Nowadays, people tend to prefer buying prepared food instead of cooking at home. This trend is related to busy lifestyles and the flourishing of food delivery services. Buying prepared food has several advantages, such as saving people time and supporting the growth of food-related businesses, but it also has disadvantages, including increased food waste and greater use of single-use plastic packaging.
On the one hand, one of the main advantages of buying prepared food is that it saves people who work full time a considerable amount of time. Especially, people who work full time cannot spend much time buying groceries and preparing their own food. Hence, ordering prepared food saves people time and gives them more free time to spend quality time with their families, rest, or do their favourite activities. Additionally, the increase in demand for takeaway food will help businesses such as restaurants, cafes, and delivery services flourish. These changes have positive effects on several areas, such as job creation and economic growth.
On the other hand, buying takeaway food can increase food waste, which leads to negative effects on the environment. When people order more food than they need or cannot finish their meals, a lot of food waste is produced. The resources, such as water and energy, that are required for food production and transportation are also wasted. Secondly, takeaway and delivered meals often come with single-use plastic containers and cutlery. Since these products are used only once and then thrown away, they lead to increased plastic waste and worsen environmental pollution.
In conclusion, although purchasing prepared food saves time and supports business growth, it also increases food and plastic waste. Therefore, this trend is beneficial to people and economic growth, but we should not ignore its negative environmental consequences.