The focus of this article will not be the pandemic as we think all of us heard enough about it. We want to focus on meal deliveries and how they came to our rescue at just the right time. We have been following this area closely for several years, reviewing more than 180 meal delivery companies. And while before the pandemic, not a lot of people knew about this service they sure do now.
Right at the start, we want to make a distinction between meal and food delivery. While you could order a pizza or something like that for several decades now, meal deliveries are a relatively recent development in the food industry. You know how the whole thing works, you select a meal plan online and just wait for your package to arrive. That package can contain fully cooked or frozen meals or even pre-portioned ingredients you can easily turn into delicious meals.
So, let’s look at the five ways meal deliveries helped us get through the pandemic.
1. Meals delivered right to your doorstep
In a time when everyone apart from essential workers had to stay home, it was incredibly important to adhere to these rules. This is where meal delivery services came in. They were a convenient and easy way for you to meet your dietary needs from the comfort of your home. And while this was great for people who were healthy it was critical for people who were too sick to cook themselves. Or were recovering and simply didn’t have the strength to do it.
2. Social Distancing
We know we just triggered some traumatic memories with these words but it’s important to talk about these things. To resolve them and put them behind us as we look to the future. When you think about it, meal delivery services feel like some magical thing. You click on a few things, wait for a day or two and there’s a fully cooked meal waiting for you outside your house. And you didn’t have to talk or even interact with anyone to accomplish this.
3. Home is Now A 5-Star Restaurant
We all love eating out and this was one of the first things that went away during the pandemic. We had to adjust to the infamous “new normal”. Meal Deliveries enabled us to enjoy restaurant-quality meals in our homes. And they were quite cheap too. Perhaps you even made a whole event out of those deliveries, trying to reclaim some of the normalcy we used to take for granted. At least for a few hours.
4. Psychological Stress
We finished our last item by saying that we didn’t talk to anyone and exactly this caused a lot of psychological issues. Issues that were compounded by the entire situation we found ourselves in. All of this meant that you had less room for thinking about what you were going to eat. Meal deliveries helped with that offering to take the whole food thing out of your hands. The only thing you had to do was to open the door and usually heat up the meal in your microwave for a couple of minutes.
5. Healthier You
Health is the most important thing you have in your life. And not just to you but also to all the people around you. Meal delivery services made it relatively easy to stick to a certain diet or a meal plan. If you decide you want to eat healthier foods and you selected that meal plan, half the mission was already complete. And when the meals arrive, meals which you already paid for, you had one option, to eat them. This might be a bit cynical way to look at it but that’s what happened in reality.
6. Essential Workers
One of the things that became obvious during this time is the fact that everyone who handles your food is an essential worker. These people were literally risking their lives to bring us the nourishment we need. And we need to thank them for that. And meal delivery companies are returning the favor as all the frontline workers along with teachers, veterans, and others are offered huge discounts. You can read about this initiative here: Supporting the Community – Discounts for Frontline Workers.
Finally, if you’ve never used any of these services before and you want to try them out, now is a perfect time. You can check out our list of Best Meal Delivery Services or any of our comprehensive reviews. You will also find their coupons and other discounts that will make all of this an affordable and pleasant experience.