in the future? There are many pros to ordering from meal kit companies. Besides the convenience, companies like Blue Apron make meals appear at your door preportioned, allowing people to get and create nutritious meals without having to leave their homes. Each meal kit comes with easyto- follow instructions and some items already cut for you, cutting down cook time and taking out a lot of the guess work. With easy prep and cooking methods, these companies are able to market to many different demographics. Whether it be the family who wants to get everyone involved in the kitchen or the busy couple looking to take a break from microwave dinners, these companies cater to everyone, making it such a booming industry. There are, of course, some cons to this convenience-
driven system. Sustainability comes into question with meal kits because each item is individually packaged, and not all packaging is recyclable. The amount of travel that it takes to ship a meal kit from the factory to the consumer’s home is another reason why some say that meal kits aren’t environmentally friendly. Buying groceries in bulk from a store to make a meal costs on average 4 dollars per person while meal kits average 10 dollars per person, causing consumers to spend more money per meal than they would at a grocery store. Grocery stores don’t have to pay for packaging like meal delivery services have to, which is why grocery stores are able to sell more food for cheaper. Another down fall to these meal delivery services is that most companies require a minimum amount of meals to be purchased a week or
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Life Alongside Food BY: Jose Antonio Artigas, Alumni Contributor
I have always thought that traveling is the gateway to personal growth, that personal growth might be manifested intellectually, spiritually or emotionally. In this case the growth is translated through food. To understand the whole story, we have to start at the beginning. The first relevant food memory I have takes place in the state of Maine. I was three years old, and my parents decided to take a little trip from Mexico City to Maine. They decided to bring my grandmother along, so she could give them a hand with my brother who at the time was merely a one year old. For the whole trip, I can’t recall everything but the thing that stayed very vividly in my mind is the food. It was the first time I was on a New England style pier. We entered this nice restaurant where the specialty was lobster, I had never eaten lobster before. After 20 minutes, this weird, red, sea monster arrived at the
table. My mother explained what it was and told me I was supposed to eat it. Are you kidding me? I have to eat that? That thing looked awful. My mother had always said that I was a kid that wasn’t afraid of eating anything that looked off-putting. I needed some help breaking up the lobster, but when I finally got to the meat, BOOM! This soft creamy lobster that was dipped in butter exploded in my brain. My frontal lobe was going crazy. What was this food sent from Mount Olympus, and why hadn’t I tried it before? I couldn’t believe that such an ugly critter could taste that good. That was the moment I realized that no matter how bad food looks, you should always try it before saying you don’t like it. I’ve had the luck that my parents like to travel, and they don’t like to leave my brother and I behind. Another thing I got lucky with is that they are both foodies, and are not afraid to explore the culinary corners of the world. That being
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photo courtesy: Konbini.com
said, that is the main reason why I enjoy not just food, but traveling so much. When I say traveling we must understand that there are two different ways of traveling. One of them is what I like to call “over the surface traveling.”
This type of traveling involves touristic restaurants, long hours in the hotel, visiting main monuments or attractions, and you get the idea. The other type of traveling is what I call “traveling”. This one takes an open-minded person
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to achieve. It is a holistic experience. Yes, you will visit the main attractions and monuments as well, but what differentiates this “traveling”, is the fact that you are not afraid to explore. Alley-
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