Convenience food
Some convenience foods have received criticism due to concerns about nutritional content and how their packaging may increase solid waste in landfills.
[5] Throughout history, people have bought food from bakeries, creameries, butcher shops and other commercial processors to save time and effort.
The Aztec people of Central Mexico utilized several convenience foods that required only adding water for preparation, which were used by travelers.
After the invention of a system of refrigerator cars in 1878, animals could be raised, slaughtered, and butchered hundreds (later thousands) of miles or kilometers away from the consumer.
[8] Modern convenience food saw its beginnings in the United States during the period that began after World War II.
[24] In the Republic of Ireland, breakfast rolls eaten by busy workers became a symbol of the Celtic Tiger economic boom.
[25] In Japan, onigiri (rice balls) are a popular convenience food[26] that dates for millennia — by the Heian period these were established enough to be mentioned in literature.
[31] In the Philippines, ready-to-consume packages of traditional Filipino dishes such as sisig, adobo, and caldereta are popular products offered by convenience stores across the country.
[37] Several groups have cited the environmental harm of single serve packaging due to the increased usage of plastics that contributes to solid waste in landfills.
[41] In response to the issues surrounding the healthfulness of convenience and restaurant foods, an initiative in the United States, spearheaded by Michelle Obama and her Let's Move!
campaign, to reduce the unhealthy aspects of commercially produced food and fight childhood obesity, was unveiled by the White House in February 2010.
Mrs. Obama has pushed the industry to cut back on sugars and salts found in many convenience foods, encouraging self-regulation over government intervention through laws and regulations.
[42] Despite Mrs. Obama's stated preference on self-regulation, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it was looking into quantifying the guidelines into law while other groups and municipalities are seeking to add other preventive measures such as target taxes and levies onto these products.
Research such as the 2002 study by Kimberly Morland et al., have correlated inequalities between low-income communities and increased access to unhealthy convenience foods.
[45][non-primary source needed] A 2010 study by Dharma E. Cortes et al. also found a connection between consumption of unhealthy convenience food and minority communities.
