I would love to see the actual stats on what people are doing instead. Like, are they getting more takeaway from other places, because the prices are closer now? Or are they biting the bullet and cooking at home? There might be a few people who are just eating less often, but I can't imagine that's happening at high enough numbers to account for the change.
I justified fast food to myself for a long time, telling myself I didn't have the bandwidth to plan meals, cook them, etc., and certainly not on busy days.
I don't remember where I found the idea, but eventually I ended up with two 2-week meal plans. I saved those grocery lists on the "to-go" order list for the grocer that's on my way home, and once every other week, I stop in and some nice employee brings the food out to my car. It doesn't even cost extra to have them do the shopping. For $15, they'd even bring it to my doorstep.
It does mean spending 3 hours every other weekend prepping the meals for the two weeks (it can be done in three 1-hour slots if it needs to), but then all I do at any given meal time is pull a jar out of the fridge, reheat it, and eat it. Most of the meals are fine cold too, just slightly less enjoyable. I have a little insulated lunchbox I put the food in if I think I might not be home at mealtime.
It took a little iterating, but it's vastly simpler, easier, healthier, and more convenient for me than the fast food ever was, and I've wondered since then if people are just intimidated by the change, or have some other reason that really does make fast food their best option.
I’d be curious to know your recipes/plans - I can never seem to get something that’s healthy, cost conscious, and stable for 2 weeks in a prep plan.
For myself, I eat a lot of the local grocery store’s (HEB which I like a lot) prepared salads and sandwiches. They also sell a lot of pre-seasoned meat for grilling that I rather enjoy. Also we have a ton of Texmex restaurants here which are fairly unhealthy, but you can do pretty good if you divide one of their meals in half and get two servings, and the price for that is usually around the cost of a single fast-food meal. I also have the privilege of sharing a lot of meals with my parents and aunt/uncle as we are all locals.
Yea meal prepping has been huge for me. It can even turn cooking into a more communal experience if you get a few friends together on Sundays and spend a few hours in the kitchen. Cooking was very lonely for me before I made a day of it every other week. Better than fast food, cheaper than fast food, faster than fast food.
I justified fast food to myself for a long time, telling myself I didn't have the bandwidth to plan meals, cook them, etc., and certainly not on busy days.
I don't remember where I found the idea, but eventually I ended up with two 2-week meal plans. I saved those grocery lists on the "to-go" order list for the grocer that's on my way home, and once every other week, I stop in and some nice employee brings the food out to my car. It doesn't even cost extra to have them do the shopping. For $15, they'd even bring it to my doorstep.
It does mean spending 3 hours every other weekend prepping the meals for the two weeks (it can be done in three 1-hour slots if it needs to), but then all I do at any given meal time is pull a jar out of the fridge, reheat it, and eat it. Most of the meals are fine cold too, just slightly less enjoyable. I have a little insulated lunchbox I put the food in if I think I might not be home at mealtime.
It took a little iterating, but it's vastly simpler, easier, healthier, and more convenient for me than the fast food ever was, and I've wondered since then if people are just intimidated by the change, or have some other reason that really does make fast food their best option.