I hate food wasters

[Mr Buckshot]

As you all know, there's currently a food crisis, with prices of staples like bread rising. Even if you have money, the supermarkets may not even have some types of food in stock.

But at my school, I'm still noticing a very serious problem: There's a large number of stupid, idiotic students who just throw away their unfinished lunches without a second thought. Whether they buy from the cafeteria or bring food from home, they just pick out the best parts and dump the rest in the garbage. Seriously, I can't tolerate major food wastage.

Example 1: I saw one Grade 9 student eating a six-inch Subway sandwich. He barely finished a third of the sandwich before tossing it in the garbage and proceeding to eat his chocolate chip cookies. I was seriously tempted to smack him on the head for doing that. I mean, people in Africa would kill for the two-thirds of the sandwich that he threw away without thinking. What a spoiled little bastard.

Example 2: One of my own classmates bought the full burger lunch set - a hamburger, French fries, and coleslaw. He took the meat out of the hamburger, ate all the French fries, and the garbage can ate the rest for him. I mean, WTF. You spend five Canadian dollars on a full-size lunch and you don't even finish eating it? I don't think anyone's allergic to good, healthy coleslaw...

Example 3: My own friend brought a typical Asian meal to school as well - just dishes with rice. When he saw that there were beans in his lunch, he walked to the trash can and scooped all the beans in there.

All those events occurred during this crisis, when a loaf of bread at Safeway can cost $5.

I myself always bring lunch from home as I don't particularly like the cafeteria food. I only buy cafeteria food if there's no choice. I normally bring Asian dishes (typical Chinese meat and vegetables) with rice in those thermos-style lunch boxes to keep them warm. Other times, I just eat plain ol' ham-and-lettuce-and-tomato sandwiches, or the classic American PB & J. But regardless of what I eat, the only things that don't get consumed are the oil residues and bones from my meat or the breadcrumbs from my sandwiches. I even eat every single grain of rice, food crisis or not. Most of my friends do the same, leaving minimal stuff behind.

If I find something in my lunch that I don't like, i.e. the bread on the sandwiches is dry, I don't just dump it in the garbage. I take it home and stick in in the toaster oven or my mom eats it. The only time I've actually thrown food in the garbage is when I found that one section of my apple was literally rotten and I didn't dare to eat the rest. In the event that I buy the shitty cafeteria lunch, I make sure that what I buy doesn't have anything that I don't like inside (so my list is quite limited).

I never really noticed this problem until middle school back in California. In my American elementary school, I always walked home for lunch because I lived near the school, so I never noticed the lunch ethics of my peers. In middle school, I finally noticed the complete horrors of how people were wasting food. Many students simply took out the cookies or the chips and threw away the rest. The amount of wasted food in the garbage cans of my American middle school could feed an entire African village. In my Canadian high school, the same problem persists, although not quite as much as in middle school since people are more mature by then.

Food wastage also loves to show itself in Western restaurants, particularly buffets. I always see other patrons leaving the garlic bread or a half-eaten steak on their plates when they leave. Sometimes I see kids pushing away their entrees and waiting for the dessert. Not to say that people don't waste food in Chinese restaurants - I do see it all the time in Asian restaurants too, but it's far less common in Asian restaurants because in my culture, if there's something on the plate that we don't like, and it's not biologically bad, we either gulp it down with water or pass it to our parents/siblings, rather than leave it on the plate to be thrown away when the meal ends. Only those Asian families with spoiled kids will just leave everything on the plate and leave.

And of course, there are those tales of families stocking up on groceries in the kitchen and not touching them until they actually go bad and it's time to throw them away. Never happens with me...my grandfather enforced that rule, lamenting about how he used to work for hours a day to afford the most basic groceries back in post-WW2 Shanghai

With the current food crisis, I am trying to encourage everyone to think twice before dumping that undesirable portion of your lunch in the garbage, unless it's actually stale or rotten or inedible (i.e. bones). Don't waste food, it's not good for you and it won't help the food crisis.

[LlamaMaster]

I couldn't agree with you more. It pisses me off when I see perfectly good food be torn apart to get rid of the "bad parts" and tossed away. I always bring home food I don't finish, and I always eat everything that comes with it.

While I'm at it, another thing that makes me angry is people who taste something new, then spit it out into a napkin. WTF!? Unless it some rancid poisonous meat, it is THAT HARD the swallow that one bite?

[Mr Buckshot]

Yeah I know, sometimes I'm really tempted to go up to such people and yell at them. I won't be surprised if Stephen Harper throws away a sandwich he doesn't like.

I mean, if it's really that bad, then trade it with your brother/sister or something (that's what I do with beans).

[Bodzilla]

Look as true as what your saying is, i dont think that you'd personally stoop to eating the rest of that kids Subway sandwich, or the beans if they where offered to you.
and that would be a major way of saving it :/
Hypothetically speaking, if i came to your house and shared a meal with you and didnt finish everything on my plate, and everyone at the table was full, would you finish what i didnt eat the next day?

People are stupid, always have been. And as long as they dont feel the consequences of there actions they wont ever learn. They wont know or care about things like this until they are the ones on the end of the shopping bill.

[Rob Oplawar]

lol.

[rossmum]

I won't eat anything I don't like (if I'm with dad, I just give it to him - he's like a human food waste disposal), but if I order something and it turns out to be more than I expected, I take whatever I don't finish home.

[Llama Juice]

If you're seriously bothered by the food crisis stop eating meat.

Sixteen pounds of edible grain will make one pound of edible flesh.

Anyhow... I (being an american citizen) have usually tried to not waste food my entire life, until recently. If I eat everything on my plate... I end up gaining weight. When I hit 240 lbs I finally said that's enough. (I'm down to 214 right now... 3 months into this diet) Now... sure I make smaller meals, order smaller stuff... but if there's that one last slice of pizza sitting there... I'm not going to finish it just to finish it.

@Ross How often do you actually eat it once you get it home?... AKA How often do you have to throw away the rotting food from your fridge? :P That was usually the case for my siblings where "Oh yea I'll finish it sometime" and then they forget about it. Or even my roommate, there's a thing of spahgetti in the fridge that I don't dare open because it's been in there for like two weeks (plus it has meatsauce so I'm not going to eat it).

[nooBBooze]

Don't waste food, it's not good for you and it won't help the food crisis.
I doubt that this will have any impact on the "current" food crisis whatsoever.
As with being vegetarian, this will mainly help to feel good about oneself.
the perfectly edible apple i throw in the garbage could have hardly actually helped a starving child or something thats not how economies work. sad but most likely true.
for me, a good reason to avoid wasting food is that it saves alot of money too.

[Llama Juice]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7389678.stm

Vegetarianism isn't a "feel good" thing.

It's not Christianity or somethin like that.

Link basically says that all livestock contributes more to global warming than all transport does.

Even if you're not going to be a vegetarian, atleast eat the meat that is killing our planet when you buy it, rather than throwing it away.

[rossmum]

@Ross How often do you actually eat it once you get it home?... AKA How often do you have to throw away the rotting food from your fridge? :P That was usually the case for my siblings where "Oh yea I'll finish it sometime" and then they forget about it. Or even my roommate, there's a thing of spahgetti in the fridge that I don't dare open because it's been in there for like two weeks (plus it has meatsauce so I'm not going to eat it).
Almost always.

Also, that 'meat is killing the planet' thing is as much a load of bullshit as 'vegetarianism is unhealthy'. They're both propaganda. By the way, this 'edible grain' you speak of is generally of a quality not really suited to human consumption, and contains far less protein and thus imparts less energy. Not to mention that you can graze livestock on what is essentially desert (like the cattle stations in the NT), whereas growing wheat and the like is what's destroying the Murray-Darling basin. Increasing crop growth to the point where it replaces meat entirely means clearing even more land and fucking up waterways. It's a fine balance.

Aside from that, the very idea of telling people what they can and can't eat just because you don't agree is a load of crap. Nothing gets between me and a good beef and potato pie. And this coming from a guy who used to be a veg, by the way.

[Bodzilla]

Aside from that, the very idea of telling people what they can and can't eat just because you don't agree is a load of crap. Nothing gets between me and a good beef and potato pie. And this coming from a guy who used to be a veg, by the way.
YOU CONVERTED :o?

come here ross, i want to make sexy time.
<3

[rossmum]

Yeah, my parents snuck me chicken and then one day told me.

I then realised what I was missing out on.

Basically, they're both detrimental. The real problem is there are too many people and they eat too much. Partiuclarly the latter, although I think the whole obesity thing is really exaggerated. I hardly see anyone overweight, let alone obese.

Either way, they can give half of their food to skinny fucks like me, not like they need it.

[Llama Juice]

You missed my point entirely, and your logic behind the grain is flawed.

Land and water is needed to make the grain to feed the livestock.

Land and water is needed to raise the livestock.

The amount of land and water that is used just growing the grain to feed the livestock is crazy. Take that LAND and replace it with a crop that people would actually buy (because yea, nobody's going to want to eat cow food)

Anyhow, I wasn't implying that you should change your diet, I was trying to point out the hypocrisy of this thread's original subject.

AKA "I hate when people waste food, even though I waste tons without even realizing it."

E: This was aimed at post#10, you kids post too fast.

[rossmum]

Livestock grain isn't as high in quality as human grain, and livestock really don't give a shit what they eat. People prefer better grain and more varieties. Better grain needs more water and more land (not to mention better soil). Livestock use a hell of a lot of grain and water, but meat is more potent in terms of energy than grain and thus you need less of it to keep yourself in shape. You can grow livestock grain anywhere, because as I said, a cow doesn't care. A person does, meaning more prime land zoned off for grain production and cleared. Either one is going to damage the environment and either one is going to have its merits. The problem is not what you eat, the problem is how much you eat, how often, and the ever-expanding population. You can't seriously lump the blame on livestock production when no matter what we do short of culling off about half the world's population, we're still going to fuck the place up through our activites.

e:

coming into a thread and then making a big fuss over the ratio of how much livestock eat to how much they produce generally isn't a good idea unless you want to start an argument, nor is there any real reason to do it if you really aren't trying to convert people

[nooBBooze]

Vegetarianism isn't a "feel good" thing.

It's not Christianity or somethin like that.

Link basically says that all livestock contributes more to global warming than all transport does.

Even if you're not going to be a vegetarian, atleast eat the meat that is killing our planet when you buy it, rather than throwing it away.
I don't think you fully understood what i was saying, sir. :/
I'll try to rephrase my point:
Ethic lifestyle(s) -on a personal level- have little to no impact whatsoever on what one protests/refuses. (Btw theres no doubt in my mind that the "current" food crsis, global warming and mistreatment of animals are just as real as they are wrong)
However, i think that the main factor that keeps ethic lifestyles alive is that
"hurr ima savin teh world" feeling. it may be not the original reason to refuse certain products and change certain things in daily life, but in the end it's the sole, visible result and motivation along with concerns about quality and money.
Don't get me wrong tough, i often support small local buisnesses if possible even if i know its pointless, costly and a lost cause.
i could write a few pages on that sibject but this is the internet so ill just stop here

[Limited]

Everything I cook I eat, never waste any thing because I have to clear it up lol, its easier to wash up when you dont have any thing.

Well, I do throw a bit away, sadly bread goes off like 2 fucking days before the date says so I usually end up throwing that out early =\

[Terry]

I rarely waste my food. I absolutely hate throwing food out and feel guilty whenever I do it.

[Rob Oplawar]

lol

[Sel]

When people bitch at me about hungry children in Africa, I hand them what Im not eating, and tell them to ship it off to africa.

I havent been bitched at about not eating crusts and lima beans since.

Of course, I like crusts now, unless its that nasty sesame seed shit.

[Bodzilla]

lol
^

a compelling argument. I'm with rob on this one.

[Syuusuke]

I especially hate it when people leave their shit on the table and not throw it away.

[Arteen]

If everyone in the U.S. stopped wasting food, nothing would change. The food you don't buy won't end up in the hands of starving children in Africa. The only way to make a real, significant difference is to divert national spending. I'm sure a fraction of the defense budget could feed a huge amount of people.

Also, I agree with Rob.

[StankBacon]

i don't really waste food, but when i do, i don't feel guilty about it..

whether i ate it or not, it still isn't going to help anyone.

[Llama Juice]

ikZjkRRpaVg

[Masterz1337]

If everyone in the U.S. stopped wasting food, nothing would change. The food you don't buy won't end up in the hands of starving children in Africa. The only way to make a real, significant difference is to divert national spending. I'm sure a fraction of the defense budget could feed a huge amount of people.

Also, I agree with Rob.
I agree with Arteen. I'm not goign to lie, and say I don't waste food. But the truth is, whatever food you buy from a supermarket is going to be disposed of and thrown out due to expiration dates, and there is enough food in this country that there is always food to repalce it. The way I figure when I shop is that if I dn't ea any of it, it's all going to be thrown out anyway.

[Llama Juice]

You're thinking too immediate.

Supermarkets notice when shit doesn't sell, and they buy less. Supply and demand brother.

[Roostervier]

If everyone in the U.S. stopped wasting food, nothing would change. The food you don't buy won't end up in the hands of starving children in Africa. The only way to make a real, significant difference is to divert national spending. I'm sure a fraction of the defense budget could feed a huge amount of people.

Also, I agree with Rob.
You are awesome. :D

Also, I agree. The food won't be going to anyone else and no matter what happens to it, whether it be eaten, thrown away, or saved, it will all end up as waste. I understand that maybe we shouldn't take food for granted, but it really won't help anyone if we don't waste our food.

[Llama Juice]

http://www.slate.com/id/2189676/

Growing meat without growing animal...

It's about the closest related place I could slap this link...

thought it was interesting.

[Boba]

I don't think anyone's allergic to good, healthy coleslaw...
I'm allergic to cabbage.

Also, Llama, slaughtering the animal is the most fun part!! :smithicide:

[rossmum]

http://www.slate.com/id/2189676/

Growing meat without growing animal...

It's about the closest related place I could slap this link...

thought it was interesting.
Ugh, hell no. I like my food at least somewhat natural.

Also, PETA need to go fuck themselves. They wouldn't know an animal's head from its arse.

"hurf durf mulesing torture cruelty"

If any of them had actually ever seen a flystruck animal, they'd change their tune real fast.

[Rob Oplawar]

I-

hm.

Well,

... hm.

So like,

... ugh. Forget it. Nevermind. I cba to get into this.
omg that's the problem isn't it! =P

...Is Rob serious? Who knows?? :O

[Monopoly]

You're thinking too immediate.

Supermarkets notice when shit doesn't sell, and they buy less. Supply and demand brother.

They still throw the food out when it hits it's experation date no matter what it is.

Have you ever looked in a Kroger garbage, because I have :) yumyum

[Bodzilla]

http://www.slate.com/id/2189676/

Growing meat without growing animal...

It's about the closest related place I could slap this link...

thought it was interesting.
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=grill
Read this link.

There is no such thing as a guiltless grill. And growing meat in labs? thats just ridiculous. Not impossible, but it's ethically wrong.

[Rob Oplawar]

If I may go off on that tangent, exactly how is it more ethical to slaughter animals for consumption than it is to grow meat for consumption?
And it's not ridiculous. I fully expect to eat vat grown meat before I die.

[Bodzilla]

Now c'mon mate.

Growing meat is just wrong dude. Feels like where playing god by doing something like that and i'm not even religious.

Animals are killed for other animals to eat all the time, and have been since the beginning of time. Why should we miss out on the action because of a few retarded and extremely hypocritical animal "protection" groups like Peta?

and as i said it's a ridiculous suggestion, not impossible but it's just not right.

[rossmum]

Regardless of the shit PETA post up, we slaughter animals pretty humanely compared to what they'd get in the wild. Naturally, though, they only ever show third-world abbotoirs. Just like the media only ever show you shit like that puppy-off-a-cliff drama, but never soldiers having dance-offs with the local kids or handing out candy. I've worked with cattle before and while I was pretty put out when the time came to load them up onto the truck for their last road trip, at least I knew they were going to fullfil some useful purpose and it'd be quick. As Zilla said, playing God just isn't right whether you're religious or not. I'm all for stem cells being used in medicine (to an extent), but growing meat from embryos is just... urgh.

[paladin]

I just took one bite of my cheezburger and threw the rest away... sue me

[nooBBooze]

You're thinking too immediate.

Supermarkets notice when shit doesn't sell, and they buy less. Supply and demand brother.
It really wont matter that much if I start to buy less. theres still 100 billion ppl who keep buying shit they don't need.

Not impossible, but it's ethically wrong.
I dont see any problem with that. i like my steak grown from aborted fetuses medium rare and with plenty of ketchup.
yummy

[Llama Juice]

Growing meat is just wrong dude. Feels like where playing god by doing something like that and i'm not even religious.

I seriously lol'd at how you made that connection of us being god there, but for us to create life just to destroy it isn't in the same ballpark.

I don't really now how I stand with this whole issue, I just thought it was interesting.

[Bodzilla]

dude, but thats a hell of alot different, it's just not right. Also an animal gathers alot of it's flavor from the environment it's lived in and the food it eats. Not every piece of lamb we eat tastes exactly the same, and well this Grown meat? just sound like a shit idea.
Bland taste FTL

[nooBBooze]

Meh theres a powder for all kinds of flavours these days. but if science would be able to grow grilled steaks thats the day i turn atheist for good.
xept if i cant afford it.
i'd be the first one to protest againtst it.
lol

[Llama Juice]

^^ There are probably already people protesting it.

Also... grab some soy chicken nuggets (AKA Chicken nuggets without the chicken) or some soy hot dogs.... you'd be surprised how well they can already make the flavor without using the original animal.

If you wanna see an utter failure of an attempt at replicating the original flavor.... buy some soy bacon.... dear god that was by far the most disgusting thing I've ever had in my life.