eating food so it is not wasted

[zapzapp]

I come across this fairly regularly. People who had enough to eat but say I will finish that off so it does not get wasted. I don't understand that. People do not want the food thrown away but it is not considered a waste to eat more than you need.

My brother does this with his four kids. If one of the kids does not finish what is on the plate then the other kids have to eat so it does not get 'wasted' even if they are saying they do not want it.

I don't like waste either but I am not going to eat more than what I need just so it does not get thrown away. I would rather it get thrown away than just eaten when not necessary.

I hate wasting food, but can't stand eating food so as not to waste it either. At home I always serve small portions but tell people there is more if they want it - I know DS has a bigger appetite than me.

I was at a farewell lunch at a pub recently and just couldn't finish the burger I had ordered. One of the other guests asked if he could have it! I was completely flummoxed, as were the other guests. A cold half eaten (admittedly very good) burger! Really?

Needless to say he was winding us up and eventually said it was for his chickens! I was delighted that it didn't go to waste though.

Amazingly, and perhaps worryingly, I did have room for a dessert afterwards. ☺️

Well everyone knows there's a special place for desserts.

I don't think it matters how he was raised.

He's a grown man now and that's just pure greed.

I automatically eat everything on my plate. I like food and I need it because I am very active. If my kids leave food, I ask them to try a bit harder because I spent time cooking it. But if they don't want it, we either wrap it up and put it into the fridge for later or give it to the dog. Food waste is expensive and unethical.

As you say, he’s a grown man so it’s neither my responsibility nor yours to worry about it

You know you cn just put leftover food in the fridge and eat at next meal?

Why would you think I'm worried about it? 😳

Well you were invested enough to comment. Did you just feel the need to have your judgement known?

It's a chat forum.

It'd be pretty quiet if no-one commented 👀

But typing replies aren't an indication that MNetters are actually worried.

Surely you must know this?

It's a throwback from a time when food was scarce and expensive. But given our rates of obesity it would be good to shift our attitudes on this now.

I agree that eating food you neither want nor need for the sake of it is just a different type of waste.

I agree, but having been brought up to clear my plate, and my mum complaining if I didn't eat as much as she wanted me to (sometimes we would help ourselves/dish up the amount that we wanted) saying that it wasn't worth cooking for me and I'd wasted her time (not allowed drinks before or during meals either in case it filled us up) I really struggle with this. Logical brain says one thing, but I find the habit really hard to break and struggle to identify when to stop (or ignore the signal to stop in order to be polite). One day I'll get there...

They need to try harder because you cooked it?

Even if food was scarce and expensive, was it important to keep eating even when you had enough and were full?

Absolutely but it is beyond some people who feel the need to finish it otherwise it would be wasted.

Humans were primed to feast when food was plentiful. It makes perfect sense that finishing your plate was encouraged historically.

But things are different now. It's hard for some to adjust, but nowadays, it shouldn't be a virtue to eat food that you dont want or need.

Depends how far you go back. Finishing one's plate may have been encouraged but there was long periods of fasting but that was not the case in the war. Yes there were rations but no long periods of fasting for the vast majority.

I guess I view it as a waste to throw food in the bin. Ideally I'd save leftovers for the next day, but otherwise DH or I would generally eat it. I usually gauge portions well, so normally any leftovers are not difficult to eat, and the energy from the food is still used by our bodies? And if we're very full we'll eat less at the next meal to compensate 🤷

I do agree with you OP, and I really wish I'd made that realisation years before I actually did after being overweight all through my teens/twenties!

In the years since I did stop eating the point of being uncomfortable, I became a parent and started doing it again, and regained weight. I have always been guilty of picking at my son's left overs and only fairly recently even realised how often I was doing it when I wasn't remotely hungry. It is more absent minded just because it was there, than consciously "not wasting it" though.
It's a habit I need to break but in the meantime I have started serving myself less in the first place.

I wish that we (everyone) were still taught food management in the same way as my grandparents were. My grandmother would pickle veg, know how to properly store things so they wouldn’t go mouldy after 5 mins (fridges not always best); and she would plan a week’s worth of meals often based upon a very few ingredients. Lamb on Sunday, shepherd’s pie on Monday, etc. The war generation (and before really) knew the value of food. They had to make do and be resourceful. We waste - over eat or throw away - so much nowadays.
So really I disagree both with eating more than you need (though we all do at times) and in throwing it away.
We need to better understand portion sizes (not over fill plates) and how to use what’s left in the pot.

Overeating is a war crime on Mumsnet. Even finishing what’s on your plate is a civil matter.

I’ll fridge anything worth keeping, treat the dustbin dogs or bin as a last resort.

I agree. Children especially will naturally self regulate (I was forced to clean my plate - think of all the staving children in Africa etc etc) and if we make them eat when they’re full we disrupt this. I grew up to be an adult who never left anything on my plate, never knew if I was full and had a weight problem as a result. I’ve overcome that now but it’s been really hard. I love the saying “your stomach is not a bin”. Serve smaller portions, kids can always ask for seconds and if there is some left it can be frozen for another time or I portion it and save it for my work lunches.

Why bin?! Why not put it in the fridge?!? Can’t imagine having a couple of chicken thighs left and putting them in the bin. Get a bigger fridge!

Yes, I don’t want to waste my time cooking for people who can’t be bothered to eat what I cook.

I went on to say that if they can’t manage it, we save it for later rather than waste it.

My Mum used to say 'Better to waste it than it goes on your waist!'.

I get it-I HATE food waste-but there's very few instances where it can't just be put in the fridge to use another time-even as a side if there's only a little bit left.

Nothing in my house is truly wasted. Even if I really don't want it the dog or compost heap gets it.