With the busy lifestyles so many people have nowadays, they find themselves having to cut back in other areas. One of those areas is meal preparation. No longer do most people have an hour or more to prepare dinner after work, let along breakfast before heading off to commute to a job. And, of course, some people might not have the talent or ambition to prepare a variety of delicious meals.
Too many of us have traded nutritious, healthy meals for drive-thru and takeout with questionable nutrition, which is one of the reasons that Americans have grown steadily heavier over the decades. In recent years, particularly during the COVID lockdowns, we have seen a growing number of services that prepare and ship or deliver meals. These might be crafted with specific nutrition needs in mind, such as low calorie, vegetarian or gluten-free.
Danielle Nichols and her husband, Landen, helped found Healthy Thyme Meals in Charleston. Landen is a chef with 30 years of experience in the restaurant industry and a passion to cook healthy foods that taste good. “People still want to eat well. Don’t want to spend hours and hours preparing a meal,” Nichols said.
Meal prep and delivery services have other advantages, particularly if you are looking to free up time in your day. “The convenience factor cannot be overstated either,” said nutritionist Emily Werner. “For individuals juggling demanding careers and family responsibilities, meal kits save a tremendous amount of time.”
In that quest for good-tasting foods, though, you have to be careful not to trade one type of fast food for another. Some services may use hidden sugars or processed oils that increase calories or cause other problems related to poor nutrition.
“Chef Landen relies more on technique than on adding things like butter and cheese, which taste good but are not best for you,” Nichols said.
Meal services assist you in meeting your nutritional needs and also in limiting the amount of food you eat, a key factor if you want to lose weight.
“One of the most significant advantages is portion control,” Werner said. “Many of these services provide pre-measured ingredients, which not only help my clients manage their calorie intake but also reduce food waste – a win for both health and the environment.”
While many services like Factor 75, Tovala, and Hello Fresh are national services, Charleston has local businesses in addition to Healthy Thyme Meals, including Cramer’s Cuisine and JustFit Kitchen, which do the same thing.
“For the end user, they get food that is cooked fresh that week,” said Nichols. “It’s not frozen or needs to be shipped across the country.” She added that people who use a local service not only are helping a local business. Meal prep services in the Lowcountry often source their ingredients from other Coastal Carolina businesses.
“We source locally, but it can depend on what’s in season and available if we can find it locally,” Nichols said. “We use the freshest ingredients we can get.”
The biggest drawback that people mention about meal prep services is the cost. You pay for the convenience of having someone else prepare and deliver the meals and the expertise of the chef preparing your food. Meals can run $10 or more each, which means two people getting five meals a week will easily spend $100.
While acknowledging that prepared meals cost more than those prepared at home, Nichols noted that prepared meals are “certainly more affordable than eating out.” Some services even offer family meal bundles, a plus for those who are feeding five or six people every day.
Despite the cost, Nichols said Healthy Thyme Meals has a high customer retention rate. “If you use a service to replace what you would normally order through drive-thru or Uber Eats, it’s quite affordable,” she said.
This is how most people seem to use meal prep services. They don’t replace all your meals, just the ones on nights where you are busy with meetings and other activities. Werner calls it using the meals as a supplement rather than a crutch.
“The right meal prep service can be a fantastic way to take the pressure off during a busy week. With all the ingredients ready to go and minimal prep work, you can save valuable time while still ensuring you’re getting the nutrients you need from whole foods – think protein, fiber and healthy fats,” she said.
By James Rada Jr.
