If you're on of those people who despises food waste, like me...

[Thisusernameistakenagain]

Why?
I cant put my finger on it. I would understand if I were brought up impoverished but I wasnt and neither were my parents. They had less than me but definitely not unhealthy or malnourished etc. I didnt have it drummed into me to not waste food either. I just despise it!
Pre covid I had friends round. I made potato wedges to soak up the wine. We didn't use them all. When I came down in the morning one friend had kindly cleaned up, and threw the remaining ones straight in the bin! Almost a full tray.

I was recently seeing someone and when they stayed over I asked them to take home food theyd brought and not consumed as it wasnt the sort of thing I'd eat. 'Eew no! Wouldnt eat it after being in the car not fridge! Chuck it!'

I've lived with people who will make a whole pie,if not all eaten in one setting, half goes in the bin. It really winds me up. I don't think about the 'starving people in other parts of the world' as justification for this sort of thing as it hardly directly affects.

But I'm pretty militant about it. I save food or freeze it if possible. Make stock from unused veg parts. Anything totally inedible goes in compost.
I'm the same with any sort of waste really. I accosted a neighbour going to the tip the other day and asked if I could take the plantpots he was chucking!

Why am I like this, with no 'cause and effect' reason?
Why are you? :)

[BarbaraofSeville]

Whereas I would see a single stem of cooked broccoli as the opportunity to make something like an omelette more interesting and healthy without having to bother cooking the vegetable as part of the omelette making process.

[Gwenhwyfar]

"Gwenhwyfar I definitely agree with that-but I don't mean using our bodies as wastebins, I mean saving food rather than throwing it, using it at a later time, not stuffing ourselves just to avoid waste-that IS a waste IMO. Only me here and I am slim and fairly fit"

My issue is that before lockdown I was eating at the work canteen every day. I'm not going to take a tupperware to put in the things that are just a bit too much for me or something that includes a small amount of something I don't eat so the option is finishing my plate or throwing some of it away. There's the same issue at a restaurant - you can't normally choose to have a small portion. Doggy bags are becoming more acceptable now, but they're still not necessarily easy to ask for or worth it if you're only leaving a very small amount.
I think the option of small and large portions at restaurants would help a lot.

[Mumski45]

I am just like you OP, I hate to throw any food away. I will freeze leftovers if necessary and will cook a meal based on what is in the fridge that needs using up rather than asking what everybody wants.
Our food bills are minimal even with 2 teenage boys in the house.
We are also good at searching out deals and yellow stickers. My DH is very thrifty so this helps with the shopping.
I don't know where the hatred of waste originates from as my parents weren't like this. My motives are not entirely financial I think it's just that being aware of how much work goes into getting food from fields to our plates makes me keen not to have all that effort wasted.

[Gwenhwyfar]

Quick question: I bought some veg on Friday, the aubergines were already not at their best, cooked a ratatouillie on Saturday, but still have loads of it left because I've fancied other stuff for lunches or been out. How long can I keep eating this massive tupperware of veg for?
I don't have a freezer, only an ice box too small for the thing to go into, although smaller portions could go in.

[DimidDavilby]

I think you're normal and you just know really wasteful people.

[DimidDavilby]

Gwen I would say 5-7 days so freeze what you can. If it doesn't smell/mould/bubble though it's fine.
Something to watch is tubbing down- put into smaller boxes so less exposure to air and opening plus no smaller amounts smeared up the sides will make it last longer.

[umpteennamechanges]

@BarbaraofSeville

I'm a lot like that. The waste just saddens me so much. In a way I'd like to be free of the guilt and be able to get rid of things I don't want, like others seem to be able to.

It's not always a money thing, but the waste of the resources used to produce the food. The disregard for the animal's life if it's meat. The waste of time and effort to cook something. The shameless privilege from those who can just throw half a pie in the bin, or if its someone who's struggling, I'd think they could help themselves make their money go further by being less wasteful.

Or sometimes if its something I really enjoyed, I want to have the rest of the pie for lunch the next day, so would be annoyed if someone else threw it away.

I don't pull plant pots out of skips, but I do feel guilty when throwing things away I don't want, because it seems a shame.

But there has to be a balance. I've had to stop making lentil soup to save a couple of bendy carrots, because I don't always want to eat it, so it goes in the freezer, along with other lentil soup, so I spend time and money (electricity, other ingredients) to make soup I don't particularly want to eat, to take up space in the freezer, that I don't really have, to save wasting about 10 pence worth of carrots - a lot of shops don't sell them loose, so even if I only want a couple, you can't buy less than half a kilo's worth. I do try to use them, but sometimes they seem to go bendy very quickly.

I haven't tried it but I've been told that if you pop those carrots in a glass of water for a couple of hours they're refreshed and good to use...

[Gwenhwyfar]

@DimidDavilby

Gwen I would say 5-7 days so freeze what you can. If it doesn't smell/mould/bubble though it's fine.
Something to watch is tubbing down- put into smaller boxes so less exposure to air and opening plus no smaller amounts smeared up the sides will make it last longer.

Thanks. Did you see that I don't have a freezer though?
It's really annoying because I hate cooking so don't want to bother unless I can do a big batch, but then I don't want to eat the same thing for every meal either...

[Gwenhwyfar]

"The disregard for the animal's life if it's meat."

I don't agree with this. Makes no difference to the animal.

[Meruem]

I did grow up without enough food to eat, but it doesn’t pain me to throw things away. Generally I don’t cook more than is needed anyway but I’m not going to force something down that I really don’t want. I don’t see how that’s any “better” than just throwing it.

It would help if supermarkets catered more to smaller families/single people. I’ve been in quite a few supermarkets in Japan and they sell lots of loose veg, or you can buy say a quarter of a cabbage. You can even buy a single egg! Or a part loaf of bread. It’s so much easier there to just buy what you need if you’re alone or a small household.

[Avocadobathroom7]

@Gwenhwyfar I've never had that issue in a restaurant! I usually leave still hungry no matter the portion

Mumski yes love yellow stickers here too.

[Gwenhwyfar]

[quote Avocadobathroom7]@Gwenhwyfar I've never had that issue in a restaurant! I usually leave still hungry no matter the portion

Mumski yes love yellow stickers here too.[/quote]
Wow! Restaurant portions are usually huge! Unless you go to very posh places?

[Gwenhwyfar]

" I’m not going to force something down that I really don’t want. I don’t see how that’s any “better” than just throwing it."

Yep, getting indigestion because you feel you should finish your food isn't better than putting something in the bin.

[Gwenhwyfar]

"It would help if supermarkets catered more to smaller families/single people. I’ve been in quite a few supermarkets in Japan and they sell lots of loose veg, or you can buy say a quarter of a cabbage. You can even buy a single egg! Or a part loaf of bread. It’s so much easier there to just buy what you need if you’re alone or a small household."

Oh yes. As a single person with no car, I can't go to the massive supermarket just so I can buy a loose carrot and potato.

[BarbaraofSeville]

Morrisons sell individual eggs, not that it matters here because we go through at least a dozen a week.

[reprehensibleme]

Absolutely hate food waste. TBH I don't think we pay enough for the food we buy - considering the effort that goes in to producing it. We certainly pay a lot less for our food than many European countries. DH was a bit concerned when he saw Nigella using banana skins in curry that I'd be serving that up to him next - luckily I rarely buy bananas!

[EddieBananas]

Yes, me too. I hate any sort of waste.

My parents didn't have a lot of money but I grew up in a nice house in a good area. My Mum was a bit creative on the cooking front at times but we never went hungry.

I will always sell or give something to charity/freecycle if I want to get rid of something. It really pains me to actually put something in the bin.

I also absolutely hate wasting meat as I'm mindful that an animal has died to sit on my plate. I think a lot of people could benefit from being a bit more environmentally/ethically mindful.

[Truelymadlydeeplysomeonesmum]

I don't like food waste and it is causing a dilemma at the moment actually.

I have a one year old and there are all these play activities you can do using food.

*Putting jelly on their highchair tray for them to mushabout.

*Blending cheerios into a sand like texture. So they can use as a safe sand.

Things like that. I feel so bad because she would love all that but just can't bring myself to waste food like that.

[lljkk]

Think you need to view the food-toys for the baby as toys that are safe for babies to do what babies do (mouth everything), rather than being 'food waste'. I definitely can't care about a small number of 'wasted' calories in a cup of jelly or a few dozen ground cheerios.

Then again I let my babies mouth the sand, they survived fine btw

[womaninatightspot]

I hate food waste too. I actually collect food and redistribute it from the local supermarket. It can be completely random crisps/ biscuits with months left on these go to the community larder in the old phone boxes. Lots of veg/ fruit on it's best before date which is still fine to eat. Random selection of yellow stickered stuff a lot of which can be frozen.

If anyone is interested I use an app called OLIO it's free and you book a collection slot and post photos of what you collect on the app for others to claim. You keep 10% for yourself.

[KarmaNoMore]

I think my obsession with avoiding waste was cemented by my council changing rubbish collection to twice a month and gave us small bins.

They won’t take anything that doesn’t fit in the bin.

[billy1966]

I don't police other people but I hate food waste. Always have.

Not a religious family but I agree with one of my lovely grandparents that believed it was a sin.

I only buy for a couple of days food generally over Christmas to avoid waste.

I use my freezer to avoid waste too.

[BertieBotts]

I don't know where it comes from, but I hate throwing away unused stuff and I hate it when people eat too much and don't save any for leftovers - DH does this and it just annoys me. I will make a massive spaghetti bolognese thinking there will be 2-3 portions to save/freeze and I'll be lucky to end up with half of one. It's not because he's still hungry, he eats past the point of being full.

I think it might come from a money perspective as we didn't have much growing up although I don't remember consciously having to stretch out food.

[Ruth2009]

Last Christmas day, my father in law poured the remainder of my lovingly prepared gravy down the sink! I could have cried 😳

[PickAChew]

@BertieBotts I would decant some of the prepared sauce into a freezer container before you serve up.