And How Smart Meal Planning Can Change Everything
These days, it’s easy to believe that it’s cheaper to grab takeout or fast food than it is to cook at home.
You’re not imagining it — that belief is everywhere. It’s in the headlines. It’s on reddit and on TikTok. It’s the little lie exhausted parents are telling themselves while pulling into the drive through after a long day of work , errands and chauffeuring kids all around town .
And let’s be honest: when you’re staring down the choice between a $7 value meal or filling up a shopping cart for just 1 meal, it does feel cheaper. It feels easier. It feels like relief.
We get it.
But here’s the thing no one wants to say out loud: it only feels cheaper because so many families are burned out, disorganized, and overcharged by a broken food system. That’s not your fault. But it is costing you — financially, physically, and emotionally.
Let’s unpack it.
Why Takeout Feels Like a Better Deal (Even When It’s Not)
When life gets chaotic, home cooking gets hit first.
Recipes require weird ingredients you only use once. Grocery shopping is overwhelming, especially as the cost of just one meal hits you at the checkout line. Food goes bad before you get to it. And somehow, you still end up ordering pizza by Thursday night.
Meanwhile, takeout promises one thing: no thinking. No mess. No planning. Just food in a bag, ready when you are.
But here’s the catch:
- That $15 burrito with added Guac is gone in 10 minutes.
- That $35 delivery order including tip, delivery fee and tax was one meal.
- That $7 value meal becomes $35+ when you feed the whole family.
And yet, because it was fast and didn’t leave your kitchen looking like a crime scene, it feels cheaper than the $200 grocery haul you never fully used.
The emotional math makes sense — but the real math doesn’t.
The Truth: Home Cooking Is Cheaper — If You Do It Right
According to USDA data, the average cost of a home-cooked meal is around $4.31 per serving. But Wholesome Farms members get primary meal ingredients for under $3.20 per serving — using better quality than most restaurants, including:
- Pasture-raised meats
- Wild-caught seafood
- Organic vegetables
Our customers are feeding their families for less than what they’d spend at a drive-thru — and they’re doing it with better nutrition, less waste, and more predictability.
And when you plan your meals (instead of improvising nightly), cooking doesn’t just save money — it also saves time. It saves stress. It builds momentum and confidence and turns dinnertime into something you actually look forward to.
The Problem Was Never Cooking. The Problem Was How We Were Doing It.
The real issue isn’t that people don’t want to cook — it’s that cooking feels like one more job on top of too many.
That’s where Wholesome Farms comes in.
We’ve rebuilt home cooking from the ground up — sourcing top-tier ingredients and shipping them straight to your door, matched with easy, family-friendly meals and AI-powered meal planning that adjusts to your schedule and preferences.
No decision fatigue. No wasted food. No last-minute takeout.
Just a fridge full of possibilities and a clear, flexible plan to make them real.
Here’s the Bottom Line:
- Cheaper? Yes. Under $3.20 for premium Wholesome farms ingredients, just add pantry staples like rice and spices to round out meals.
- Healthier? Absolutely. No mystery oils, no preservatives, no compromise.
- Faster? When you meal plan with Wholesome Farms, most meals are ready in 25 minutes or less.
- Better? You’ll taste it. And feel it.
It’s not more expensive to cook at home — it’s just been harder than it needs to be.
Let us make it easier. And better. And more delicious.
Because real food shouldn’t be a luxury. It should be normal again.