When life gets hectic, it’s just easier to reach for products that are packaged for convenience. Convenience foods are a huge driving force in the food industry, and it must be because many of us are relying on these foods in our day to day lives.
I have found, however, that with rare exceptions(Kraft Macaroni & Cheese unless you can put away a whole box!) choosing bulk over convenience is the better option, for these reasons.
1. Bulk products cost less than convenience products. Yes, this is a blatantly obvious statement. But how much more expensive is that easy-to-open, portion controlled pack of (insert food item here)? Single serving and convenience foods that cost approximately twice as much per serving as their bulk counterparts include oatmeal, tea, lunchmeat, tuna, milk, juice, etc. Is it worth the cost, especially if it’s for something you eat often?
2. Convenience products often contain more sugar, salt and other unhealthy ingredients. Going back to the oatmeal example, when you scoop out your own oats from that tub of oatmeal, you can control how much(if any) sugar, salt and other ingredients you put in it. My husband eats oatmeal with Japanese pickles and fish broth! That wouldn’t taste very good using the sugary instant stuff.
3. Less packaging is utilized with bulk products, meaning it costs less energy to produce and dispose of the packaging. You’ve got your bag or box, and then you have 6, 10,12 or more teeny tiny packaged items inside that package – raisins, juice boxes, nuts, chips, any snack food you can think of is offered in single serve packages. Even prunes come individually wrapped.
How do we gradually decrease our use of convenience packaging? I also have a ways to go in this area. I still pack juice boxes in my son’s lunch because I have yet to find a reusable bottle that doesn’t dribble or get moldy in crevices despite frequent washings. It helps to keep an assortment of measuring spoons, cups and reusable containers on hand. If you buy a large size of a product and then separate it into single-serving baggies, you're saving money on the food item but may be spending more on the plastic bags, and there is no reduction in waste.
One thing that has become more popular and appealing is the drink stick. It’s measured so that you can empty one stick into a 16.9 fluid ounce bottle of water.
I have found that the tea in those little sticks amounts to ½ teaspoon. In regards to other water enhancement drinks, 1 teaspoon seems to be an appropriate amount. I have found that if I use a whole stick of, say, Crystal Light in one bottle of water, it ends up being too sweet so I only use half a stick. At that point, why buy sticks at all? I’d rather have a bulk container than half-used sticks lying around. And we could save both money and the earth at the same time.
