Reply
Honored Contributor
Posts: 24,685
Registered: ‎07-21-2011

@lovesrecess  The food is given food pantries.  You can't worry about everything.  Perhaps you should join a group that tries to prevent waste.  Yes, it is terrible.  Growing up, I would hear that kids are starving in Europe.

kindness is strength
Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,935
Registered: ‎11-22-2013

My mom wasborn in 1932 and was very frugal.  She would save cornbread that was left over and put it in the freezer to make dressing with.  Iam now 58 and appreciate the lessons taught by her that have made me what I am today. She would say if you need to charge it, sleep on it and consider if it is a need or just a want  We were taught to "try"new foods whether it looked good or not. I miss her wit and wisdom!

Honored Contributor
Posts: 10,168
Registered: ‎03-14-2010

Re: Waste not, want not...

[ Edited ]

Yes I know some health codes don’t allow serving food that is over an hour , etc old.my MIL would also save cornbread in the freezer for dressing. 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 10,168
Registered: ‎03-14-2010
I also have to do my homework before shelling out big bucks....All ny kids have the same mindset as I do except for one...but as soon as her three kids go off to college at the same time...she will be looking and spending very differently!
Honored Contributor
Posts: 23,835
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

@Anonymous032819 wrote:

Growing up, I was never forced to eat every morsel on my plate.

 

 

If I was full and there was food left over, that was perfectly fine with my parents.


@Anonymous032819   Same for me. Never forced to clean my plate.  I never remember being told to eat something I did not like. 

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,040
Registered: ‎09-12-2010

Considering my age (71), I don't think it's a fair comparison between how my parents raised me and how things are now! My parents weren't frugal, but they were smart shoppers. They didn't have a lot of money back then, but they had been raised through the Depression and so they knew what they could/couldn't afford. We had access to fresh vegetables and meat, thanks to grandparents' farms, but I was never raised with the "waste not, want not" attitude. My parents were reasonable and they raised me to be the same way. What goes on now is the result of an entirely different generation's values as well as government regulations related to food safety.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 10,168
Registered: ‎03-14-2010
I think it does depend on how you grew up....and how your parents saw the world when they were young....I know depression-era children were taught not to waste anything because there was no guarantee there would be more right away....so you made things last...and that wasn’t just food. You wore shoes until they were worn out....you didn’t leave a bar of soap in the water..you dried it off on a towel so it would last, etc. we never were forced to clean our plate...but my mother never put food on our plates that she knew we hated either. Most of the time we left some food on the plate but I never thought of it as wasted.
Honored Contributor
Posts: 10,168
Registered: ‎03-14-2010
I don’t know anyone who feels guilty about throwing away food...but when our power was out last month for four days after a storm , I did hate having to throw away a freezer full of food!
Honored Contributor
Posts: 41,255
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

was taught not to waste and to eat everything that i put on my plate.

i was never forced to eat anything that i did not like.

i try my best to do the same now. it is quite important to me.

if i go out to eat, i always take home the leftovers to eat.

 we eat leftovers from dinners that i make and/or they are taken to work for lunch.

i send food to my kids or mom if i make too much.

i have two freezers and freeze meals to eat at another time.

********************************************
"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing." - Albert Einstein
Honored Contributor
Posts: 10,168
Registered: ‎03-14-2010
I do the same; I have one DD who lives close by and I just sent her half of a watermelon I know just the two of us won’t finish. Her fam goes to Costco and buys produce there....she gives us a few apples, etc. I buy our produce at Sprouts because no way we can finish two dozen bananas or 18 apples before they are past their prime.