Meal delivery services may be good for your waistline, and maybe even good for your wallet, but they’re not all that good for the environment. What with all that wasteful packing material that comes to you on a monthly (or even weekly) basis, your dedication to cooking at home could be cooking the Earth, too.
One delivery service looks to change all that. Meet Terra’s Kitchen, a new solution for home cooks that differentiates itself with its delivery.
Each and every one of your Terra’s Kitchen meals will come to you via a climate-controlled delivery vessel. This reusable mini-fridge of sorts makes its way to your doorstep, but is picked up the next day once you’ve unloaded all its contents. Whereas standard meal prep kits create some 500 pounds of cardboard, ice packs, plastic, paper, and plastic foam waste annually per subscriber, Terra Kitchen’s vessels can be reused up to 100 times on future orders. What’s more, all the storage containers that hold various ingredients can be reused (and are stackable), so no need for you to keep buying Tupperware.
The climate-controlled aspect of the delivery vessel also comes in handy when it comes to accommodating your busy schedule. Even if you have to leave your ingredients out in the sun in the middle of summer during your busiest work day, the vessel promises to keep produce refrigerated at 33 to 41 degrees Fahrenheit until 9 p.m. on your delivery day. That means that your ingredients always arrive and remain fresh.
But beyond being good for the environment, Terra’s Kitchen is also good for you. “Terra’s Kitchen believes in sourcing clean, sustainable ingredients that are antibiotic- and hormone-free, as well as non-GMO and organic, when possible,” the company’s website notes. “Our meals nourish via fresh food delivery to support healthy lifestyles, including Paleo, gluten-free, and vegetarian. You should feel good about what you’re feeding others because we make clean eating a priority.”
And now, eating clean should be easier still thanks to Terra’s new partnership with a number of decidedly healthful brands, including Revolution Foods, Siggi’s Yogurt, Michele’s Granola, Confluence Coffee, and Suja Juices. With these companies now on board, Terra’s Kitchen now offers more than 60 recipes each week. Plus, you can order pre-made salads, snacks, smoothies, sides, and juices.
“Our top priority at Terra’s Kitchen has always been to provide real food for real people, and we are excited to become a larger part of our consumers’ everyday healthy eating with our expanded offerings that stay true to our brand’s philosophy,” CEO Michael McDevitt said in a statement. “Through these partnerships, we’re proud to align ourselves with brands that share our value for well-sourced, sustainable and nutritious ingredients, and together, we are enhancing our customers’ experience with flexibility, choice, and convenience.”
All the service’s recipes come with step-by-step recipe cards and promise a prep time of no more than 30 minutes. Each meal costs between $10 and $18, and shipping is always free.
Terra’s Kitchen now has an app for both iOS and Android that makes ordering your ingredients easier than ever. Regardless of what kind of smartphone you may have, you have the option of placing and managing your orders on the go. You’ll have access to Terra’s Kitchen’s bank of recipes, as well as the ability to schedule a delivery, skip weeks as needed, or add on salads, smoothies, and snacks to orders in real time.
Moreover, the new app gives home cooks an at-home cooking companion, with features like recipe timers, cooking tips and hacks, and recipe cards. And if you need a bit of help post meal preparation, you can also check the app for table talk topics. Check out the iOS or Android app, and get cooking.
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Update: Terra’s Kitchen now offers items from Siggi’s Yogurt, Revolution Foods, Confluence Coffee, and more.