Meal subscription boxes for low income families - cost and health benefits.
I have been doing much more food preparation over the last several months. In addition to cooking, take out, etc. I have also dabbled in the meal box delivery service a while back. Do these subscription services save families money (especially lower income ones)? Or do they in fact harm the monthly budget of a low income family? I think the answer is it depends. We just give some tips to think about the services.
For those that don’t know, monthly meal boxes are a subscription service. When you sign up you will receive a box with the ingredients to make a meal. You can select how often you want a box, when it should be delivered, and have some flexibility around the programs.
Some of the companies include Hello Fresh, Blue Apron, Plated, and others. In fact there are hundreds (if not thousands) of national and/or local companies in this industry. Some only focus on the city where they are based. One think I did notice is the national companies deliver to your door, but recommend being home. There were times they delivered food (produce, meat, etc.) and it sat on my porch in the 90+ degree temperatures in SC. And they only pack them with one small ice type pack that does very little (if anything) to keep the food cold. Nothing like produce or meat baking in the southern sun and then you are suppose to eat it!
Cost and health impacts
The cost of each service will vary. But they can range from $9 to $13 per meal for each person. Now the question is, is that cheaper than preparing the meal yourself? This is a difficult question.
The cost of them may make sense for households living paycheck to paycheck. But another thing to consider is that many of them are also lacking in nutritional value. They often have very high sodium, fat and/or calorie counts. As we have written about many times, living a healthier lifestyle can help families save money on their health care costs, prescriptions, and more. Health even can lead to more confidence, better job opportunities, and benefit families in other ways. So consider both the monthly expense and health aspects of these services.
When preparing a meal, you can generally purchase ingredients for less money than what they charge per meal. But then again, this depends on where you live. As the cost of food is higher in some parts of the country than others.
But lets say you can purchase ingredients for a similar meal as to what a meal delivery service offers for say $7. Then you need to factor in your time shopping and/or planning for those groceries. This is where the concept of opportunity cost comes into play. Now if it takes you 1.5 hours per week to shop, travel to store, etc., how much income are you giving up from that activity? Also think about gasoline spent driving or other transportation costs. If you make $20 per hour, then that cost you $30 in pre-tax wages. That is money you could make using one of these services.
I am not sure if a monthly meal box service saves time in preparation of a meal. As you still need to assemble the ingredients, chop up the food, etc. Some kits say it may still take 30 to 45 minutes or so to prepare the food. If it does save time on preparation, it is probably minimal. But that do is a potential opportunity cost.
When thinking about does a meal service save you money, think about the time you may save and income you are giving up…the opportunity cost. But then again, if you spend that extra time you save from using a Meal Service laying on the couch staring at Netflix or on some mindless phone application, then you are not giving up any income.
There is also a health impact. I try to, and like, living healthy. Gym, walking, jogging, beach, peace, etc. When I look at these meals kits I was surprised how, in general, unhealthy they were. As one example, The American Heart Association recommends ideally 1500 mg of sodium per day and not more than 2300 mg. One meal from Hello Fresh had 1079 mg! Others had 500 to 1200 mg. There are reviews online of others as well talking about the sodium, fat content, and other nutritional challenges of these boxes.
What to do?
There are countless articles reviewing these meal service. That is not our goal here. We just want to point out that you should think about the cost for a meal service and health impacts of using one. Anyway, everyone is different. There are literally so many of these meal box services out there, all with different pricing, nutritional contents, etc. We just recommend put time into figuring out the cost of these vs shopping on your own, using take out or other ways to eat. Think about opportunity cost and money you could make if you save time shopping. Also consider the nutritional value, as if a monthly meal box is unhealthy that can lead to mid to long term challenges and expenses in your medical need.
Whether a monthly meal delivery service is worth the cost for you and your family, only you can make that decision. But we just stress send some time thinking about it and doing the match. As for a low income family living check to check, you can’t automatically assume these services will save you money.
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