Ready meals are noto so good

They are fast, cheap and easily available. Ready meals are the perfect partner for our hectic time.
Nothing is easier than putting a ready meal in the microwave or grabbing a takeaway on the way home.
British are the biggest consumers of ready meals in Europe, these products are used in 77% of households. According with Minitel report f the Uk market worth €6.07bn in 2009 and they are expected to reach €7.21bn within 2013.
But despite their popularity they are not environmental friendly.
Ready meals are one of the most over-packaged goods in the supermarket: a plastic tray covered with another sheet of plastic and then a cardboard box to keep it in. They are basically twice cooked meal, which is energy inefficient and often may contain additives and preservatives.
Processed food require extra resources in term of energy to manufacture them, in transport and storage.

According to Food We Waste report, published by WRAP, 440,000 ready-made meals are thrown away by consumers. A quarter (25.5%) of the weight of avoidable food waste consists of pre-prepared foods.

Just as example,a study by the University of Manchester shows that Supermarket lamb curry ready meals are the annual equivalent of 140m car miles, or 5,500 car trips around the world.
Ingredients in the ready meals are responsible for 65% of the carbon footprint, with lamb accounting for 50%. Meal manufacture contributes on average 14%, packaging 4%, transport 2% with storage at the retailer contributing 16%.
The same lamb curry prepared at home has a 20% lower carbon footprint, mainly because of the elimination of the refrigeration stage at retailers needed for the ready-made meals."
Said Professor Azapagic, Professor of Sustainable Chemical Engineering and leader of the project:
“The same lamb curry prepared at home has a 20% lower carbon footprint, mainly because of the elimination of the refrigeration stage at retailer needed for the ready-made meals”.

Therefore next time you are going for a dinner, take your time and prefer an homemade meal.