Convenience foods allow family members with busy schedules to have a
quick meal at home with or without family members. Families on the go may feel
that the ease of preparing convenience foods makes up for the extra cost. The
life style of families who use all convenience foods is different than the life style
of those who prepare most meals from scratch. The amount of time spent
interacting with family members during the preparation and cleanup of
convenience food is less than with food prepared from scratch. Families who
prepare meals from scratch or in combination with convenience food, therefore,
have an advantage over families who do not spend very much time together.
The ease of convenience foods increases the likelihood that people will eat alone
at varying times of the day. Convenience food allow people to operate on
schedules so independent from each other that family members won’t spend time
together unless they consciously schedule it. Mealtime may be one of the few
times family members come together. For many families mealtime is a gathering
time.
The nutritional value of a number of conven