To what extent is wasting food sinful?

[bmonk]

It is not always the amount that is sinful, it can be the attitude.

Yes, throwing away spoiled food is allowed. But what about the attitude that buys so much that it cannot be prepared and eaten before it spoils? Or that has a fridge so full that it is overlooked for that long?

What about the family what tosses leftovers (as mentioned above) just because they don’t care to eat them again this week? (Why prepare so much in the first place?) Or similar members who object to what is prepared and demand that other food be made for them?

Our restaurants and other institutions may require food to be discarded. One is the leftovers that are returned and not taken home by the patron. Are portions too large to eat for the average person? Why is not the excess taken home and eaten later? Why are only certain people allowed to order smaller portions–especially children and senior citizens?

Another is food that is on the line for a certain time and not taken–such as at buffets. Why is such a variety of choices given that, inevitably, some will be wasted?

And then there is outdated food at grocery stores, including day-old bread. Many stores discard such food, rather than donate it to food banks or soup kitchens, for fear of lawsuits. In fact, the expiration dates, if the food was properly handled, include a period that would allow use within a week or two. Perfectly good food is made into garbage.

In short, yes, we do have a lot of attitudes that contribute to the wastage of food. Each of us needs to consider what we do that is excessive, and change our behavior to be more aware of the sin, and avoid contributing.

 

[Ridgerunner]

This won’t be helpful to anybody to speak of. Just a reminiscence.

When I was a kid, we lived in the country (the really DEEP country). We had dogs, cats, chickens and a couple of old former plow horses.

My mother re-invented as many leftovers as she could, but there really is a limit to what you can save and serve again, especially if refrigeration is a bit chancey, which it was back then.

One of my jobs was to take out the garbage. Our “garbage disposal” was a shallow ditch not too far from the house. As soon as I left the house with a pan, dogs and cats would follow me. A little later, the chickens and horses would show up. The dogs and cats would eat most of it, except for old, hard bread, old vegetables and rinds. The horses would eat the bread and most any vegetables. They would even eat the cobs from roasting ears. The chickens would eat anything the others didn’t eat.

The only things left after they all got through with it were egg shells and coffee grounds. Eventually, the egg shells and coffee grounds just turned into dirt.

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

I’m sure we’ve all heard from our parents or at least from Pope Francis’ recent comments that wasting food is sinful. But to what extent?

I don’t see how wasting food for ordinary people, unless it’s a lot of food, is a sin, at least mortally. So maybe the Pope’s comments were more directed toward restaurants or governments who support this waste through farm subsidies to rich farmers?

Thoughts?

I don’t get the part about subsidies or what it has to do with the question. And NO farmer I know is rich.

 

[LegoGE1947]

I don’t get the part about subsidies or what it has to do with the question. And NO farmer I know is rich.

When you consider how dependent on the weird weather of recent years, I don’t know any either!

 

[Tommyts]

I don’t get the part about subsidies or what it has to do with the question. And NO farmer I know is rich.

I’m currently in a Masters ‘Sustainable Business’ program, and a devout Catholic, so this thread greatly intrigued me. The farm subsidies might be a little bit of a stretch as it relates to sin, in my opinion, but it could be part of what enables us to buy so much food for little money in this nation… and tempt us to waste so much. Farm subsidies are a relic of the Great Depression era, and have no need in today’s farming environment. As for farmers’ income, they make more than one is inclined to think ($85k median in 2011)! Here’s a recent article about the whole thing: bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-09/farmers-boost-revenue-sowing-subsidies-for-crop-insurance.html

As far as how much food the U.S. wastes, studies show that it’s somewhere around the 40% mark. Now THAT is a sin!

 

[Tommyts]

Following up on my recent post, here’s a brief, informative 90-second video on how much food is wasted:
youtube.com/watch?v=EwVuz0UJl2A

 

[Skye_Ariel]

This won’t be helpful to anybody to speak of. Just a reminiscence.

When I was a kid, we lived in the country (the really DEEP country). We had dogs, cats, chickens and a couple of old former plow horses.

My mother re-invented as many leftovers as she could, but there really is a limit to what you can save and serve again, especially if refrigeration is a bit chancey, which it was back then.

One of my jobs was to take out the garbage. Our “garbage disposal” was a shallow ditch not too far from the house. As soon as I left the house with a pan, dogs and cats would follow me. A little later, the chickens and horses would show up. The dogs and cats would eat most of it, except for old, hard bread, old vegetables and rinds. The horses would eat the bread and most any vegetables. They would even eat the cobs from roasting ears. The chickens would eat anything the others didn’t eat.

The only things left after they all got through with it were egg shells and coffee grounds. Eventually, the egg shells and coffee grounds just turned into dirt.

Yeah that reminds me of when my family went to visit relatives, distant cousins on a farm when I was like 10yrs old and I was surprised at how their “garbage disposal” was the animals on the farm and how the animals and especially the pigs ate **everything **left over. That was very interesting to me as kid since I was a city kid. It was my first time on a farm.

 

[mcpenguin5]

I often think about this when I see the entertainment that involves tossing food around. “Chunkin Pumpkins”, for example. A tradition I have read about where people toss tomatoes around at each other. I feel this is a terrible waste of food that could feed hungry people who could have access to these food items. Maybe I am being overly sensitive, but it just seems wrong. I have never heard anyone comment on these things, so maybe I am the only one who reacts this way to the amusement that involves throwing food around.

 

[LegoGE1947]

Or comedy movies where people are throwing pies at each other (think The Three Stooges).

 

[Ophelia23]

When I was growing up – I’m in my 60’s. My mother was a nurse – very into good nutricious meals. I’d hear comments about people in other countries who don’t have enough to eat so appreciate what we Do have. Don’t waste food. Take reasonable portions – put left-overs in the refrig until later. But don’t throw away perfectly good food. Maybe it would be ‘waste not–want not’.

My mum always emphasized that we were to not waste our food as well. Things would get put away in the fridge or the freezer, and twice a week (once for a lunch and once for a dinner) we would eat ‘mustgos’. Mustgos, as in “everything must go”.

“What’s for dinner, mom?”

“Oh, mustgos.”

“Leftovers again??”

This was a very regular conversation.

But it has formed me in how I raise my own kids even. I give them small portions on their plate; small enough that it is perfectly fair for me to expect them to clear their plate. When they ask for more, I continue to give it in small portions. My rule isn’t to only eat a little. Rather, everyone can have as much as they want but must finish what they’ve got first.

 

[Ophelia23]

I often think about this when I see the entertainment that involves tossing food around. “Chunkin Pumpkins”, for example. A tradition I have read about where people toss tomatoes around at each other. I feel this is a terrible waste of food that could feed hungry people who could have access to these food items. Maybe I am being overly sensitive, but it just seems wrong. I have never heard anyone comment on these things, so maybe I am the only one who reacts this way to the amusement that involves throwing food around.

I’ve always wondered this about cooking competitions, too. For example, on MasterChef, all of the contestants cook a meal but the judges only taste 3 off them. What happens to the other ones??

 

[Brendan_64]

I’m sure we’ve all heard from our parents or at least from Pope Francis’ recent comments that wasting food is sinful. But to what extent?

I don’t see how wasting food for ordinary people, unless it’s a lot of food, is a sin, at least mortally. So maybe the Pope’s comments were more directed toward restaurants or governments who support this waste through farm subsidies to rich farmers?

Thoughts?

I think that wasting food is indeed sinful. In the UK a third of all food is wasted.

If you have cooked too much food at one meal then save it and have it cold for lunch the following day. If you’re ending up throwing away food that is out of date then you’re buying far too much food and you ought to cut down on what you buy.

People in the world are going hungry (in our own towns) and starving, and we are throwing away food.

As for supermarkets, they throw away so much food because** we** expect supermarket shelves to always be in stock of the items we want to buy. We expect to be able to buy our favourite foods whenever we go into a supermarket, so the supermarket makes sure they are always in stock. This cannot be done without huge quantities of waste as a ‘by-product’.

The same applies to restaurants. They have the huge quantities of waste food, because we expect a wide and varied menu.

Wasting food is, I believe, very sinful. We are charged with being good stewards of God’s creation. Wasting the fruits of His creation, particularly while our brothers go hungry, is sinful.

 

[mikekle]

This got me thinking about all the food that is thrown out by the large chain gas station/convenience store I am a corporate rep for, they cook and serve pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs and other items, and keep them in warmers, they are good for 2 hours, then they throw them out!!! and this happens each and every day in 1000s of similar locations all over the country, so IMO, Id say, it is absolutely sinful, but not sure who is sinning…it could be the health dept and taking way too many precautions, is it the company? the store mgr?.

I get sick when I think of all the food that they waste every single day of the week, Ive thought about mentioning this to a local media station and letting them break the story, hoping something makes this policy change, or find someone they can donate it to, or…?

They could even put it out separately after 2 hours and give it away for free, but they have not done this yet and I truly think they would rather throw it away over giving it to someone who could use it…this really makes me mad. One store literally fills 55 gallon garbage cans full of food every single day, and its perfectly good food, the only reason its trash, is because it was not sold within 2 hours!!! Give me a freaking break!!

 

[Tommyts]

This pains me to think about. The only way to stop this madness is to speak up, loud and clear. Propose solutions. Show corporate execs they will save $ and have a competitive advantage by having made-to-order food, or by reducing the amount of waste. There are other companies working on these things (see link) and seeking a profitable advantage but why let them be first? There are tremendous $ to be saved here, in addition to the moral aspect!
switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/plehner/how_farms_restaurants_and_groc.html

 

[Brendan_64]

This got me thinking about all the food that is thrown out by the large chain gas station/convenience store I am a corporate rep for, they cook and serve pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs and other items, and keep them in warmers, they are good for 2 hours, then they throw them out!!! and this happens each and every day in 1000s of similar locations all over the country, so IMO, Id say, it is absolutely sinful, but not sure who is sinning…it could be the health dept and taking way too many precautions, is it the company? the store mgr?

And what would happen if they served it? Customers would complain that the food they receive was not up to the standard they expect. And what would happen if they cooked less food so as to have less waste? They would run out of some items and customers would complain that it was not ready for them when they wanted it.

Companies behave like this because we, as customers, demand to have what we want, when we want it.

Until we get into the mindset that food is precious and not just a commodity that ought to be available on demand in any variety, flavour or type, at any time we want it, or in any time of the year, then this sinful waste of food will continue. We do not have the right to expect our favourite foods to be available whenever we want them. We ought to actually be grateful that we have food, of any type, available to us, as this is something that a great many of our fellow men do not have.

 

[bmonk]

This won’t be helpful to anybody to speak of. Just a reminiscence.

When I was a kid, we lived in the country (the really DEEP country). We had dogs, cats, chickens and a couple of old former plow horses.

My mother re-invented as many leftovers as she could, but there really is a limit to what you can save and serve again, especially if refrigeration is a bit chancey, which it was back then.

One of my jobs was to take out the garbage. Our “garbage disposal” was a shallow ditch not too far from the house. As soon as I left the house with a pan, dogs and cats would follow me. A little later, the chickens and horses would show up. The dogs and cats would eat most of it, except for old, hard bread, old vegetables and rinds. The horses would eat the bread and most any vegetables. They would even eat the cobs from roasting ears. The chickens would eat anything the others didn’t eat.

The only things left after they all got through with it were egg shells and coffee grounds. Eventually, the egg shells and coffee grounds just turned into dirt.

Growing up in the suburbs, we had extensive gardens–eventually about half our back yard, and some of a neighbor’s yard some years. We had a compost pit (later finding out it was illegal), and regularly saved organic food wastes for fertilizing the garden. Even in winter, it was not hard to have a trench, pour in the scraps, and cover them with dirt. It was a way to recycle what did not get served as left-overs.

 

[bmonk]

This got me thinking about all the food that is thrown out by the large chain gas station/convenience store I am a corporate rep for, they cook and serve pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs and other items, and keep them in warmers, they are good for 2 hours, then they throw them out!!! and this happens each and every day in 1000s of similar locations all over the country, so IMO, Id say, it is absolutely sinful, but not sure who is sinning…it could be the health dept and taking way too many precautions, is it the company? the store mgr?.

I get sick when I think of all the food that they waste every single day of the week, Ive thought about mentioning this to a local media station and letting them break the story, hoping something makes this policy change, or find someone they can donate it to, or…?

They could even put it out separately after 2 hours and give it away for free, but they have not done this yet and I truly think they would rather throw it away over giving it to someone who could use it…this really makes me mad. One store literally fills 55 gallon garbage cans full of food every single day, and its perfectly good food, the only reason its trash, is because it was not sold within 2 hours!!! Give me a freaking break!!

This pains me to think about. The only way to stop this madness is to speak up, loud and clear. Propose solutions. Show corporate execs they will save $ and have a competitive advantage by having made-to-order food, or by reducing the amount of waste. There are other companies working on these things (see link) and seeking a profitable advantage but why let them be first? There are tremendous $ to be saved here, in addition to the moral aspect!
switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/plehner/how_farms_restaurants_and_groc.html

Yes. If we did not (together) insist on having food available within a few minutes at most, they would not have to have such quantities waiting for whatever the next customer orders. It is in service of our love of fast food that such waste is created.

 

[Brendan_64]

It is in service of our love of fast food that such waste is created.

Absolutely right.

It is our expectation that cooked food is ready for us, almost immediately, that creates this waste. It is our expectation to be able to walk into a supermarket and by the food we want when we want it that creates supermarket food waste.

We expect convenience, almost as a right. With convenience comes food waste, huge amounts of food waste.

Would we be happy to turn up at a supermarket late in the evening to find that there was next to no food left on the shelves? Would we be happy to have only vegetables that are in season, and then only in sporadic availability? Would we be happy to turn up and be grateful for whatever there is on shelf?

Would we be happy to wait 20 minutes when ordering a burger or pizza at a fast-food outlet? Would we be happy to go into a restaurant only to have a very limited menu to choose from?

 

[mikekle]

Absolutely right.

It is our expectation that cooked food is ready for us, almost immediately, that creates this waste. It is our expectation to be able to walk into a supermarket and by the food we want when we want it that creates supermarket food waste.

We expect convenience, almost as a right. With convenience comes food waste, huge amounts of food waste.

Would we be happy to turn up at a supermarket late in the evening to find that there was next to no food left on the shelves? Would we be happy to have only vegetables that are in season, and then only in sporadic availability? Would we be happy to turn up and be grateful for whatever there is on shelf?

Would we be happy to wait 20 minutes when ordering a burger or pizza at a fast-food outlet? Would we be happy to go into a restaurant only to have a very limited menu to choose from?

Geez, we have really become a pathetic race!!!

I cannot imagine what God is thinking when he sees such things going on in the world. think about that for a minute, our society is catering to people sooo much that it is willing to waste hundreds of pounds of food each day…JUST so a person does not have to wait more than 5 minutes at one time for something to eat.LOL Really puts things in perspective!

 

[LegoGE1947]

Geez, we have really become a pathetic race!!!

I cannot imagine what God is thinking when he sees such things going on in the world. think about that for a minute, our society is catering to people sooo much that it is willing to waste hundreds of pounds of food each day…JUST so a person does not have to wait more than 5 minutes at one time for something to eat.LOL Really puts things in perspective!

Then in some other places in the world seems people have to wait much longer than that for something to eat, say 4 or 5 days in some cases!