On demand, food delivery services have been a game-changer for many Americans. Many grocery stores like Whole Foods, Safeway, and Kroger will deliver groceries right to your door. Apps like Grubhub, DoorDash, and Postmates can even deliver food from restaurants and fast-food chains to your home. Although these delivery services are helpful, they are not always easily accessible to people with disabilities. The Food Environment Assessment Survey Tool (FEAST) project is using action research to learn your thoughts, feelings and beliefs. Last month, in our August 19, 2020 blog, we talked about grocery shopping. This month, we’re blogging about the groups who talked about food delivery services. Check out what you told us below!
A warm welcome. All of our groups who discussed food delivery mentioned that the biggest barrier that they experienced had to do with simply receiving the delivery. People noted that receiving deliveries was tricky, and particularly risky in COVID-19 times. One of our participants told us, “Accepting the food at the door is difficult, because of the weight and quantity.” And, others noted that having to sign for the food was often challenging. Getting to the door might take a few minutes for people using assistive devices, and delivery people might not wait. They may not think that anyone is going to come to answer the door, and leave too soon. As delivery services have pivoted to accommodate the pandemic, they now may leave the food at the door or in a hard to get to location. Having to wait for help to get the food inside then might take too long, and the food might go bad or not be so nice. Nobody likes melted ice cream. Open sesame. People told us that food packaging was often really hard to open. Packaging was excessive, unwieldly or otherwise hard to manage or open. Delivered food is packed to withstand the ride from the store or restaurant and minimize the number of parcels. Sometimes groceries bags and boxes are too heavy. Others noted that the type of containers might be hard to open, because it is packaged so securely. Packaging for ease of delivery is not always good for ease of consumption. Bang for the buck. Lots of you had concerns about cost and value of delivery services. Between extra service fees, lack of service availability, unavailability of specific items, and slowness or timing of deliveries, many people thought that food delivery was too expensive for what you get for it. Others noted that sometimes specific items weren’t available or the order wasn’t filled correctly from time to time. With the COVID-19 pandemic, many people have been staying at home, and more stores and restaurants have started to offer expanded delivery services. It may be that some of the concerns about cost and value have been worked out with these sudden shifts in the marketplace. Food delivery can be very convenient, but also may add an extra layer of complexity for many. Food delivery allows for meals to come prepared without the need for navigating an inaccessible kitchen or having a helper do the cooking. Time will tell whether food delivery improvements will be sufficient to overcome its limitations.
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