How to Be a Conscious Eater

53

MEAL KITS: THINKING

INSIDE THE BOX

T

he first time I used a meal kit delivery service, I was

mortified. Not by how the meal turned out. Not by my

ignorance of some of the spices involved. But by the pile

of packaging that had been required to get all the ingredients

to my house. As a San Francisco Bay Area resident, I waited

till dark to take it all out to the garbage bin so my neighbors

wouldn’t see.

Anyone who has used a meal kit—we’re talking Blue Apron,

Plated, HelloFresh, Sun Basket, and countless others—has likely

faced a similar conundrum: I feel good about the choice I’m making

from a health perspective, but bad about it from an environmental

perspective. Between the pre-portioned baggies of paprika and

the plastic-wrapped leaves of basil, along with the heavy-duty

cooler packs and insulated bubble liners, the eco-guilt can be

crippling. It can feel like you’re solving one problem in your life

while creating a new one.

To determine what to make of meal kits and whether to

incorporate them into your weekly routine, let’s compare them

to other plausible avenues to dinner and see which road might

be the most conscious.

ROUND 1: MEAL KIT VS. EATING AT A RESTAURANT

Most often what we order away from home isn’t nearly as

good for us as what we might eat when preparing a meal

ourselves. A meal kit wins for health because it’s undoubtedly a

more reasonable portion of food, it more likely has a purer set

214 how to be a Conscious Eater

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