Picture a day before the Pandemic. You’d wake up, grab breakfast at a coffee shop on your way to work, swing by your favorite fast-food place for lunch, and grab some take out for dinner on your way home from the office. Maybe Every day didn’t look like this, but let’s be honest, more did than we would care to admit.
Today, things are a lot different. We’re highly unlikely to be traveling for work, eliminating the need for fast food (most of the time) and other quick stops. Going anywhere has become unsafe. So, what do we do when we can’t go out?
The rise of our kitchen
Our kitchen has gone from a storage place (or an office space) to a place where we now spend a lot of time. Take out is no longer the practical choice. In fact, a lot of the choices we’ve made have changed.
COVID has impacted the outside world in a big way, and that includes the entire food industry. Restaurants aren’t the safest place to be right now, and many of our distributors have had to make drastic changes that have impacted the production line. On top of that, it isn’t practical to have the food delivered long distance, especially if there is a more local option nearby.
All of this combined has changed our food habits. We’re more likely to pick up ingredients from the grocery store, rather than ready made meals. We’re more likely to buy locally, rather than imported goods.
We’ve spent more time in our kitchen now than we ever have recently. This change had been good for us, and most of the people talked to seem to enjoy it. Over a third of those surveyed said they were grateful for this change. It gave them a desired chance to make meals that they could be proud of. As an added bonus, the push to buy local mean that the food they’ve chosen is less likely to contain preservative chemicals.
What about when the pandemic is over?
We are all dreaming of the day where we can go outside mask free, have everything open, and see and hug our friends without fear.
It seems though, that some things won’t go completely back to normal. Making use of the kitchen in our home in one of those things. Many people in surveys have said that they like this change, and they’ve listed a few reasons.
One of them just has to do with the overall health of our bodies. Many saw this as a chance to get in shape and they did! For some others, this whole season has been an eye opener for them. Quarantine has them prioritizing their health more than ever and being sure to keep their bodies healthy has been a top priority.
Once again, over a third say that they don’t intend to go back to regularly eating out when the pandemic is over, and they are looking forward many healthy meals at home.