Meal box delivery: an eco-friendly solution or not?
According to a recent study, did you know that ready-to-cook meal boxes are more environmentally friendly than buying all the ingredients to make them?
Dr. Shelie Miller, the study's lead author and associate professor at the University of Michigan, observed the entire process before the meal reaches the plate, from production to transportation to waste.
She observed that even though meal kits include several individual plastic wrappers, they are more environmentally friendly than buying everything at the grocery store. The finding is that meals prepared from ingredients purchased at the grocery store produce 33% more greenhouse gases than those from meal kits.
After testing five recipes they made from canned and store-bought foods, the researchers estimated the environmental impacts from field to plate, concluding that most of the polluting emissions came from food production in both cases, pointing to more shortcomings in grocery stores, especially when it came to transportation and waste.
Meal boxes are said to cause less waste, as they contain just the right number of servings a consumer needs, meaning there's no surplus. Whereas at the grocery store, oversized portions, large packages of food, and overstocking mean everything ends up in the trash because it's unsold and expires.
Let's talk about the environmental cost! We would drive more miles when we went to the grocery store to buy our products, which would mean a higher cost, because the study stipulated that many people still use their cars to stock up on groceries, even though the boxes generally only go from the distribution center to the customer's home.
The over-packaging associated with ready-to-cook boxes remains an environmental problem, and it needs serious consideration. However, efforts are being made, as is the case here at Maison Jacynthe!
Yes, we deliver our organic vegetables in bulk throughout Quebec, in a compostable container, a very ecological asset! Five good portions, no waste!
Yes, our organic vegetables are already prepared so you can enjoy a delicious salad that changes your life and is a great green solution!
Furthermore, here are our other measures which follow these :
We collect the packaging boxes used for delivery when people bring them back to our Maisons. For all those who prefer to order and pick up their organic vegetables in bulk in our Bistros, we encourage filling them in the same compostable container or with a dish from home, the same thing for filling your Pépito container with vinaigrette. Note that to fill your basket (that you will have already ordered), you must only come during Bistro opening hours.
Brand new, when you bring back your bulk vegetable container we offer you 0.25 cents off!
Also, you arrive with your reusable bag to take your purchases or if you do not take any bag, we also offer you 0.25 cents off!
We're staying on course for zero waste!
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