According to the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). “Many Americans lead busy lives and don’t have a lot of time to prepare food for their families. Faced with greater time constraints from work, childcare, and commuting, they often turn to convenience foods. Convenience foods are defined as types of foods that save time in food acquisition, preparation, and cleanup. Convenience foods are restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food from grocery stores. The ready-to-eat food encompasses many types of food ranging from bananas to frozen pizza that require little or no preparation. Although these convenience foods save time, they tend to have lower nutritional values and can be more expensive than food that takes more time to prepare” (Rahkovsky 2021).

In an article written by registered dietician Timi Gustafson she states, “…food prices pose a significant barrier for low-income individuals and families who must balance their dietary needs with affordability, says Adam Drewnowski, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Washington and director of the Center for Public Health Nutrition at the university’s School of Public Health. Another important factor is convenience, and not necessarily by choice. What he calls “time poverty” plays an important role in how food choices are made. In most households, there is no longer one person who can spend sufficient time on grocery shopping and meal preparation. This has produced tremendous changes in how people relate to food. Reliance on restaurant fare, fast food and frozen dinners dominates much of today’s eating culture. Conversely, cooking from scratch has almost become a lost art… Research has long shown the existence of close connections between food choices and price as well as access. For instance, studies found that subsidizing the production of fresh produce (the way corn, soy, sugar and other commodities are currently subsidized), and therefore lowering prices, would substantially increase consumption of these products, while taxing processed foods and sugary sodas, and therefore making those more expensive, would reduce usage… Other factors to be taken into account are influences based on culture, upbringing and social status. Most eating preferences are established during childhood and adolescence, and they tend to continue into adulthood…” (Gustafson).