Hot take: those meal prep services are a total scam

I wasted $120 on HelloFresh and ended up throwing half the ingredients out because the portions were tiny and the recipes took way longer than they said. Why does everyone act like this stuff saves time when it actually makes dinner take 45 extra minutes?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_elliot23d ago

Pause for a second and ask yourself if this is actually ruining your life or just mildly annoying. Yeah, HelloFresh can be overpriced and the timings are definitely a stretch. But calling it a "scam" feels like a stretch too. People act like it saves time because they compare it to planning a whole week of meals and going to the store, not because it's faster than cooking from scratch. If you're someone who hates grocery shopping or gets stuck in a dinner rut, it probably does feel worth it even with the extra time. I just think we get so dramatic about minor inconveniences these days. Is the "extra 45 minutes" really that much of a tragedy, or did you just have a bad night?

wren63823d ago

Has anyone actually checked if these meal kits teach you better cooking habits over time?

ellis.faith23d ago

Oh come on, are we really acting like a box of pre-portioned ingredients is going to teach you life skills? @wren638, I'd love to see someone actually track if people who use these kits end up being better cooks after a year. I'm guessing they'd just get used to the convenience and forget how to improvise without a recipe card. It's like saying following a GPS makes you a better driver - maybe not. These kits spoon-feed you everything, so where's the actual learning curve? Seems like a stretch to claim they build habits when all you're doing is following a picture.