So don't waste them. Dump them out the window so all the birds can feast, giving you something to watch to lift your spirits. Birds are always nice to look at.

Next time, I would state not to bring food because you are providing everything within a theme and don't want the theme to be overshadowed by items that work well with it. When they get there, announce the theme as "To Your Health", and enjoy. LOL

Ahh, I read further and see the problem was solved.

As for a comment about people wanting real BBQ food, my brother and his wife have had a few healthier cookouts lately. They're both overweight and working on it. Its not that difficult to keep it healthIER. They slice personal watermelons, and scoop watermelon balls and fill the husks with the balls, grapes, strawberries and other fruits and top with light whipped cream. They buy the leanest meat and toast wheat buns. They're not whole wheat so they do ok with people while still providing more than plain white. They use light mayo, and have cooked veggies instead of chips. People still feel like they've had a regular cookout, but its still much healthier than the usual fare.

yay!!! So proud of you!!!

mmmm.....doesn't that just make fish and chips sound so tantilizing?

LOL @ Fish 'n' chips! UGH! Great idea, though.

I eat so vastly different than my peers that they wouldn't even like my idea of a cookout. Sprouted-grain buns, veggie burgers and lean meats, twice as many vegetables as meat or bread.

Good job on throwing them out.

I read somewhere once that the single biggest factor for long term success is the ability to throw away food. I believe it too. 20 bags of chips is a big and obvious one, although oddly enough I would have much less trouble throwing away 20 bags of chips.

What I see my mom do when she visits that has really made me aware of my own behavior is if there isnt enough of a food leftover to make a whole serving she will eat it rather than throw it away "isn't enough left to keep"

It seems small, but it adds up over time.

We've definitely learned to throw away food in our house. We're on a really tight budget, so you'd think we'd be wasting less, but the fact is that we've been rather creative in where/what we buy. We buy bulk meat and repackage it, and we go to a store that sells overstock (basically stuff other stores have sold to them on the cheap) health foods. So we experiment alot, and with trying new stuff, some of it is great, some not so much. It's not like you can go to the neighbors with a half-opened bottle of condiment, so it goes in the trash. Since we're eating fewer carbs, but buying or making "real" breads, they mold faster, so often some ends up in the trash.

In a country where even amoung the poorest, obesity is far more common than starvation, and there being no way that I know of to send chips and other junk food to feed third world countries (at least I hope not) --- I don't think there's any reason to consider junk food, food at all. It's probably not even a great idea to feed it to wildlife, as I recently read that wild life experts are seeing that "citified" critters (birds, raccoons, rabbits...) are actually suffering more health problems than their country cousins, most likely from eating from our garbage and handouts.

I agree about the wildlife. We shouldn't feed wildlife human food! Especially not human junk food... If you wouldn't eat it, why give it to a bird or animal?

Jay

I am glad you threw them out. No one needs to eat that junk!

I'm with Phantastica...I throw VEGAN cook outs and BBQ's and have people clamoring for an invite (really!).

There is never any food left over. Out of the 30 people who usually attend, only 3 are vegan, yet all are satisfied with a natural, organic and healthy spread

Throw them out! I had a similar experience last week. Somehow a nice, fresh loaf of sour dough French bread found its way into my house. Omigosh, lightly toasted with lots of butter, scrumptious!I gave in to several slices before I got serious with myself and threw the rest away. it was hard to do, though.

Take it to a homeless shelter. They WILL accept it and eat it. My co-worker dropped off a large box of left-over items last night at a shelter and they were more than grateful.

You won't eat it, and you'll do something good for people. I can't think of any better alternative.

the only problem with this is you'd be giving them empty calories. The potato chips do nothing for them...they don't cure hunger or even provide vitamins and minerals and all that jazz. It's junk. Besides the fact that a shelter won't even take opened stuff..it's too much of a risk these days....

They eat out of garbage dumpsters and shoot rat poison into their veins. I work at the police department, they know we won't give them tainted food, but they take open food from anyone.

Please watch what you're saying - all homeless people certainly do NOT eat out of garbage dumpsters or shoot rate poison into their veins, the majority are families or individuals who have fallen on hard times due to jobs moving overseas, health care emergencies, debt and loan sharking, etc. etc. While I agree that the potato chips are empty calories, there are certainly families there like anywhere else with little kids who need to gain weight, etc, and the idea of withholding food because it's "better for them" seems unfair when the alternative may be nothing at all. Homeless people are people to and perfectly capable of making intelligent decisions based on their individual situations.

Sorry to rant, but I find the type of generalized disdain seen in the post above REALLY offensive.

The men at the shelter where we dropped the food off eat out of dumpsters and are heroin addicts. Infact, when I was on my way in to work that night, one was scraping cheese off a pizza box with a needle in his arm. I know them all by name and life story. I am not referring to those who are homeless via way of disaster or lost employment. I am talking about those who live the lifestyle of drug users on the street. A place such as a battered women's shelter, etc, would obviously not take open food. I do not mean "all" homeless people.

I am sorry that you are offended but I disagree that the vast majority of homeless are that way because of the circumstances that you listed. Of course there are hundreds of thousands that ARE, but the majority of homeless are that way due to drug addiction and mental illness (which is either onset by medical reasons or induced by drug use).

Obviously I shouldn't bother to continue this discussion because I don't think many people here would understand what it's like to work on the street and to see the reality of it, especially in law enforcement. If you consider than generalized disdain, then sorry, but I see things that few "average citizens" ever do.

All I suggested that rather than trashing food, give it to those who have literally no money and probably haven't eaten in 2 days. That's all I'm saying. I'm not here to argue with anyone. Just trying to encourage someone to do a good deed.

Okay guys, play nice in my thread please!

Oh, and as for feeding it to the birds, never underestimate my ability to eat chips that have been lying on the ground. The grass is pretty clean.