People not eating the bread off sandwiches

[halfwitpicker]

At a conference today. Buffet lunch served. Lots of salads and sandwiches. Noticed a colleague take sandwiches, but only ate half the bread, she had six sandwiches but removed the thick top slice of bread and threw it away, just ate the bottom bit of bread and the filling.

AIBU to think this is a waste?

She said she was trying not to eat too much bread, but there were no real other protein options

I tend to take my own nowadays as I don't like sandwiches but I think it is poor to only offer sandwiches (probably cheapest option) as many people prefer salads and cold meats or cheese or quiche as sandwiches are not as mainstream as they were.

I’d be too embarrassed to do it to 6 sandwiches, but I’d do it to 1 or 2 if I couldn’t eat anything else there (I wouldn’t eat the other bit of bread ether). I can either very strictly avoid almost all carbs (ie only eat those in nuts/vegetables/dairy etc not bread/pasta/sweets/rice etc) or take medication, so that’s what I do. Yes it’s boring, yes it’s restricting, yes it’s an almighty pain in the arse, but currently I’d rather that than have to take medication.

It does seem like a waste, but tbh, if people cater so badly what can you do?

This would piss me off if there wasn't enough to go round

Yes I was thinking that. If the woman was helping herself to 6 sandwiches and you were at the end of the queue you might be faced with a plate of discarded sandwich lids!

And if everybody took twice as much but left half it wouldn't work at all.

I don't know, I've had it drummed into me from a young age not to waste food.

People with allergies or IBS of course get to pick out what they can't eat. It'd be mad to make yourself ill just to be polite.

Sorry I obviously cannot actually read the OP's post - apologies

inertia. In my case, at least, because if I was doing that it would mean the ‘other food’ was even less suitable. It’s often difficult to eat salad at a buffet as they often have meat/fish in them or are covered in balsamic or another high sugar dressing. I don’t do it for a giggle, trust me, I’d sooner be able to eat the entire sandwich without that meaning I need to take medication.

I get that some people need to restrict the amount of bread they eat. But if you can only eat 1 sandwich worth of bread, why not just take 1 sandwich, rather than taking 2 and throwing away half of each one ?

Surely I can’t be the only person who contacts the course/ conference organisers about dietary restrictions when confirming attendance ? IME they generally ask about this when sending course details out.

Because I wouldn’t be eating any of the bread, I’d be eating the cheese in the middle, if I was lucky enough to have found a plain cheese sandwich (without ham, without being a grated cheese mixed with god knows what).

It depends on the event, but often it’s not possible, no.

By taking 6 sandwiches, not 3, colleague got double the filling/protein she would have done if she'd eaten 3 whole sandwiches.

the OP did not say there was not enough sandwiches to go round.. in fact said there was lots of sandwiches and salad....

the issue was the colleague only eating half of the thick bread on the sandwich...

Greedy cow.

Surely I can’t be the only person who contacts the course/ conference organisers about dietary restrictions when confirming attendance ? IME they generally ask about this when sending course details out.

The majority can’t cater for me. Even when they say they can, they completely fuck it up (like the £1000 conference that thought gnocci was a vegetable ).

I self cater pretty much everything now. Including weddings.

I would do this (assuming there was plenty of food to go round) because I’m greedy and would rather have calories of delicious cheese or chicken or whatever the filling is, than bread. Most shop-bought sandwiches are too stingy on the filling: I want a ratio of 2:1 filling to bread, not vice versa.

It’s taken my work 18 months to work out despite me giving clear instructions and being open to discussion to order something I can eat or enough of something I can eat (I eat a low-carb diet as it helps me control my T1 diabetes better).

I self cater, but sometimes that raises more embarrassing questions - I don’t necessarily want to give my full medical history every time I meet someone new, nor do I really want to be asked if I ate too much sugar as a child.

I have a friend who is (quite genuinely) gluten intolerant. She loves prawns and I have several times eaten with her in a cafe where she's chosen prawn sandwiches and then just eaten the filling. If there's nothing you like and can eat, whether because of a health problem or a diet, you just have to do what you can with what's available sometimes.

I sometimes take half the bun off a burger as it's too much bread.
I think it's a bit selfish to do this with sandwiches to be shared though as presumably she took double the amount of sandwiches she otherwise would have.

My DH is diabetic. He finds too much bread can make his blood sugar sky rocket, protein better for keeping levels stable for longer. He finds people just assume if you are diabetic as long as you don’t eat sweet stuff you’ll be fine. So at a buffet he will regular take two sandwiches and make one - discard two slices of bread as that is better for his blood sugar.

I do this on courses or conferences too.

I don't much like bread, and on the courses I attend, the lunches are predominantly sandwiches and carb rich things. I also eat only the fillings in quiches and leave the crust on pizza.

presumably she took double the amount of sandwiches she otherwise would have

Unlikely, as protein is more filling than bread.

Obviously it's wasting food, but in a catered situation that is inevitable sometimes. I would do the same, tbh.