Convenience

Have grocery delivery services gone too far?

be kept cool; bread cannot come into contact with chilled foods that may sweat and give off moisture. It takes a lot of planning and even more Styrofoam, plastic wrap and ice packs to ensure groceries are delivered in top form.

All of this extra labour and packaging means that ordering groceries for delivery tends to be more expensive than shopping the oldfashioned way. While charging shoppers a convenience fee makes sense, many programs also charge a picking, packing and delivery fee on top of the already bloated prices, turning grocery shopping into an expensive affair.

And yet, even if the environmental footprint and high prices don’t bother you, there remains something intensely personal about grocery shopping that delivery can’t replicate. It is impossible for a stranger to know exactly how you like your bananas, or to pick out the better containers of milk and salad greens that come with later expiration dates.

But beyond the wasteful packaging, inflated prices and potential lack of care, the worst part about grocery delivery services is that many of us will be tempted to use them, despite acknowledging their many flaws. While the industry is block of my house. I have no real need for services like Instacart, but as grocery delivery services quickly establish themselves as a regular part of daily life, it has become increasingly easy to forget about this.

The entire modern history of food – from grocery stores to canned soup – has been about increased convenience. Few of us farm; and fewer still hunt or gather. But no matter how much convenience we create for ourselves, it never seems to be enough. What’s more, as the technology for food delivery improves, ultraefficient services are only going to get easier to use. We have already proven that we are incapable of cutting ourselves off from this never-ending fountain of amenities.

Compared to libraries, schools and community centres, grocery stores are hardly the most sacred of places. But they are also our most fundamental destinations for nourishment, and if we don’t draw the line for convenience somewhere, then we’re going to end up living in a world where everything is brought to us as we wait impatiently on the couch. This may seem like a utopia, but there is little pleasure to be found in a place where able-bodied adults can’t even be bothered to go outside and feed themselves.