Meals on wheels

I regularly get flyers put through my front door, inviting me to sign up to some scheme run by a private company with health claims, for delivering ready meals to my door. 

Here's a typical one, which arrived yesterday in a sealed envelope addressed to 'The Homeowner' at my particular address. 

It's different from some others in that they give you a box full of fresh vegetables and other fresh ingredients, rather than everything being sealed in microwaveable packets. So a little culinary effort is necessary. But that's all part of the sell. You are not simply popping packets into an oven. You get the illusion of cooking a real meal from scratch, although I'd argue that simply cutting up a couple of mushrooms or peppers or whatever, precisely according to printed instructions, isn't really 'cooking'. 

The meals are claimed to be nutritious and calorie-conscious. They certainly look attractive. There's little work and no waste. And one can select from a long and varied menu. 

What a time saver! Mind you, the real costs involved, once hooked into this, are not all mentioned up front. I gather that it's £3 to £4 for each meal, unless it's one chosen from the 'premium' menu. Plus extras, such as the delivery charge. Still, on the whole, I should think a week's bill would be much less than the cost of constantly eating out in a restaurant, pub or café. Or of living full-time on traditional takeaways. And it's a sure bet that it would be less than my weekly spend on fresh food at Waitrose! 

Well, if I were tied to the house, or found getting out for food shopping a bore, or hated cooking, or for some reason wasn't able to prepare my own food, or had no time for thinking much about what to eat - and certainly no time to cook it - then this would be something to consider. But of course, none of the preceding applies to me.

I don't think these things are aimed (as you might think) exclusively at frail old people who would like to eat well but lack the energy to put a good meal together. Younger people working from home, who might otherwise go through a whole day glued to a computer screen - with only coffee, biscuits and a bacon sandwich to keep them going - might also see this as a reasonable option they could try. 

Me? I thoroughly enjoy a regular meal out, especially with friends. But I also like to concoct, prepare and cook my own meals at home, as a pleasurable, creative activity in itself. Every one of my own meals is winged. I dislike following recipes, never use them, and have none to share. But then - for me - contemplating what is on hand in my fridge or freezer, how it might be cooked, and then putting together a one-off meal completely by my own hand, is never a chore. And I do have the knack of producing a colourful and tasty plate of food that complies with Slimming World standards! 

So I won't be taking up this latest offer. 

I did wonder how they targeted me. I used an app on my phone to inspect the QR codes in the address box, and identified my postcode but not my name. There must have been something that made them think it worthwhile to try a mail shot, but I'm not sure what it is. Perhaps it was simply to do with assumptions they made, based on the type of housing around here and my distance from a town centre. Meaning that Sussex village inhabitants living in certain postcodes will get a flyer like this, but not townies with handy convenience shops just around the corner. But who knows.