Americans dependent on delivery food

LOS ANGELES - There was a time when humans had to leave the cave, track and kill a predator, and make a fire, all before they could eat. They never had the option of delivery.

According to a report by the research firm Mintel, half of U.S. adults said they ordered delivery food in the past three months. And 60% of those surveyed had done so to avoid going out.

This doesn't mean some of us are hiding in homes, curtains drawn, and scuttling out from darkness when the doorbell rings.

"This is really about convenience," said Caleb Bryant, an analyst at Mintel. "People can get restaurant-quality meals at home, without having to gather together their friends or significant other."

Diverse food options go well beyond pizza, thanks to delivery companies like GrubHub, which processes around 271,000 deliveries a day.

This trend is growing, as Amazon, Uber, and Google have all recently ventured into restaurant delivery services.

Not surprisingly, the study revealed that delivery was most popular with male Millennials in urban areas. With almost everything a click away, including sustenance, who can blame them? We've come a long way.