Food

[Misogi]

Well, since there's no topic related to food discussions, let's start it, then.

Actually, I need some help from the members of BT, because I have an essay about food waste to write in English.

I'll start a first poll to ask you if you waste food. If you can add comments and opinions about it, it would be great.

Thanks, and finally... all hail ham sandwiches, asian food and vanilla ice-creams.

[flasheagle]

I waste the food that can not be kept and eaten.And sometimes I give the food I don't like to someone else or waste it if there's no one.
The taste of the food is also considered.Some people might feel bad to waste the food they paid for so they don't waste the food
they don't like.

[mythu]

You picked an interesting discussion subject Misogi.
The "law" allows me to budge in so I'll try to spice this up with oppinions you won't usually find on the internet. After all, this is about one of our prime necessities, at least every person should take interest in this.
If I state my interest(s), it doesn't mean everything has been covered(I thnk I covered less than 50%), please consider this a collective action.

Spoiler! :

I could write a book about this but it would take a few years and I need to be lazy 'bout this case. I can write at least 10 pages on the spot but I try to keep it short.
Sorry, for a lot of reasons, I won't be saying more than this for now.
I personally think food waste is and should be considered a huge problem for the entire humanity.
I hate to waste food at home, I am especially thankfull for it, I also try my best to recycle it even if I seem the only one in the house that cares enough to lose important time with this.
Of course I never and I prefer to never spend my time without very good reasons. A downside to this is that it's hard to get across to people so that they get inspired enough to do about necessity in life, to make someone care is less harder than to make him realise that he should make himself do it, that he should pester himself (insistently) to be a true keeper of life, of past present and future.
Food is wasted a lot, most of us can hardly imagine it.
Food is wasted when it expires in supermarkets, they don't don't trash it outside and they do it with utmost secrecy, so poor people do not get a bite like in USA, perhaps the employees might grab a product as gift before it expires
Of course we won't buy it(with exceptions), if it expires tomorrow even if the price reduction can happily reach 50% in some rare cases.
Food is wasted when we eat until we are full. How much each one eats should be a true experience for each of us, there are taken in consideration a lot of factors.
I, myself am always experiencing eating the minimum necessary that I need during a day, enough so that I don't get hungry until my next meal, I usually eat 2 times a day and I am skipping evening meal if I don't have a good night activity.(and in my case, I eat even heathier than most "rich" people)
I really take my time when eating, especially hoping to eat in quiteness, I am feeling the tastes and I am often bored while I have to chew very long.(still way less than a herbivore of course). Still no many people have the luxury to take their time eating(this may bring health consequences), mainly because they are being overworked like poor slaves, therefore they loose in many dimensions like: in time, in assimilation of food, in money, energy, health, mental and weight ballance and so on.
I prefer quality over quantity(only when eating) and I mostly get what I prefer. Unlike the usual eater, I assimilate most food I eat so I usually don't need to exceed 1 kilo per day(when I don't exceed my 100% in a 10-14 hours physical labor). People usually buy in quantity rather than quality, even my family buys in quantity too, at least over half of the "ingredients".
The minimum salary per economy we had in 2012 is around 143-153 euros(per month). Only the food expenses per month can easily exceed 133 euro(more than 4 euro per day) for a single person, If you consider the wasted food one obviously exceeds the minimum. So, here, the minimum per economy barely covers food expenses. Another irony is that we expect to enter EU with likewise poor standards(we are already recognized, in it, but not fully accepted).
My age and country are somewhere on this site, find them if u need them that badly.
Another aspect is that we usually do not eat everything we kill and a lot of food is therefore lost. People don't kill for a good reasons, or the reasons have a value close to nothing
Every little creature deserves (equal chances) to live their life to the fullest and till the end, if some break this rule of "respect" then they should become affected too
You will be measured by how you measure. this is an universal consequence(law)

BTW! I voted twice, it shouldn't be allowed.(as "I hate wasting food" and "Other(comment)" I can pick to vote on all options if I want)

[Misogi]

Thanks for the answers, it greatly helps me. I'll read them later and quote what I'd need.
The deadline for my essay is on the 22rd of December, so more answers are welcome.

For the poll, I put 3 options maximum : one for the first question, two for the personal opinions.

[Lery]

I try to never waste any food...
Since I'm good enough at estimating the quantities, I'm able to have almost none leftover after a meal. And the only food I'd throw is the food who has really expired (not only because of the date which is written on it)
So I eat all of what I cook, if I'm still hungry after that because I didn't do enough, it's not a problem, bread is fine too.
But I wouldn't be happy if I cook too much, at the very beginning, I happened to make too much rice for example and thus eat too much, I didn't like it : having eaten to much isn't something which make me happy... (I have a few friends who actually are happy if they eat too much, I can't get it ^^')

But since I'm usually living alone, or from time to time with one other person, it's easy to buy the bare minimum to sustain me for a week and in case I really need something more, then I go and buy it at the shop. I don't like to have quantities of food in my fridge or in my shelves, because it's not easy to manage.

I'm used to plan my meals for the next 7 days when I'm home, before going and shopping the actual food. So I don't end with too much food because I overestimated my appetite or such things while shopping.
I also never buy things I don't like... I buy things that I know I will eat, not matter what.

I also have a little bit of extra food in the fridge's freezer, of course, in case somebody comes by and eats with me.
Or when I have to go suddenly, then I put my food in the freezer, so it won't expire.


The same is true when I'm eating outside : if I take a menu with a salad, since I don't like salad, I will say that I don't want it. I won't take it anyway and not eat it, I find it's important not to waste food because of your taste, I'm not ashamed of not liking salad, so I won't have any problem saying I don't want it.


I also have the same waste feeling with the glasses in cafeterias : I won't take a plastic glass, because of my ecological ideals. So if there aren't any real glass glass, then I don't take water and I go afterward and drink at the tap.


About the food, I must say that my family don't do like this, but it's normal : it's way more difficult to plan meals for more than 1 person
So they have a lot of food in the freezer and in the shelves, but they try not to waste too much food, only if the date expired badly. So if they have leftovers, they will keep it to cook it later for a small meal or instead of going to the cafeteria, my sister would take it to warm it up at school, etc.
It's not because of economical matters, if they wanted to, they could just throw it away and it would't bother them to pay 50€ more food a month, they probably wouldn't even remark it, but it's because of ecological principles. (Kind of "xy:z ; thou shalt not waste" )

Do you want any other information/opinion?


PS : Mythu, what is a "salary per economy"? What does it represent? I never heard that term before, and didn't find it in google.

[mythu]

Spoiler! :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mi ... by_country
Click on "minimum wage" and you will find more about the minimum salary per economy. In my country, it represents the minimum accepted value per month and for a full-time schedule of 169-333 hours per month

Anything else?