Why Frozen Food is the Future

“Frozen food — at least, the right kind of frozen food — can be tremendously beneficial for our environment, our bodies, and our lives.”

Frozen food reduces waste

Food waste is one of the most pressing agricultural and environmental issues facing our country today — and frozen food can be a big part of the solution. In the U.S. alone, 40 percent of food goes to waste see Save The Food’s fantastic visual for more information on how this food is wasted, and National Geographic’s great piece on why we waste. That’s a huge amount of waste — and it’s extremely expensive. The average American family wastes about $1500 of food every year. The cost to produce that food totals a whopping $162 billion yearly, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It’s cost that’s borne by both individuals and society as a whole, pushing food prices up for everyone.

“Food waste is one of the most pressing agricultural and environmental issues facing our country today — and frozen food can be a big part of the solution.”

 

Frozen food is nutritious

Since starting Mosaic, we’ve been amazed at the amount of marketing we’ve seen from other companies advertising food that’s “never frozen”. Despite flawed logic, it’s an effective message, because for decades the meals that fill our frozen food aisles have been unhealthy.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Grocery store frozen meals aren’t bad for you because they’re frozen. They’re bad for you because they were unhealthy to begin with. If you manufacture food that’s full of artificial ingredients, chemicals, and preservatives, then freeze it, all that nasty stuff is still in there when you heat it up. On the flip side, if you take delicious, healthy food and freeze it, then defrost it — you get delicious, healthy food out the other end.

Frozen food is convenient

For decades, the US has been in the throes of an obesity epidemic. With almost 40 percent of Americans overweight, the US holds the dubious honor of most obese country in the world. What’s to blame? While there’s a lot of factors at play, part of the reason is our convenience-driven world — when it comes down to a choice between health or convenience, convenience nearly always comes out on top.

Just take a look at the fast food industry: in 2017, fast food chains’ growth outpaced the US economy. That’s probably because on any given day, 1 out of 3 people will eat at a fast food restaurant, where the food is laden with an excess of fat and calories, but severely lacking in nutrients.