"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?

@toffeebutterpopcorn

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

Fine with pan, but no cant do plain crusts.

Definitely not a hill I could be arsed to die on. They've eaten the rest.

The ONLY time I'd address it is if there's a lot of sandwich attached to the crust. But then I'd just lop the crust off and give the sandwichy bit back.

I've a daughter and two step sons, one step son won't eat crusts, I just cut them off before I give him the sandwich, no issues arise then.

My mum is 69 she doesn’t eat them, I’m 36 I don’t eat them, and my two DD’s don’t eat them. We feed ours to the birds who seem to love them.

I’ve just realised - loved crusts as a small child: had incredibly curly hair. Coincidence...🤔

i've a daughter and two step sons, one step son won't eat crusts, I just cut them off before I give him the sandwich, no issues arise then.

In theory... in practice here, they nibble a tiny bit from the middle and insist that the rest is crust anyway.

I am not keen on crusts even now. I don't see how they are any healthier or more important than the rest of the bread. I do eat them when the bread is toasted oddly, but sometimes don't eat them on sandwiches.

I always leave my crusts on a sandwich. Why would you want to eat that dry bit at the edge, it’s so dull. Give them to the birds everyday - they love them.

This is why you should cut sandwiches into triangles, because the crust is a straight line and it is easier to eat right up to them

it depends on the bread nice crusty slice it yourself bread i eat them, toast i eat the crusts, supermarket sliced bread i dont eat the crusts but do eat most of the sandwich

I cut the crusts off my daughter's sandwich yesterday and she left a similar size rim of uneaten soft bread.

I've got a theory it's an innate survival thing that they don't eat the bits they've handled.

Doesn't bother me, used to cut the crusts off my children's sandwiches for school, they still leave the crusts now!
Never understood :

Cant get down till you clear your plate
Elbows off the table - what's all that about?

If it were true about curly hair there would be loads of curly ducks... but there aren't.

Never bothered with this with mine, they are tough on small teeth (we have home made bread so the crusts can be quite chewy) and we just cut them off for bread crumbs so not wasted. All the kids started eating them when they had their big teeth.

People argue over such tiny things, I don't see the point!

@MaMaD1990

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!

Mid-20s. Food waste is a massive problem in this country, it is completely unsustainable.

My mother once told my DD to eat her crusts to make her hair curly. 5yo answer... I like my straight hair and she's completely refused since.
She doesn't much like bread anyway (her sandwiches are one slice) so it's not really wasting for her... Eating any bread can be seen as a win. (She didn't eat any bread or potatoes until the age of four... She appears to have a suspicion on white foods. Even cake can be hit and miss....)

Elbows my grandma said would be from when there were loads of people around a small table and you'd be getting in people's way.

I used to hate it as a child when an adult would cut the brown part of the crust off, which I didn't actually mind, and leave the stale, chewy, filling-less rim of bread next to the brown part, which was the "crust" I actually objected to eating.

@ConnieDobbs

This is why you should cut sandwiches into triangles, because the crust is a straight line and it is easier to eat right up to them

I never thought of that, good tip thanks!

My mum didn't try and make us eat crusts. As an adult I can eat them (and usually do) but I still don't like them and won't eat them if theres no filling spilling out to make them less dry.

Buy that crustless bread and there will be no waste

@BertieBotts

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.

Broccoli stems sliced thinly and steamed are delicious - my kids prefer them to the head of the broccoli. And celery leaves make stock or soup tastier (even something like bolognese sauce, too). I have to say, I don’t know anything to do with cauliflower stem , but I’m sure there’s an MNer who does!

@FishyFriday In that case I'd probably just throw the whole child away

@TwoLeftSocksWithHoles

Very much enjoying the idea of curly feathered ducks.

My children were never prober crust refusers but they both did go through a phase of it. Started with refusing the actual crust then generalised to only the first, ‘centered’ bite not being considered infected by the crust. Very annoying.

So, I started cutting the crusts off before serving. “No crusts here, just eat your sandwich”. When anyone would comment I’d just say (within DCs hearing) that they were too small to manage crusts. Did fake, gentle bickering with DP about who gets the (actual) crust from a new loaf. When we’d have baguette or lovely crusty roll I’d give the DC crustless sliced bread, ‘to be kind’. Things like that. Worked a treat.

I agree, that’s not a battle I want to have. I don’t think children leaving crusts are the food waste offenders we really need to worry about.

I have put the leaves of cauliflower in curry before, like a kind of cabbage/thick spinach, it works well. But if I'm not making curry then I end up throwing them away.