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Comment by jmeyers44 | Hacker News Reader

Do you have evidence that a meal kit produces more "trash" than the packaging required to ship all of the included products to a store? Additionally, your argument is incomplete without addressing the efficiencies that meal kit companies gain by limiting food waste. The real question is what provides a more efficient food system, a grocery store or a meal kit?

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I'd love to see a proper study as well. Every argument I've ever seen against these meals in a box services regarding trash, including the ones I've read in this thread, are entirely based on individual personal anecdotes.

Superficially I can see the appeal of arguing based on the packaging you receive, but this fails to account for recycling options, and ignores aspects like the avoidance of food wastage given the precisely measured amounts. There's clearly more to this problem than 'wow that's more cardboard and plastic than I expected'.

Ofc it's going to be anecdotal. But that doesn't mean it's not true. 12 eggs indivially wrapped vs a dozen. 1 green onion in a plastic bag instead of a few in a smaller grocery plastic bag. Individual plastic bottles to hold 3 tablespoons of vinegar.

I'm not arguing it isn't true at all - just saying that anecdotes alone aren't going to prove this one way or another, at least not to my satisfaction.

> Ofc it's going to be anecdotal

Not really. People link to studies/research here frequently in comments.

https://www.jennettefulda.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/ing...

I mean just look at this photo... A resealable plastic bag for 1 green onion?

It's packed like an MRE! (Only less ready to eat, and probably much more appetizing.) This is the first I've heard of Blue Apron, but I'm really seeing where the accusations of excessive waste come from.

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