As a college student, your health is often not your top priority, even though it should be. After all, you have classes, extracurriculars, and a social life to worry about. While most of us still try to make the healthiest decisions possible, having a nutritious and tasty meal can at times feel unrealistic. Enter Daily Harvest.
What Is Daily Harvest?
Daily Harvest is a relatively new company that delivers fresh, healthy meals/snacks straight to your door. A large portion of their inventory is smoothies, but they also offer soups, harvest bowls, breakfast bowls, sundaes, and lattes. Fair warning though, all of their cups are organic and vegan, so don’t be surprised when you see that the ice cream is made out of cauliflower instead of milk.
To order, you just go online and select how many cups you want to be delivered to you on either a weekly or a monthly basis. Pro tip: It pays off to buy more, since the cost per cup lowers from $7.99 to $6.99 when you increase the quantity. The prices are somewhat expensive for a college student, yet are competitive in their market. Nowadays, a high-quality smoothie is typically upwards of $8, so with Daily Harvest, you are paying less with the added bonus of convenience.
The meals come in individually packaged cups filled with the frozen ingredients. To keep cool, they ship out in a box on a bed of dry ice. When the cups arrive, you just place them in the freezer until you’re ready to eat. One of the best parts about Daily Harvest is that preparation is almost non-existent. Depending on the dish, all you have to do is add liquid and either blend or heat the contents of the cup. Better yet, you can eat straight out of the container, so clean up is also minimal.
My Thoughts
Overall, I'm impressed with what I taste tested. I tried at least one of every type of dish they offered. I was a bit worried about the flavors being lackluster, but I was surprised by how bold and full they were. What I like most about Daily Harvest is that the ingredients they use are super simple and natural. Each cup is packed with nutrient-rich fruits, vegetables, grains, and superfoods. Daily Harvest is something that I felt good about fueling my body with.
My favorite dishes ended up not being the smoothies, but rather the harvest bowls and lattes. Specifically, I enjoyed the Cauliflower Rice + Pesto bowl and the Chaga + Chocolate latte. The bowl exploded with flavors of garlic and sun dried tomato, and was more satisfying than I expected. By far, my favorite cup was the latte, though. Chaga is a type of mushroom, but the flavor of the mushroom is completely disguised by the chocolate. It tastes like a rich hot chocolate, but healthy! Even from the moment I peeled back the plastic covering of the latte pod, I could smell the decadence. I would repurchase Daily Harvest just for this latte, but I also thoroughly enjoyed the Chai + Coconut smoothie and the Blueberry + Majik chia parfait.
Criticisms?
Some of the smoothies and ice creams were a bit icy instead of creamy. The Dragon Fruit + Lychee smoothie and the Cacao Cookie Dough sundae ended up with a slushie-like consistency. However, my roommate tried the avocado chocolate smoothie and it had the perfect viscosity. The fat from the avocado definitely helped blend it to perfection, so maybe to counteract this issue with the other smoothies, you could add some nut butter, a bit of coconut oil, or a banana for a silkier finish.
Additionally, I found that the cups that were marketed as meals were generally not super filling. This may just be a personal thing because I have a huge appetite, but I can’t see myself just eating one dish on its own for dinner. The cups usually top off at 300 calories, which leaves them somewhere between a snack and a meal. However, I think the cups work great as a base for a satisfying meal. You could easily bulk it up with additional sides.
Would I Reorder It?
As a college student, time management and self-preservation are key, which is why Daily Harvest is so perfect. The preparation time is always way less than five minutes, and the ingredients are ones that your mom would be proud of you for eating. Fresh produce usually costs a large fraction of your college tuition, but Daily Harvest is a means for students to access fruits and vegetables at a reasonable price.
So, yes, I would reorder Daily Harvest. It’s a great pick me up when dining hall food gets dull and bland. Who doesn’t want to add a little fresh infusion to their week? If you’re interested in eating well but are not willing to make large time or money sacrifices to do so, I would definitely check out Daily Harvest.