Personal Finance King

A Personal Finance Money Blog from a Christian Perspective

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Recommended Sites
You are here: Home / Saving Money / Battling Food Waste – Why I Eat Every Grain of Rice on My Plate

Battling Food Waste – Why I Eat Every Grain of Rice on My Plate

September 5, 2019 by Barnaby

We had a recent get together with friends at our house. It was a great time, but I was a little disappointed after everyone went home, and I found someone’s dinner plate in the kitchen:

It was a buffet-style meal after all, and this was all the pasta that remained in the serving dish:

What a Waste

If you’ve ever worked in a restaurant kitchen like I have, you probably won’t be surprised to hear that the United States leads the world in squandering food. Americans waste 150,000 tons of food each day – equal to a pound per person – and food is the single biggest occupant in our landfills.

It’s as if food really is as abundant as in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, where free food drops from the sky. (Catastrophically too much eventually, but that’s a whole other issue).

And in the U.S., food is plentiful, assuming you have the resources to buy it. Of course, not everyone does.

Producer Perspective

As an economics major in college, the professors drill into you the folly of Thomas Malthus, who wrote that population growth would eventually lead to great hardship and famine, as the mouths outnumber our ability to fill them.

That hasn’t come to pass (in the First World, anyway), as farming efficiency (due to mechanization and better plants and herbicides/pesticides) has increased at an even faster rate. Just think of how few of your relatives or friends are farmers, and you get a good sense of what this efficiency has wrought – the ability for most people to concentrate on non-food-producing endeavors.

Like most people, I have agrarian roots in the family tree. In fact, some branches are still farming. My aunt and uncle run a fruit farm on Long Island. As a second career, my sister and husband run a blossoming (hehe) flower farm. So I still feel close to the soil, even if I don’t till it myself. Maybe that’s why food waste seems personal.

“Slap to the Face”

It’s more than that though. When we were on vacation, one of the kids was struggling to clean his plate. “That’s a real slap to the face of the waiter, if you don’t finish your food,” I said. “And it’s a slap to the face of the chef. And it’s a slap to the face of the truck driver who delivered the food…”

“And it’s a slap to the face of the farmer who planted the seed and harvested the crop,” said Nora, joining in on the fun.

“And ultimately, it’s a slap to the face of God, who gave humans dominion over the earth and asked us to be good stewards of its resources,” I concluded.

Fetch Me a Doggie Bag

Besides proving a point, I don’t normally believe in pressuring anyone to ingest more than they are comfortable eating, because food consumed beyond what is needed for daily use is wasted by the body. Or added to bodily fat stores that will never be called upon, despite their strategic positioning there in the upper arms, all ready to spring into action.

But I do believe in:

  • Not ordering/taking more than you can readily eat
  • Doggie bags
  • Practicing gratitude – thanking God for every meal
  • Praying and working for those who go without – see How Should We Respond to Needy People on the Street
  • Taking a regular inventory of the fridge, to determine what needs to be eaten before it spoils
  • Composting anything organic that does go bad
Nora transfers compost from the tumbler to the happy, healthy garden

My Own Worst Enemy

A final note (mostly to myself): Don’t become a nazi about food waste or anything similar. Your obnoxiousness might repel potential allies, and distract from bigger-picture issues.

And it might turn your own kid into a chubby version of their former selves. A couple years ago, after years of enduring “Clean Plate Ranger” lessons and the virtues of chasing down every crumb on your plate, Pippa flew to the Dominican Republic with a school service group. When she came back a week later, she said she had gained ten pounds.

“What happened?” I asked, incredulously.

“Our host family kept filling my plate, and I kept emptying it,” she related.

Oh yeah, I forgot about Latin hospitality. Whoops!

Filed Under: Saving Money Tagged With: minimizing food waste, save money on food

Comments

  1. Menard Solve says

    September 6, 2019 at 6:28 pm

    I often tell my kids never put food they can’t finish on their plate. But I also ask my wife never to eat our kids’ leftovers. I’d rather she throw them away or put them in the fridge for them to eat later. The extra calories could make her gain weight and risk costly health issues in the future. Great post, BTW.

    • Barnaby says

      September 6, 2019 at 8:25 pm

      Nice job looking out for the kids…and the wife. I only throw food away under duress.

  2. Peta Evans says

    November 12, 2019 at 12:47 am

    I don’t mind throwing away food, I don’t want it to end up in the ocean wrapped around a dolphin’s neck.

About Me

About Barnaby King Welcome to the Personal Finance King blog, which explores issues of Money, Faith, Work, and Family. I am Barnaby King. More
Subscribe to Receive New Posts by Email:

Check your inbox or spam folder now to confirm your subscription.

RSS RSS Feed

  • Quick Takes: Riding Greyhound, Winning Mega Millions & Human Composting
  • Know Your Value
  • My Tiny Bitcoin Investment Lost 64% of Its Value

Most Popular Posts

1. How Should We Respond to Needy People on the Street?
2. We Ported Our Landline Phone to Google Voice, Saving $46 Per Month
3. What Is the Role of Faith in Personal Finance?
4. 9 Life and Finance Lessons from “Alexander Hamilton” Biography by Ron Chernow
5. Top 8 Free and Offbeat Historic Things to Do in Baltimore
6. Why We Live in Baltimore Despite Its Problems
7. How a Prized Pocket Knife Was Imperiled on a Trip to See the Rockettes
8. Is 16 Too Old for a First Phone?

Categories

  • Earning Money
  • Faith & Finance
  • Kids & Finance
  • Love & Finance
  • Misc Finance
  • Politics & Finance
  • Saving Money
  • Travel & Finance
  • Uncategorized
  • Work & Finance

Archive

  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • August 2022
  • June 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016

Copyright © 2023 · Metro Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in