I've occasionally gotten "free trials" of those mail in meals. Tried both hellofresh and goodfood - and to be honest, it's kind of exciting to open a box and having a whole recipe prepped for you, with all kinds of techniques and flavour combos I would not put together myself. But at 10$/meal, I don't see myself actually subscribing. One time, the meal they sent me was literally 4 potatoes to grate and bake, with some yogurt sauce on the side. I would have felt pretty dumb if I had paid 20$ to bake potatoes, but the techinque used was actually nice and the result delicious. The pandemic has made me appreciate cooking a lot actually, and I feel like my cooking skills have improved quite a bit. I'm better at improvising, tacking more complicated recipes... When I'm stuck at home all day, sitting in front of my computer on the couch, i start to feel trapped. Spendig 1-2h messing around in the kitchen is a nice escape where i'm totally focused on something else.
Right? I don't know that I would appreciate this service so much in a non-pandemic world. There is a definitely plus right now in grocery delivery; it makes one appear safer. Maybe it makes one feel safer. (Depends on the one in question, I believe.) In fact, I'd previously used another meal kit service before the pandemic (like, a few years before) and quit it -- out of boredom, if I remember myself. And there is something to the defined form of meal kit dinners --- meat, carb, veg -- that doesn't resonate with how I suspect most "real people" approach their "real dinners." Certainly not me. But -- i suspect -- the format cannot truly be faulted, either. As for plastics, I'm a consumer that tries not to put my produce in plastic bags when I buy it from the grocery store, yes. So this does result in more plastic use for me. However...how many other people can say that? Because in review, if you buy your produce and put it in a plastic bag....you are creating just as much waste as a kit.