However... having something on my plate... I feel as though I SHOULD finish it... because if I don't... I'm wasting food... *sigh*
But... if you eat it and you aren't hungry anymore... then you are still wasting it. Because your body didn't need it, and can't use if for fuel... so it turns it into fat because you still ate it.
Oh.. and this type of thing is where a dog comes in handy. I used to have issues throwing away my daughter's half eaten dinner, etc. And I feed my moose of a dog at night anyway, so I'll give him her left overs and then cut back a little on his regular dog food to compensate for the extra calories.
This is also helpful in preventing him from table surfing and trash diving. He knows he'll get a little something when we are done eating, so he avoids going through the trash or sticking his large nose in your plate of food.
No I don't. I was brought up frugal, and still am: I well remember when I went into halls at university - eep! nearly 40 years ago now! - one of my fellow students bought half a pound of mince (ground beef) and fried it up with onions and ate it. I bought half a pound of mince, added onions and mixed veg., casseroled it and ate 4 meals out of it....
I try and make sure I shop sensibly, make meals I can freeze in batches or just enough for one meal. If I've over bought, or find that something I'd thought 'safe' unexpectedly starts calling to me from the kitchen, I either
bin it and pour bleach over (please tell me I'm not the only one who can bin food and then retrieve it - hence the bleach)
put it down the sink and pour water and washing up liquid over it
feed it to the dogs there and then
toss it in the dogfood pot (one of them won't eat commercial dogfood any more and, at 15, I'm not going to force her)
I don't like having to do it but on the other hand if I have to do it, and if I do do it, I also feel quite proud that I didn't eat it. And I try to do better at the shops next time.
I thought of this thread tonight as I was eating dinner at Outback Steakhouse. I ordered "Grilled Chicken on the Barbie." While I did finish my plate, I didn't eat all of the yummy bread they always place on the table as an appetizer.
I don't seem to have a problem throwing out food at home, but restaurants are a different story so this is a small victory here. Go me!
If you have veg about to go off. You could make yourself a nice vegetable soup. This works with just about any veg (except broccoli/caulifower/anything that breaks into little pieces). I tend to also add some garlic, curry powder, chillies, and peppers for a bit of extra kick.
Try and cram as many veg as you have into the pan. Add a knob of butter and a few herbs. Then let "sweat" for 10-15 minutes. Next add vegetable stock until you have covered the veg. About the same amount as you would if you were just boiling the veg. Leave for about 30-45minutes. Until everything is nice and soft. Then blend the mixture.
I find this is areally filling lunch. And all the family enjoy it. Thats one easy way to avoid throwing away your vegetables.
Lots of good replies, I haven't read them all, so sorry if I repeat...
If there is a food that I don't want to eat or know I will not eat, and it's at all possible, I'll give it away somehow. Whether that be giving away leftovers, I sent everyone home with huge pieces of my husband's birthday cake, and I have even cleansed my pantry of some canned and boxed foods that wasn't expiring any time soon with food drives. I do not like to throw food away. It's a waste of money and just wasteful period. And I have a really hard time putting good food in the trash when I know how many hungry people it could feed. Unfortunately, I cannot overnight leftover birthday cake to hungry kids in Haiti.
That said, whenever I am faced with the dilemma of "to toss or not to toss," I think about it rationally. Is this "food" or is it truly garbage? Food is nutritious, it strengthens and energizes my body, I enjoy eating it. Garbage has practically no nutritional value (like leftover cake) and I don't have any desire to eat it (like your Italian sausages). If I determine that it is in fact garbage, then WHY would I treat my mouth as a garbage disposal??? Putting garbage in the trashcan is NOT wasteful, it's the appropriate thing to do. Would I eat the catfood can after I feed my cats? Absolutely not, it's garbage, it goes in the trashcan. Then why would I eat other garbage?
The way I see it is, garbage food (such as my leftover cake and your Italian sausages) is either going to end up as garbage in the trashcan OR as fat on your/my body and poo in the toilet. I prefer the trashcan option, hehe.
Where waste is concerned, food should be the least of our concerns. Food is a renewable resource, and one that even the poorest in our nation generally have too much of. Even discarded food becomes food for something else (even if it's only scavengers at the landfills).
It's all the other stuff we waste that we should be concerned about (but generally aren't).
Water bottles, and disposable plastic in general, are a huge waste of resources. Even recycling them produces more waste than biodegradable products (discarding paper is safer for the environment than recycling plastics).
Food is the least of our trash troubles. It's all the non-biodegradable stuff we throw away that people should be worried about, but generally aren't.
If you're going to be worried about food, you should also be worried about all the other things that are worse. Are you reusing and recycling at every possible opportunity. Are you using disposable plastic? Are you buying second-hand whenever possible? Are you donating or selling everything possible? Do you ever discard something that was still functional or that could be repaired or repurposed.
Food is such a small part of the ginormous trash problem, and yet it's usually at the top of people's lists of waste concerns. It's all the other stuff that we need to start worrying about.
I think of eating food I don't want/need as a waste - b/c I think of all those years and dollars spent on Weight Watchers, gym memberships, diet pills, workout DVD's, new clothes in a different size, feeling sorry for myself for being overweight, etc. THAT is a waste. If I stay fat and get diabetes - THAT will be a waste. If I don't keep in shape and can't run around with my son - THAT will be a waste. If I don't stay/get healthier in order to have another child - THAT will be a waste.
I do rely on my freezer and chest freezer. I freeze what I can. I like to portion things into single servings, so I can grab from the freezer as needed. Sell by dates are only just that - sell by - not eat by. If it isn't moldy or funny smelling = still good! Lol! Yogurt is the only thing I am leary about eating past the date. And I don't like meat sitting too long in the fridge.
I totally understand what you feel like. In my household, I grew up knowing I HAD to clean my plate and that it was rude to not ask for seconds and finish that off, too. Anyway, I'm slowly learning what actual portions are. Still struggling that it's ok to throw away food... but I'm learning. It honestly takes lots of practice.
If its in the fridge I have no problem tossing it, if its on my plate I feel like I have to finish it, i cannot waste it!! And the problem is I always put tooo much food on my plate! =(
I used to be one of those who had trouble throwing away food. Now, I will throw food away if I don't want it, and I don't feel bad about it. My body is not a trash can. I have no way to package it and ship it to wherever the starving children are. The money I paid for it has already gone to support someone's livelihood whether I eat the food or throw it away.
If I ever am actually starving (and I mean in the real sense, like a concentration camp victim), I will re-evaluate my position on throwing away food. Thankfully I'm not there yet and probably never will be.
It helps to have chickens to feed fruits and veggies to when they are about to go off. A lot of urban areas will allow you to keep a few chickens in your backyard as long as you have no roosters. It's a good trade-off: rotten veggies in, fresh eggs out.
