"Eat your crusts" is a pointless argument

[MaMaD1990]

Making my daughters lunch and she has started peeling the crusts off her sandwiches. I remember being told to eat my crusts when I was little and "it'll make your hair curly" encouragement yada yada. AIBU to think this is a battle not worth having if your kids don't eat crusts? Does it matter?

Surely curly hair is worth fighting for?!?

It mattered when food was not as plentiful and it was a waste of perfectly good carbs that would keep someone full another bit longer. Doesn't matter so much now except from a waste point of view.

Haha possibly! I just know if I tried to make my daughter eat her crusts we would be sat the table long enough for her hair to curly (and mine grey!).

Was there some kind of myth that there was more fibre in the crusts (as there actually is in/just under the skin of fruits and veg?) or just an admonition not to waste food?

Yeah I can’t imagine getting het up about it. I don’t love the crusts of sliced bread either! I think it probably comes from the days when food was scarce/expensive so you wouldn’t want to waste any. I guess for some families unfortunately that may still be the case of course.

My stepchildren designate everything except the first bit from the centre of anything as ‘crust’ and announce they won’t eat it. They even invent crusts on things that don’t have them and apply this principle.

So ‘eat your crusts’ is just ‘eat the actual food’ really. There’s no point in getting into a debate about what is and us not crust with a 4 year old.

Why don’t people like crusts? They are the best bit - especially on a plain loaf.

it's wasteful not to eat the crust.
so yabu

The only time I intervene is when they lick the butter off their toast rather than eating it...or when they don't finish but say they're still hungry.

In terms of eating vs leaving crust? Makes no difference to me, I won't force them.

Hated crusts as a child (can take or leave as an adult) so I studiously stayed away from any and all crusts.

Bastard hair was still as curly as a bastard.

I think it’s a waste of food! For the few years that my kids were the most fussy I cut the crusts off first and once a week blitzed them up to make breadcrumbs and put them in the freezer

People who don't eat crusts are weird. My OH leaves the crusts from bread, toast and even pizza. Weirdo.

I'd be really interested know the ages of people saying it's wasteful. Is this a generation difference, given that everything seems to be in abundance now-a-days? Obviously there are people who are unfortunately living hand to mouth and I'd love to hear from those people too. It's interesting. For me, I don't die on that hill, but I'm lucky enough not to have to worry about not having enough food to fill the family. I'm loving the idea of saving the crusts up and making them into breadcrumbs though - banking that for tomorrow's crusts refusal!

It's just a hangover from the war and earlier poorer days when food was scarce so not to be wasted.

My kids eat theirs because they like them...I'd never tell them to though! Or judge a child who didn't

It comes from food waste concerns.

I do think it's wasteful, (I'm not old!) but it's also not a battle worth fighting. I don't always eat my crusts. The bread we get here (not UK) the crusts are always nasty, dry and stale tasting.

I waste the stems of brocolli and leaves of celery and cauliflower too - if I was that concerned about food waste I'd figure out how to use those but life is too short and vegetables/bread are cheap.

It’s not “wasting food” to not eat crusts They’re just crusts.

If she doesn’t want to eat them, don’t force her.

If you think about the size of a child relative to a sandwich, especially a toddler, eating crusts or not could be the equivalent of needing another half a sandwich to be full up. So that's an extra slice of bread (+ filling) used which didn't necessarily need to be. If you were on a really tight budget or (old times) subject to rationing etc then it could make a big difference.

I'd be really interested know the ages of people saying it's wasteful

I'm 32 and think it's a waste, but equally it's not something I'd argue over. DH doesn't like them so eat them in this house. I love them toasted with salted butter.

Ours go to the dog, everyone's happy

My niece started refusing crusts, and now she takes one bite out of the middle of a sandwich and deems the rest 'crust'. She also leaves the (imaginary) crusts on a bread roll, crumpet and English muffin. For that reason, I'd encourage a child not to step into that slippery slope I think. They're just bread, like the rest of the slice, I don't get what the objection could be.

There's much less waste if you just cut the crusts off in the first place. I blitz crusts into breadcrumbs and freeze or give them to the birds.

My mother used to expect us to eat a sandwich crusts and all, while removing the crust from her own sandwiches as part of the preparation process.

Not her greatest success.

@rawlikesushi

My niece started refusing crusts, and now she takes one bite out of the middle of a sandwich and deems the rest 'crust'. She also leaves the (imaginary) crusts on a bread roll, crumpet and English muffin. For that reason, I'd encourage a child not to step into that slippery slope I think. They're just bread, like the rest of the slice, I don't get what the objection could be.

This is what my stepchildren do. I have watched my (fool of a) husband debating with them about whether it is it is not crust so many times. The whole meal is taken up with it.

It’s much better to just say, ‘eat it all’ and take away the philosophical debate on the nature of crust.

There are often bits of crust left on plates after lunch here... but not much. I’d rather the protein and salad gets finished and if anyone is feeling full by the time they are eating their crusts it’s best to stop. Clearing your plate is not a good habit.

There's a big difference between the crust of a good loaf - which is the best bit - and the crust on miserable supermarket bread.