Fast food has become the meal of choice for busy Americans as prices remain affordable—especially when compared to the prices of organic produce and other healthy grocery store items. Even farm-raised, grass-fed meats and cheeses command prices that are hard to swallow – until now.
Now those who live in a lower income bracket and can only afford fast food meals have the option of eating healthier thanks to Daily Table, a new cheaper health food market in the United States.
How Daily Table Works
Doug Rauch, the former president of Trader Joe’s, founded Daily Table with a premise that has a two-fold benefit to society: save food doomed to be tossed aside and provide it to the underprivileged at affordable prices.
In the US, 30-40% of our food supply goes to waste. Total food waste in developed countries, which hovers around 222 million tons, is nearly equal to the net food production of Sub-Saharan Africa at 230 million tons. Much of that food remains uneaten, and no profit is made from it.
Daily Table has created a supply chain that feeds from the potential waste of food distributors. The store orders foods that would ordinarily be thrown out because they do not meet the standards of expensive grocery suppliers. They are able to sell a rotating offering of different affordable health foods that are high in nutrition.
30-40% of the U.S. food supply goes to waste.
Source: usda.gov
Grab and Go Options
Daily Table also employs a team of trained and experienced chefs to create fully-cooked meals using the ingredients made available to all customers at the store. The chefs must be prepared to create delicious and nutritious meals with whatever ingredients suppliers provide for the day or week.
The grab-and-go meals open the doors to healthy eating for especially busy men and women and inspire those who are unsure how to utilize the food available at Daily Table to create complete meals.
How Affordable Health Food Will Change Eating
Low-income families often have to compromise on groceries and meals out. When the expense of fresh vegetables and meats is too high, those families often have to purchase more affordable canned vegetables and frozen meats instead. Food high in preservative chemicals and salt deteriorates health quickly, but those foods are often the only food within the low-income family’s budget.
Offering fresh, healthy foods to these families at affordable prices may improve overall health and well-being for breadwinners and children alike in underprivileged families. Improved health and mental faculty could help children study harder and succeed in school, which will in turn improve conditions for future generations. Parents in low-income families or single men and women who struggle to pay the bills could see marked improvements in mood and mental stability. The obesity epidemic fueled by fast food consumption may finally see a decline for the first time in years due to more people having access to food that could help them lose weight.
Amidst speculation, there is still a good deal of uncertainty about the project. Whether customers will be willing to switch to a healthy diet or even come to the store at all remains to be seen. The first location opened in Dorchester, Boston on June 4, 2015, and more locations are planned for the future.
