(U-WIRE) MEDFORD, Mass. – It’s 5 p.m. You have just gotten out of class or work, and your stomach is starting to rumble. Do you know where your dinner is?

Chances are, it’s more likely to come from a box than from your oven. In today’s fast-paced world, shopping and cooking from scratch is a rarity. With the way consumer preferences are heading these days, it won’t be long until all of our food is prepped by machines — a la the Jetson’s universal food synthesiser: The Food-a-Rac-a-Cycle.

Does this sound a little too futuristic for your tastes? Well, we are not that far off with our food purchases today. The food industry is constantly anticipating America’s desire for convenience foods and is creating pre-packaged, ready-to-heat and ready-to-eat foods to address consumers’ time crunch and satisfy their hunger.

To help make our lives easier, restaurants, food manufacturers and supermarkets have stepped up to provide us with quick, easy and tasty meals for our on-the-go lifestyles. Check out the deli counter at your local supermarket and you’ll find an assortment of pre-prepared items.

Or, if you’re craving your favorite restaurant cuisine, pull up to curb-side pickup and you’ll never even have to get out of your car! Can’t find the motivation to get off the couch? Get the ultra-quick food fix by popping a TV dinner or pizza into the microwave.

And if you’ve noticed that your convenience foods are looking a bit more appetizing these days, you’re not imagining it. In the past few decades, technological advances in food science have helped the food industry to produce better-tasting packaged foods. They have improved food preservation and preparation methods and, as a result, have preserved the original taste and quality of many frozen, re-heated and canned products.

Improving taste is the key to cashing in. Manufacturers are savvy: They know that when choosing what to eat, consumers tend to make taste, convenience, and price their top priorities. (Notice that the words healthy and nutritious don’t even crack the top three.) But with all the focus on health and wellness these days, wouldn’t food companies be wise to create a greater number of better-for-you options for on-the-go foods?

Not necessarily. While consumers may say that they are interested in eating healthier meals, they are not always willing to make the switch permanent. Consumers are looking for variety, and they often vacillate between wanting healthy meals one day and indulgent foods the next.

The bottom line is that there is simply not enough consistent demand for these healthier products to make production cost-effective. While many people blame the food industry for promoting inexpensive, tasty and often unhealthy food, personal responsibility also needs to be taken into consideration: Manufacturers continue to make the products because consumers continue to demand them.

But don’t throw your hands up altogether. While the pre-packaged convenience food culture may be more focused on taste than nutrition, you can create your own healthy and quick meals with minimal effort. Here are some ideas:

Make your own personal pizza using a whole wheat pita as the crust. Layer on tomato sauce, frozen pre-cut peppers or broccoli and shredded mozzarella. Pop it in the oven for a healthy and satisfying alternative to delivery or DiGiorno’s.

If you don’t want to fuss with the prep work that accompanies cooking chicken or fish, look for pre-seasoned chicken breasts or fish filets that are oven-ready (simply thaw or defrost prior to cooking if frozen).

For easy snacks, look no further than the produce department for pre-cut veggies and fruits, or the dairy case for individual cups of low-fat yogurt or cottage cheese.

Convenience food does not have to mean unhealthy food or tasteless food. Buy a few staples, make use of some of the pre-cut, pre-shredded, pre-seasoned products in the marketplace, and make a healthy, easy and tasty meal that would put the Food-a-Rac-a-Cycle to shame.Copyright ©2006 Tufts Daily via CSTV U-Wire