By Laura C, Edited by Ana T
Meal preparation often referred to as “meal prep” is the process of planning, preparing, and storing meals to eat, usually for the upcoming week. Meal prep has a lot of benefits, especially for those that are trying to either save time, save money, eat a more consistent series of meals daily, or reduce food waste.
Meal prepping at least one meal a day can help you save a lot of money in the long run. Eating out at a restaurant, or even grabbing fast food after school or work can be very expensive. Meal prepping takes away the want or need to spend money as meals are already prepared and no thoughts have to go into what to eat. You purchase all of your groceries in one shop, meaning you have a lot more control over your budget as it is easier to track what you have spent.
A second big reason why meal prep is so beneficial for busy college students is that it saves time by allowing you to use the time during the week that you would be using on cooking. Meal prepping usually occurs one day of the week, which opens up time for other things that might need more attention or homework, something all college students struggle to balance with. Doing this lets you front-load all the effort and time on whichever day you choose, and plan and make all your meals which helps you save multiple hours throughout the week by not having to cook each day.
According to a report by the National Resources Defense Council, Americans throw away about a quarter of the food and beverages we buy every year. This can either happen because of spoilage, poor planning, wasting leftovers, or even impulse buying. By planning out and preparing your meals according to specific guidelines and measurements, you can purchase only the groceries that you need and to help get the maximum use out of every ingredient. You can also bypass all the packaging and other waste that comes into takeout meals such as plastics, Styrofoam. As mentioned before this will help save money, and also help save waste that damages the environment. More than ever, our generation knows how important the planet is and how much we as a society are damaging it. Meal prepping allows you to play a small but vital role in helping save the planet by not contributing to the huge amount of waste and single plastic use.
Meal prepping has many benefits which we hope we have outlined in this blog. It can seem overwhelming to start a whole new way of lifestyle but following key steps, such as writing out a grocery list before you head to the store, doing all of your grocery shopping on one day and most of all cooking things that you will enjoy eating will all be beneficial in helping you adapt to this new lifestyle.
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