I admit it. I watch a lot of television. Mostly around 1 am, 2 am, 3 am, when I am winding down for the day. And, the shows I watch don’t demand a lot of mental acuity, which is why I watch them then.

Last night (when this was written), I was doing just that. And, I saw an ad that intrigued me. (OK. I probably dozed off, so I didn’t advance the program when the commercial began to run. And, as is true for most commercials- even though the law says they can’t do so- the volume increases dramatically and woke me up.) It was for Blue Apron.  I found the concept intriguing.

Blue Apron delivers meals to your door; the meals are comprised of seasonal, quality ingredients (this is their promise- I haven’t tried it). Their menu choices are arranged to feed either 2 or 4 folks per meal. The weekly deliveries come in three choices:  Three meals a week for two people runs $ 9.99 a person (about $ 60); two meals for four people runs $ 8.74 apiece (about $70) or four meals for 4 costs about $ 140 bucks. Blue Apron claims these are balanced meals, providing less than 800 calories for one meal.   And, they offer vegetarian, pescatarian, fish, or red meat choices on their menu.

Now, I am a frustrated Chem E. (That’s a chemical engineer, if you never saw that abbreviation.) I miss my laboratory that let me play with chemicals and apparati to my heart’s content. So, I make up for that by cooking meals- which almost makes up for my lack of a lab. I not only cook for myself, but for guests several times a week.

And, I shop and choose pretty seasonal elements. Providing a meal for 6 or 8 or 12 folks comprised of soup, salad, fish or beef, vegetables, rice, dessert, and challa. Depending upon how much challa (and wine) folks consume, their caloric intake is about the same as Blue Apron’s. (I don’t do a full caloric analysis, but I do compute the caloric content of my  meals on occasion.)

I also keep kosher. So, I really have to do this- because if you don’t live in Manhattan, you won’t find meals you can buy that meet the guidelines. (Blue Apron does not have a kosher choice.) And, kosher items are generally more expensive than conventional ones.

Moreover, according to Julia Wolfson and Sara Bleich (Johns Hopkins), in their article published in Public Health Nutrition, entitled “Is cooking at home associated with better diet quality or weight-loss intention”, home cooking is the way to go. Because folks who cook 6 or 7 meals a week consume fewer carbohydrates, less sugar, and less fat- even if their goal behind their cooking is not to lose weight.

The problem is that folks who work more than 35 hours a week are much less likely to be cooking at night. And, Blacks are even less likely to cook their meals than Whites.

This is a relatively new phenomenon. Back when I was a teenager, the average middle-class home tinkered for about 98 minutes a day on their meals. (I can guarantee you that was at least twice- if not thrice- the time my mom spent preparing meals for our family of four.) By the time my son went to college, the family cooking time was down to 55 minutes (Lindsey Smith, Shu Wen Ng, and Barry Popkin, UNC, Trends in US home food preparation and consumption: analysis of national nutrition surveys and time use studies from 1965–1966 to 2007–2008).  That diminished time is related to the fact that we get more of our “nutrition” from fast- food units- or because some folks believe that cooking is anti-feminist. (I am NOT making this up!)

So, if we really worry about being obese, we really worry about eating balanced meals, it’s time to change our habits back. Maybe not doing what I do, but there is that Blue Apron option.  Blue Apron is not the only such provider. Although I’ve never seen commercials or ads for these folks. services such as  Plated, Chefday [as of 2021, no longer functional], and HelloFresh also serve this specialized home-cooked good meal market.  These choices are certainly better than buying those Swanson dinners, Lean Cuisine, or pizza deliveries that many of my friends employ. At about the same price per meal (assuming you are feeding two and not one).

If you can’t cook well (but can follow directions – because their recipes are explicit), can’t bother to shop for great ingredients, then these healthy home-cooked meals may be a pretty good option for you. It must be for a bunch of folks- because Blue Apron is delivering about a million meals a month (that means they have about 300K customers) across the geographical regions of the US.

I’m going to keep cooking my meals. What about you?

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