Wasted Food

[Shadow Wolf]

I can feed it to the pets. Sometimes that's okay, depending on what it is. Sometimes its not okay.

That's something that should be mentioned. It's not actually always ok to feed our pets foods we eat. Eating out especially, which often isn't even good for us, can be very bad for our furry friends.
It's definitely best to first make sure your pet can safely eat what you're giving it. Somethings that may seem innocent can even be deadly.

 

[Secret Chief]

That's something that should be mentioned. It's not actually always ok to feed our pets foods we eat. Eating out especially, which often isn't even good for us, can be very bad for our furry friends.
It's definitely best to first make sure your pet can safely eat what you're giving it. Somethings that may seem innocent can even be deadly.

Yes. eg chocolate. I know someone whose dog died from eating some chocolate it had discovered in the house.

 

[Spice]

When you prepare a meal, what do you do with leftovers...both unserved food or any food remaining on your plate?

In a restaurant, if you can't finished the portion served to you, do you leave it behind or take it home in a "doggie bag" and eat it later?

For me, personally, I find it unsettling to see food wasted knowing there are those less fortunate than me that go hungry. In my personal life, I always prepare individual portions that I know I can finish in one sitting, unless I plan to cook a batch of something, in which case, I freeze it for future meals. Bread that begins to turn gets thrown over the fence for the birds and other animals in the thicket.

When dining out (usually at a Chinese buffet my daughter enjoys) my plate is always picked up clean. My daughter has largely picked up on these values as well, but my granddaughter is still the finicky eater, and my daughter will put a variety of things on her plate, much of which won't be eaten (save the food my daughter scavenges when she's done). I find it unsettling when this happens or when I see anyone else taking more food than they can eat and leaving it on their plate.

It would also bother me to see food discarded in a commercial setting. The QSR chain I managed for years wasted on average of 1% of the food they purchased due to over-preparation. It unnerved me to the point where my district typically ran the lowest waste numbers in the company.

This is why I have an admiration for businesses like Panera Bread, who donate any non-perishable food left over at the end of the day to the homeless. Unfortunately, the business I managed served perishable food that would have presented a food safety concern had it been donated.

I thought of this today as I rinsed my porridge bowl this morning and watched the residue from the side of the bowl get rinsed down the sink and wondered how much residue over time would have made a full meal for someone who goes without.

How concerned are you about the food you waste (if any)?

My parents were both teenagers during the Great Depression--one in city life, and one in country life. I still live by the rules instilled in me by their example, though a touch relaxed:
*Don't put it on your plate if you're not going to eat it.
*If it goes back to the kitchen it WILL be seen again in some fashion.
*And if it's no longer consumable by humans, it gets raked off on the edge of the garden path either for animals to eat and/or to be turned under to rot.

Eating out is rare, so yes, carry-home boxes when applicable.
And whenever I have guests, carry-home boxes are provided!

 

[Kathryn]

Nearly always, I eat what I prepare, and I take home a "doggie bag" from restaurants, especially now that prices are so incredibly high.

 

[Spice]

I never worked in a grocery store, but I look at things with "best if used by" dates and often wonder how much they waste.

I bought a pack of queso fresco yesterday for my saag "paneer" and noticed there was a large amount of it in the bin, and it was misrotated with the packs that expired last on the top. There must have been at least 40 packages there, and I can't imagine that item is that good of a seller.

The waste of produce must be insane.

Not if the ordering system used is mindful. Unfortunately most stores have automatuc electronic ordering that relies heavily on the cashiers doing their job correctly. Even when ordering by label, if a stocker has misplaced the item, and the department head doesn't fix it, the order will be wrong and will increase the likelihood of product waste.

If allowed by corporate, a store manager can get better inventory credit if they donate product a short time before expiration to food banks. There's actually plenty of "play" in "best if used by:" dates.

 

[Kathryn]

All I know is that sometimes milk is sour before the sell by or use by date.

 

[McBell]

When you prepare a meal, what do you do with leftovers...both unserved food or any food remaining on your plate?

Left overs get packed up and put in the frig.
Most of it gets consumed.
Either by one of the people constantly in and out or one of the pets.
or even some of the strays that wander by.
Some much more frequently than others....

In a restaurant, if you can't finished the portion served to you, do you leave it behind or take it home in a "doggie bag" and eat it later?

They go home with me.
See list above what happens when it hits the frig at home.

For me, personally, I find it unsettling to see food wasted knowing there are those less fortunate than me that go hungry. In my personal life, I always prepare individual portions that I know I can finish in one sitting, unless I plan to cook a batch of something, in which case, I freeze it for future meals. Bread that begins to turn gets thrown over the fence for the birds and other animals in the thicket.

When dining out (usually at a Chinese buffet my daughter enjoys) my plate is always picked up clean. My daughter has largely picked up on these values as well, but my granddaughter is still the finicky eater, and my daughter will put a variety of things on her plate, much of which won't be eaten (save the food my daughter scavenges when she's done). I find it unsettling when this happens or when I see anyone else taking more food than they can eat and leaving it on their plate.

It would also bother me to see food discarded in a commercial setting. The QSR chain I managed for years wasted on average of 1% of the food they purchased due to over-preparation. It unnerved me to the point where my district typically ran the lowest waste numbers in the company.

This is why I have an admiration for businesses like Panera Bread, who donate any non-perishable food left over at the end of the day to the homeless. Unfortunately, the business I managed served perishable food that would have presented a food safety concern had it been donated.

I thought of this today as I rinsed my porridge bowl this morning and watched the residue from the side of the bowl get rinsed down the sink and wondered how much residue over time would have made a full meal for someone who goes without.

How concerned are you about the food you waste (if any)?

I am not the least bit concerned about how much food is 'wasted' in my home.
About the only time food is wasted is when it ends up in the back of the frig and forgotten about.
I have a firm rule that if I can not identify what it used to was, i toss it out.
Fortunately, that does not happen much.

List of strays:

• possums
• raccoons
• ground hogs
• cats
• rabbits
• chipmunks
• and last year a half dozen chickens (neighbor had them but moved and left them)

 

[Spice]

I loathe waste.
I am a "clean plate cowboy".
Except when I save excess portions for leftovers.
(As I've aged, I find I must eat less than I once could.)

A useful tip.....
Last nite's leftover haggis is great in an omlette.
Put a wee bit'o habenero sauce on it.

I'll pass on the haggis, thank you. LOL

 

[Spice]

Nowadays, I either pack any leftovers and give them to a person in need (and there are many in need where I live, sadly) or, depending on what the leftovers are, save them for a stray cat or dog.

I think throwing away good (i.e., not spoiled) food, especially when large corporations and restaurant chains do it on a major scale, is one of the most lamentable aspects of today's excessive consumerism.

Farming industry is unreal!!

 

[Spice]

I don't see how I am indifferent about world hunger

It's not as if me having food causes others to not have it

I sometimes throw away food... so what????

How does that have any negative impact on humanity?

The answer is of course that it doesn't

Just as being sure to waste nothing does nothing too

Not throwing food makes zero impact, it's a moral thing, not a practical thing

It truly isn't the act of throwing food away. You're right in that regard. It doesn't durectly affect others. But the attitude you show is disheartening.

I've seen my child cry because he didn't want a jelly sandwich again. And I've seen him jump up and down shouting "Yay! French fries", more excited than on a Christmas morning, because a neighbor brought us a bushel of potatoes.

Sometimes it's best to say nothing.

 

[Koldo]

Sometimes it's best to say nothing.

Exactly.

 

[InChrist]

When you prepare a meal, what do you do with leftovers...both unserved food or any food remaining on your plate?

In a restaurant, if you can't finished the portion served to you, do you leave it behind or take it home in a "doggie bag" and eat it later?

For me, personally, I find it unsettling to see food wasted knowing there are those less fortunate than me that go hungry. In my personal life, I always prepare individual portions that I know I can finish in one sitting, unless I plan to cook a batch of something, in which case, I freeze it for future meals. Bread that begins to turn gets thrown over the fence for the birds and other animals in the thicket.

When dining out (usually at a Chinese buffet my daughter enjoys) my plate is always picked up clean. My daughter has largely picked up on these values as well, but my granddaughter is still the finicky eater, and my daughter will put a variety of things on her plate, much of which won't be eaten (save the food my daughter scavenges when she's done). I find it unsettling when this happens or when I see anyone else taking more food than they can eat and leaving it on their plate.

It would also bother me to see food discarded in a commercial setting. The QSR chain I managed for years wasted on average of 1% of the food they purchased due to over-preparation. It unnerved me to the point where my district typically ran the lowest waste numbers in the company.

This is why I have an admiration for businesses like Panera Bread, who donate any non-perishable food left over at the end of the day to the homeless. Unfortunately, the business I managed served perishable food that would have presented a food safety concern had it been donated.

I thought of this today as I rinsed my porridge bowl this morning and watched the residue from the side of the bowl get rinsed down the sink and wondered how much residue over time would have made a full meal for someone who goes without.

How concerned are you about the food you waste (if any)?

We do not waste or throw any food away. The dog gets any meat scraps. The chickens or goats get most other food and then there’s always the compost pile for the garden for anything else leftover.

The amount of food wasted in this country is disheartening. I am glad to hear of restaurants and grocery stores that do find ways to alleviate waste and/or donate items to food banks or other places that can use extra food.

 

[Tomef]

leftovers

Leftovers? Left overs? I am unfamiliar with this concept.

 

[Subduction Zone]

All I know is that sometimes milk is sour before the sell by or use by date.

I have bought only one brand where that was a problem, and it was not just once. Luckily I do not see that brand any longer.

 

[RestlessSoul]

All I know is that sometimes milk is sour before the sell by or use by date.

Buy a fridge

 

[Jainarayan]

How concerned are you about the food you waste (if any)?

Very. I personally try not to waste anything. I don't take more than I thnk I can eat. If I can't finish at a restaurant, it comes home. I once posted photos of the discarded food bins from work. It was my job at the time to scan all the packages and toss them that were past their sell-by dates. This was even though the food was perfectly good. Fortunately a new plan was put in place that someone comes every day to pick up the food to donate it.

 

[Jainarayan]

I think grocery stores are the largest culprits.

You think correctly. It's shocking.

 

[Kathryn]

Buy a fridge

LOL I have two!

 

[Alien826]

Yes. eg chocolate. I know someone whose dog died from eating some chocolate it had discovered in the house.

Right. Here's some other things that are bad for dog, from the AKC website. Some may be surprising.

Raw meat (bacteria).
Grapes/raisins/currents (can cause kidney failure).
Fried and fatty foods (pancreatitis).
Moldy foods (food poisoning).
Onions/garlic/chives (anemia). Watch out for foods containing large amounts of these also, like salsa).
Salty snacks in large quantities.
Macadamia nuts (various symptoms).
Xylitol, a sugar substitute found in many products. Very dangerous even in small quantities. Can lead to liver failure. Read labels!

Oddly that don't mention chocolate, though I know it is dangerous. Another source says the culprit ingredients are theobromine and caffeine that dogs can't metabolize. The quantity of cacao is key, so dark chocolate is worse than milk chocolate.

 

[Secret Chief]

Right. Here's some other things that are bad for dog, from the AKC website. Some may be surprising.

Raw meat (bacteria).
Grapes/raisins/currents (can cause kidney failure).
Fried and fatty foods (pancreatitis).
Moldy foods (food poisoning).
Onions/garlic/chives (anemia). Watch out for foods containing large amounts of these also, like salsa).
Salty snacks in large quantities.
Macadamia nuts (various symptoms).
Xylitol, a sugar substitute found in many products. Very dangerous even in small quantities. Can lead to liver failure. Read labels!

Oddly that don't mention chocolate, though I know it is dangerous. Another source says the culprit ingredients are theobromine and caffeine that dogs can't metabolize. The quantity of cacao is key, so dark chocolate is worse than milk chocolate.

Yeah, xylitol is deadly. The list of poisonous plants (for cats) is pretty long and includes some very common ones eg lilly.

- Poisons and Hazards for your pets