Why do people waste so much food?

There's one thing in particular that upsets me. If I'm out at a pub or a restaurant and I see someone waste good food because they have over ordered. I just think it's really disgusting, especially with so many people starving in the world. I think the phrase; "eyes bigger than their belly" would best describe these people. Food waste is simply inexcusable!

It's something that's been with me all my life. As a youngster I was always expected to clear everything on my plate and the sound of a knife scraping leftovers into the bin was quite unheard off. Kids these days it would seem are allowed to be picky with their food and I have seen so much perfectly edible food get thrown out. Perhaps our modern junk food mentality can be apportioned some of the blame though. Parents nowadays don’t seem to mind that their children leave food on their plate.

Perhaps our modern junk food mentality can be apportioned some of the blame though. Parents nowadays don’t seem to mind that their children leave food behind. We live in a throw away society and the media isn’t exactly a good role model either. I’ve seen countless TV programmes where someone will get up and walk away from a plate of food half eaten. American lifestyle has also had a marked affect on our eating habits. Huge portions of fatty foods and less fresh vegetables have become very common. Should we be surprised the kids can’t finish their meal?

Some people would argue that the suppliers and manufacturers have a hand in the problem of society wasting food. Every thing has a ‘sell by’ and ‘use by’ date. However, I think sometimes there is a bit of a buffer built into the date and some foods will keep quite well. As a society we’ve survived quite well without a ‘use by date’. Is it a ploy to make us buy more food?

Poor planning and a busy lifestyle will also lead to a great deal of household food waste. How many of us can admit to having made an impulse buy, then several days later having to dispose of food that has gone off in the fridge?

Back in the days when the saying “waste not, want not” actually meant something, you had to plan what would be bought, cooked and exactly how to use the leftovers. Nothing was thrown out and there was time to cook. None of the pre-packed, date-stamped unhealthy supermarket rubbish that we consume these days!

Hard times are a thing of the past and we don’t really appreciate how good things are until it’s too late. It is particularly sad when there are so many in the world that don't have enough food to eat.

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We had a great meal in the Fox & Grapes on the York to Leeds rd, the aged aunt we were with asked the waiter for a sprig of mint, which he supplied wrapped in Clingfilm. She also asked for a cheese board to go. She stuffed all items on the board including the stuffed peppers into small plastic bags that she had brought with her, again it was no problem.

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Boblet - 16-Oct-11 21:13

I see no reason why customers should not take home uneaten food but I would prefer to be able to pay less for a smaller portion to start with.

-2

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Nonny - 16-Oct-11 19:00

What exactly is the problem with asking for a container to take away leftover food? It's mine, I paid for it.

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MikeP - 9-Oct-11 09:18

It's true. Many times when eating out I've seen people walk away from food, quite often half a plate and sometimes nearly a full plate of perfectly good food. A bit of rationing and a few hungry bellies would do people in this country the world of good!

"Doggy bags are part and parcel of eating out in the US. But many British diners struggle with the idea of asking to take their leftovers home, something campaigners want to change."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15106212

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Caroline - 8-Oct-11 23:38

a farmer has slaughtered a cow for meat, and grown vegetables. that farmer has done a lot of good work just to get it into the shops, and some selfish brat is crying just because there is a yummy, delicious tomato on their plate, or cabbage? sunday roast is a delicious dinner for sundays and wasting meat and the vegetables...

or, if your kid was having a small version but suddenly gets a big one at a restaurant, ask the waiter if you can take it home, so the kid can eat it at home

-3

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hazza - 5-Oct-11 18:28

I hate seeing people waste so much food! My in laws are in & they have wasted enough food this week at restaurants that they could have fed themselves for a whole week on, including meat. It makes me absolutely sick to see the amount wasted. I understand that sometimes the portions are too big at restaurants, but what is wrong with taking some leftovers home to reheat in the next day or two? Disgusting people who waste food when people all around the world are starving to death!

-7

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pleasedon'twastefood - 24-Jun-11 05:15

I may have said this before but I too have a problem with the size of restaurant portions, and hate to see food wasted.

I do have a healthy appetite but very rarely have a starter as I prefer to have my pudding! (I then have to sit there while the grumpyoldman eats his starter which he prefers to dessert but he can often manage 3 courses anyway). Even then my main course is sometimes so huge that I have to leave some to have room for dessert.

I would like to have 3 courses sometimes, if only the portions were smaller! The irony is that the restaurants are losing money on this because I would happily pay the same for smaller portions, but would be able to pay for and eat 3 courses instead of 2!

However, I loathe and abhor nouvelle cuisine, I believe it was Michael Winner who called it "a series of decorated plates".

+10

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grumpyoldwoman - 30-Jan-11 10:25

This is a global problem, and I too abhor seeing food wasted.

Large portions are to some extent behind the global obesity epidemic, and this is now particularly bad in the UK, particularly amongst women many of whom are just obscenely fat, and I have no sympathy when I see them cramming doughnuts and chocolate bars, washed down by half a litre of sweet coffee or Coke, into their mouths - and then doing the same to their obsese children, perpetuating the cycle of obesity.

Marketing is partly to blame for this, there's the 'value' perception whereby many people would rather have a large plate of mediocre quality food placed in front of them, along with a pile of chips, than a properly crafted quality meal of a reasonable size, although I'm certainly not advocating the overpriced miniature portions that used to called 'nouvelle cuisine'.

We can fight back. Ask for smaller portions, share, refuse starch, and so on. There is this compulsion to finish everything that's put in front of us, specially if we're paying for it, so the simple answer is to ask for less, or go for two courses instead of three.

-4

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MikeP - 30-Jan-11 10:01

I'm sorry but I completely agree with Pandelon, it's very rare I ever finish my plate at restaurants. I simply cannot eat that amount of food. The kid's menu however say "up to 12 years". I definitely blame the restaurants for any food wastage, I remember one time I order nachos from the "appetiser" section, expecting a tiny plate, because I really wasn't that hungry, then this HUGE PILE came out, needless to say I ate 10 and couldn't eat anymore. There's no size indication at all on anything, I also think half sizes would be a good way to go, even so some of the "snack sizes" I've seen have been pretty substantial. I don't think restaurants should complain or whine, if people are leaving that amount of food, then there's something wrong in the way its being portioned!

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catcatcat - 30-Jan-11 06:25

Pretty mouthwatering idea "The Judge". Actually, the truth is that back in the olden days (I love that expression) folk actually did keep pigs and the chances are restaurant owners did too. I know for a fact the property that I am living in just now, an end terrace house in Warwickshire , did in fact have a pigs kept in an area at the bottom of the garden. The problem is most properties have been redeveloped and people have less space and full time jobs. There's also no inclination to keep animals for food any more. It's too easy to wander into Tesco and pick up a pack of chops. Perhaps with soaring meat prices things will change though. Who knows?

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AOD - 11-Jan-11 15:25

I know what you mean for me as a child now ,have seen loads of children around me waste food but I eat all my food on my plate and dont take it for granted. I am also doing food wastage for my gcse corsework and I am hoping it will open the eyes of the children in my class and see how lucky they are to have food put in front of them

-5

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ellie - 21-Apr-10 12:29

I found a bottle of 80 year old Whisky in my Grandads cellar after he died and I drank it all and guess what? nothing up with it at all I was very pleased until I went out to drop my Wife off at Keep Fit then because I was pissed I drove into a Lorry and ki11ed her and paralysed myself.

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Eric Parsnip - 21-Nov-09 21:11

Society today has pretty much lost much of the values their fathers and forefathers had. Everything is taken for granted in the recent generations. It really takes experiance or empathy of hunger to make one appreciate food. The amount of time that it takes nature to produce it, can be disregarded in an instant.
Food has, in the mind of people become so abundant that its even used for entertainment purposes. You see people playing with food, wasting perfectly good sustainence for the sake of entertainment.
The value of food in first world countries has degredated preposturously. There is great contrast in attitudes toward food of a person from first world countries to that of second and especially third.
When a day comes where food is of shortage, many people will look back in regret as to what they did with it when it was of avail.
Personally the thought of the amount of time and "effort" that nature takes to provide us with sustainence makes me appreciate what I have on my plate every night and I try to clear it even if its food not to my liking.

-4

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Mad Prophet - 25-Oct-09 19:08

I used to wait tables at a restaurant and completely mirror your sentiments. Two out of every five people will order too much and will leave a great deal left behind. If I could set aside all the wasted food, which was completely eadible most of the time, I could have fed all the homeless in london for a day or two during the time I worked there. Bags and bags of food were dumped.
Everytime I clear a table that had substantial amounts of food left behind, "you know that could've fed alot of hungry people" always came to mind. Sometimes freshly made food was chucked out on a last minute cancellations. It really is disgusting.

-10

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AngryWaiter - 25-Oct-09 18:48

agreed...

you'd be surprised how many of my friends throw away ALL the food on there lunch trays at my school.... sometimes it gets me pissed off (like when I can't get lunch one day and im starving just to see em throw away perfetly good pizza lol)

-5

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16yearoldhighschooler - 22-Oct-09 17:36

Farm produces are not the manufactured products of the farmer like plastic products that come out of a factory. Vegetables, fruits, grains and all sorts of produce comes to the market under the care of the farmer. The farmer is only a care taker of the product of the nature. Therefore, when you buy farm produce, do not be choosy for good and bad ones. Just stretch your fingers, grab and put into your cart. When you buy bread, buy one that is very closer to the expiry date. Help the baker to sell his produce. Stop waste of food. This is my personal family policy.

-3

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Wijaya Undupitiya - 18-Oct-09 15:02

Just back from my hols and found a bit of Y Fenni cheese in the fridge which I meant to finish before going away. According to the label on the deli counter bag I bought it on the 14th May and therefore should have eaten it by the 17th May.

Well, it still looked fresh as a daisy so I ate it. Guess what, it WAS still fresh as a daisy!

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grumpyoldwoman - 11-Jun-09 10:15

Re comments by Daz - have never seen boxers punching through food - is that on TV in UK?

-8

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Ben - 24-May-09 14:29

Jenny; I meant to say earlier, I had a look at savingstuff and have put it in my favourites list!
Lots of useful tips, thank you!

-3

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grumpyoldwoman - 3-May-09 14:59

It's not always the fault of the person ordering. Often, portions are simply too big. As an example; I sometimes have a burger and chips at a pub I go to to see live comedy. I can never finish it all because I am just not capable of eating that quantity of food. I reckon there should be an option to order a half portion of chips or something. It's the same at the chippy, I always order small chips but you still get a huge quantity.

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Pandelon - 3-May-09 13:29

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