Danny Malin Leeds: Getting a takeaway isn't lazy - it's just cheaper in the cost of living crisis

I was on every news channel going last week talking about why eating from takeaways has continued booming in popularity since the pandemic. 

I went viral during the pandemic with my video ratings of takeaways. Rating food is now my main job and it’s getting busier because we all love trying good grub.

Lockdown saw lots of people change careers and try new things. I myself was out delivering meat and ended up rating takeaways on YouTube. It has been similar for lots of home cooks who took a punt and started up selling takeaways from home during lockdown and have continued to do so. 

Some of these have now evolved to having their own premises.

Many chefs were also made redundant during Covid which led to them setting up on their own offering some of the finest dishes. This trend has cottoned on with many chefs opting to go it alone out of choice. 

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For many restaurant owners to keep afloat they too started running takeaways and many of these have continued doing so. Capri Restaurant in Outwood now does home dining, for example.

There is now more diversity than ever before on what grub you can order to-go, from deep-fried lasagne to Tomahawk in gold leaf.

There’s been a boom in dark kitchens too. Social media folk like me who showcase all of these options have shown people that takeaways are much more than fish & chips and kebabs. 

The concern is from professionals that people are now consuming more calories as a result of takeaways because most people are like me and don’t pick healthy options. The main reason however isn’t that people are lazier since the pandemic but the cost of living has rocketed. 

I think as a nation we’re more fascinated than ever before with cooking shows and videos but people don’t have the time, money or equipment to prepare these things themselves. 

People are having to work long hours to make ends meet. 

It can also sometimes be cheaper to feed a family off a takeaway deal instead of turning on the gas and buying ingredients. 

When I’m treating our family of seven at home to food it’s a lot cheaper to buy a takeaway because I’m not having to fork out extras for service charge and having to buy drinks in the restaurant for the kids. It’s also much more relaxing. 

 If you live alone it would be an expensive waste to make a full Sunday dinner for yourself.

Takeaways serve us with some of the most affordable and accessible options for food lovers like me especially those of us cutting back, and staying in these days.