Americans' food spending/food waste habits

[Tesla]

Maybe if families reduce cell phone and cable tv bills, junk/luxury food, unnecessary stuff, buy when on sale combined with coupons as much as possible, then maybe one parent can stay home and take care of the kids and chores. Growing up in the 80's in Silicon Valley, my dad was making around $30K and was able to provide roof over our heads for 3 kids. My mom woke up early to make breakfast and lunches for us and of course dinner, did all the food shopping, cleaning. She never went to overpriced stores, just the bargain ones or the not so overpriced. We survived. I didn't feel like we were starving. Us kids didn't have expensive toys like kids today have. Another reason why I don't want to have kids, is that I am not willing to give them expensive toys (i.e smartphones) because I myself don't even have them. Kids these days want too much, too spoiled.

It isn’t the 1980s anymore. Everything is a lot more expensive and salaries haven’t grown at the same pace. It’s great that your parents were able to do this, so were mine. Working families don’t have that option today. And it isn’t about the cell phones, etc. It isn’t that simple.

 

[once_upon]

Sorry I drifted the thread. I just got tired of the "I always cook, and fast food is because [insert whatever here]" comments and parents are lazy.

We tend to throw away because it is nearly impossible to get portions that are for 2 people. Like vegetables. Like meats or fish. Neither of us are big on leftovers, although I'm trying to change that. I'm also stopping on the way home everything 3 days to get stuff for 2-3 meals I'm sure I'll fix for dinner. Less waste.

 

[oleada]

Barring medical/sensory issues, kids are taught to be picky. Eating junk food from a young age trains their taste to want sugar, fat, and salt. As a child myself, there were kids who didn't like liver or lima beans but never kids who insisted on french fries or chicken nuggets or refused an entire meal like there are now. I have hosted kids who eat fast food for every meal of every day and even they are happy with meatloaf and mashed potatoes and green beans. It was odd to have kids say their mom never cooks and ask me if I do it every day. They would make requests when they came over.

Hahahahaha. I think some pickiness is taught, but a lot of it is born. We grew up getting home cooked meals all the time. Yet I had about 3 things I would eat; every meal time was a battle and yet my brother (1 year younger than me) would and still does, eat absolutely everything. Parents get a lot of crap for having picky eatin children but from personal experience, I don't think my parents were to blame.

I agree with those who said kids are less picky these days. I would never have touched sushi as a kid in a million years, but I see kids eating sushi these days all the time.

Sorry I drifted the thread. I just got tired of the "I always cook, and fast food is because [insert whatever here]" comments and parents are lazy.

We tend to throw away because it is nearly impossible to get portions that are for 2 people. Like vegetables. Like meats or fish. Neither of us are big on leftovers, although I'm trying to change that. I'm also stopping on the way home everything 3 days to get stuff for 2-3 meals I'm sure I'll fix for dinner. Less waste.

We try to do this too, but it's not always possible.

 

[quartz]

I grew up with no food waste. My mom could make Sunday’s roast beef dinner into two or three more meals during the week and the dog got the bone. Cleaning out the fridge meant soup or casserole - everything went into the pot. Whole chickens or turkeys were boiled down to the bone to glean every bit of meat on them, the cats got the giblets. Stale bread was used for toast, or a treat of French toast on Saturday morning. Vegetable peelings went to the hamsters and guinea pigs.
I do pretty good, but I am not nearly as efficient as my mom was, but I didnt have to pinch pennies either like she did.

 

[Justlooking]

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20170331-its-not-just-human-toddlers-that-are-fussy-eaters


an article that explains a lot on fussy eating.

 

[once_upon]

It isn’t the 1980s anymore. Everything is a lot more expensive and salaries haven’t grown at the same pace. It’s great that your parents were able to do this, so were mine. Working families don’t have that option today. And it isn’t about the cell phones, etc. It isn’t that simple.

How about healthcare insurance - where it is offered at one place of employment and only ACA crap insurance at another. How about that expensive cell phone is required by your work but not compensated.

It is not the 80's now but even in th 80's I had to work to pay for healthcare insurance even back them.

It's about food here, let's get off the judgements about employment needs and consumerism. But thread drft.

 

[annie720]

The only leftovers we throw out at my house are maybe sauces that I make to go with something that are not all used. The food itself is always eaten, if not for another dinner, then hubby gladly takes it to work for lunch. Occasionally, fresh veggies or a lemon/lime might go bad before they're used, but that's pretty rare.

 

[vesperholly]

Maybe if families reduce cell phone and cable tv bills, junk/luxury food, unnecessary stuff, buy when on sale combined with coupons as much as possible, then maybe one parent can stay home and take care of the kids and chores. Growing up in the 80's in Silicon Valley, my dad was making around $30K and was able to provide roof over our heads for 3 kids. My mom woke up early to make breakfast and lunches for us and of course dinner, did all the food shopping, cleaning. She never went to overpriced stores, just the bargain ones or the not so overpriced. We survived. I didn't feel like we were starving. Us kids didn't have expensive toys like kids today have. Another reason why I don't want to have kids, is that I am not willing to give them expensive toys (i.e smartphones) because I myself don't even have them. Kids these days want too much, too spoiled.

I'm not even sure where to start ... just all wrong.

As far as food waste, I purposely bought a refrigerator with a large freezer. As a single person, it's much harder to go through fresh food quickly. Also as a single-income household, I also want to buy in bulk to save money. So I try to freeze as much as I can. But I know I still waste food. I have a composter now so that makes me feel slightly better.

 

[TheGirlCanSkate]

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20170331-its-not-just-human-toddlers-that-are-fussy-eaters


an article that explains a lot on fussy eating.

That was very interesting! Especially how adults in the lives of children can make a huge difference by modeling food behaviors.

 

[TheGirlCanSkate]

I think it is easy to criticize and blame parents for not cooking as nutritious meals as you would. And be smug about.

I look at my grandchildren and their parents lives. Both parents work long hours, because you are salaried and you don't get to leave at 8 hours, your employer wants/demands you work at least 9-10 hours/day.

You've been up since 5 am to get everyone dressed and out of the house by 7 am so you can get them dropped off at daycare and at work by 8 am. You leave work, hopefully by 5:30 pm to get kids before day care charges you an additional $10/10 minutes over closing for each kid because they close at 6 pm. You get home at 6:30 pm earliest. Then you have to prepare something, likely around 7 pm before the family would eat (at the earliest). The second grader has 30 minutes of reading/math to do. The twins want to practice writing. By the time 8 pm comes around you try to get everyone in bed because studies say kids need to have 10 hours of quality sleep. You now have laundry, because 3 kids, produce a lot of laundry. And you would like at least 40 minutes for you time before you start all over again.

Oh I forgot, we do have picky eaters - no sauces, one refuses meat, one has life threatening allergies to peanuts, the other to eggs.

You see we set parents up to fail. You need to cook nutritional homemade meals, spend 30 minutes reading to each child, guide them with homework, make sure they get 10 hours of sleep. And the trillion other things you think needs to happen for kids to be healthy and successful.

And kids are picky. You can offer veggies or meats or whatever you think is good. Textures are a big thing for kids. One of my grandchildren loves green and red and orange pepper slices, but sauces make her gag. They all love broccoli - one likes raw, one likes cooked and one if it doesn't touch anything else on her plate.

Oh weekends? They are pretty full of errands.

Aside from picky eaters, that has been my (only 2 allergies though) life. Add in caring for a spouse who is disabled. But if they didn't like what I made for dinner they could have fruit and cereal or a sandwich - which they had to prepare and clean up after. Both kids were helping in the kitchen since they could stand on a chair and reach the counter. It's harder than calling in a pizza, but in a way it is also easier - in college one could later cook all of his own meals so he saved a lot on food costs. When my spouse could no longer work we were able to survive on one paycheck. If we had a life of fast food/restaurant meals it would have been much harder.

 

[Japanfan]

Maybe if families reduce cell phone and cable tv bills, junk/luxury food, unnecessary stuff, buy when on sale combined with coupons as much as possible, then maybe one parent can stay home and take care of the kids and chores.

It's really difficult for one parent to stay at home these days unless the working parent makes a very large salary, or the couple is wealthy. For the working poor, it's impossible. Cell phones and cable TV are pretty much a necessity - the former for communication, the latter for entertainment. Working parents with kids get precious little time for their own entertainment, and that one hour at the end of the day watching a favorite show or the news may be it for the whole day.

Growing up in the 80's in Silicon Valley, my dad was making around $30K and was able to provide roof over our heads for 3 kids. My mom woke up early to make breakfast and lunches for us and of course dinner, did all the food shopping, cleaning. She never went to overpriced stores, just the bargain ones or the not so overpriced. We survived.

The 80s were an entirely different time. And working parents today also go to bargain stores.

Us kids didn't have expensive toys like kids today have. Another reason why I don't want to have kids, is that I am not willing to give them expensive toys (i.e smartphones) because I myself don't even have them. Kids these days want too much, too spoiled.

Every generation pretty much sees the kids of the next generation as spoiled. And 'expensive toys' is relative.

Also, I would guess that education is relatively much more expensive today than it was in the 80s. When I did my first year university in 1975 or 1976, my total year's tuition was about $400.00.

 

[MacMadame]

My sisters were picky eaters. Back in the 60s. It's not a new phenomenon.

As for wasting food, I was away this weekend eating out and even with getting togo boxes, I ended up wasting a lot of food. I think restaurant portions are way too big.

 

[once_upon]

My sisters were picky eaters. Back in the 60s. It's not a new phenomenon.

As for wasting food, I was away this weekend eating out and even with getting togo boxes, I ended up wasting a lot of food. I think restaurant portions are way too big.

I often want to order a child's portion because it is simply too much to eat otherwise. I am tired of the huge portions that would really feed both of us. And too many of us grew up with the "clean your plate" mindset. Which is as much a part of the obesity problem as processed foods and lack of exercise is.

I was a picky eater back in the late 50's. mushy canned veggies made me vomit - you should have been there the night mom and dad made me sit there and eat them - not a pleasant sight, i knew that rabbit, squirrel, pheasant and quail were not chicken like Mom said it was. Liver was a the texture thing. Fried fish was ok, until I saw dad skinning and deboning them. I hate milk, even as a child couldn't drink it (I now think I am lactose sensitive and just avoid it because of gut issues). Breakfast is difficult for me to eat. I need to be awake for about 2 hours before I can think about food. I think some of us have sensitive guts and it shows up in food pickiness.

Mom worked in the 60's not to have expensive toys, but because dad was union and strikes were common. By working Mom made sure that we had income, had health insurance, were able to keep our house. Things that some of dad's co-workers were not able to do.

America has, as @oleada mentioned, food deserts in the poor neighborhoods. No grocery stores nearby - where you may need to ride the bus or pay for a cab to get to the store, the nearby stores will mark-up the food prices; if you live in the more exclusive neighborhood you probably pay 10-15% less than the poor improvised neighborhoods, and definitely less fresh produce.

 

[Japanfan]

I was a picky eater back in the late 50's. mushy canned veggies made me vomit - you should have been there the night mom and dad made me sit there and eat them - not a pleasant sight

My mom would cook the leftover vegetables over and over again. Little foil packets of those veggies would come out of the oven at almost every meal. I expect they went far beyond the mushy canned variety - can't really say because I never did eat them.

, i knew that rabbit, squirrel, pheasant and quail were not chicken like Mom said it was.

Love all those birds!

Liver was a the texture thing.

Wednesday dinner was always liver in our house - liver or chicken livers. I guess my mom and maybe dad liked it. Never could stomach it myself. Felt the same way about tongue.

Fried fish was ok, until I saw dad skinning and deboning them.

I loved fried fish. Either Tuesdays or Thursdays were fish - mom followed a strict menu. I loved it because at least it was a fried meal. Mom didn't fry much as she was dedicated to staying slim. Eggs and salami were another fried dinner that I really appreciated.

In posting this I'm reminded of how non-stop my mom worked. In addition to all the housework and cooking, she worked afternoons at the drug store my father owned. She had a cleaning lady come in once a week, but even so, she was working pretty much from 8 a.m. when she gave dad breakfast to at least 7:30 pm, when the dishes were finally handled and the dishwasher running.

Sometimes she'd bake after all that.

I never helped her with any of that, nor did my brother or sister. I've come to feel so very lousy about that and just wish mom had lived long enough for me to tell her so.

 

[Tinami Amori]

... if you live in the more exclusive neighborhood you probably pay 10-15% less than the poor improvised neighborhoods, and definitely less fresh produce.

I am not sure that's my experience in exclusive vs. poor neighborhoods (lived in both and in-between).
- chain stores/supermarkets have same prices for most items in a specific region regardless of location (in that region).

- exclusive neighborhoods rarely have "major supermarkets" within a walking distance, instead there are "boutique food stores" or "boutique mini-supermarkets", which have very high prices even for staples to set off higher salaries and building rent.

- corner grocery stores in any neighborhood are also affected by "location rent" prices. in San Francisco in the Mission District (low income area) a can of soda, milk packages, etc costs at least 25c less than on Union Street (luxury area).. There is at least 1$ difference for sandwiches at a deli in the respective locations.. etc.

 

[Jenny]

I'm sure there are areas where it's difficult to find markets with both good product selection and good value, but my own experience is similar to what @Tinami Amori describes. In my city, the markets in the most affluent areas are definitely more expensive. In the middle and lower middle class areas, pricing is most definitely better, and while it's not always blemish free and wrapped in delicate tissue, the produce sections of all the markets we shop at are great. There's also a ton of ethnic markets of all sorts all over my city, and the pricing also tends to be much better than at the larger western chains, and the produce selection is usually outstanding. Staples like rice are also much more reasonably priced at the ethnic markets, especially the larger supermarket size stores and the chains.

 

[Tinami Amori]

You know what makes me angry, is the constant complaining that “poor people in poor neighborhoods in USA have less access to good healthy food”, when even in the poorest worst neighborhood in USA the food that is easily available is 100 times better than food in USSR in the 70’s for example for ALL people, engineers, workers, teachers, professors, clerks…. And yet we’re all fine now that we’re adults, nobody is dead, fairly healthy, all went to college, have a job, etc….

Back in the 60’s/70's/80's even in Moscow, we rarely had fruits during spring/winter/fall months, very little fresh vegetables, chicken was a luxury, red meat even greater luxury, most vegies in wintertime was potatoes, canned beans and peas, “meat” was salted herring and canned sardines, lots of dry pasta, soups out of “soup-cubes”, occasional fresh eggs, etc. And those “engineers/professors/workers/clerks” had to travel all over the city and stand in long lines, and then cook it all for each meal…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6i4xy360fgc !!!!!!!!

The shittiest corner store in poor neighborhood in USA has much better selection and variety of good food than what was available to us “back then”…..

The shittiest supermarket for “poor people”, in Oakland/CA, in Harlem/NY has so much more than what “engineers and scientists” can buy in other countries!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHIcmoY3_lE

 

[PDilemma]

I am unsure why this thread is about kids. So childlress adults don't waste food?

As far as I know, we don't actually exist. If we do, we don't actually need to eat. I was, in fact, literally told in a faculty lounge once that I was lucky to not have to buy groceries or cook food which was because I did not have children.

Maybe if families reduce cell phone and cable tv bills, junk/luxury food, unnecessary stuff, buy when on sale combined with coupons as much as possible, then maybe one parent can stay home and take care of the kids and chores. Growing up in the 80's in Silicon Valley, my dad was making around $30K and was able to provide roof over our heads for 3 kids. My mom woke up early to make breakfast and lunches for us and of course dinner, did all the food shopping, cleaning. She never went to overpriced stores, just the bargain ones or the not so overpriced. We survived. I didn't feel like we were starving. Us kids didn't have expensive toys like kids today have. Another reason why I don't want to have kids, is that I am not willing to give them expensive toys (i.e smartphones) because I myself don't even have them. Kids these days want too much, too spoiled.

$30,000 went a lot further in the 80s. I stuck $30,000 as of September, 1985 in an inflation calculator and it is equivalent to $68,371 in September, 2017. In my state, the average teacher salary is currently around $47,000; median police salary is $54,400 and the median household income was just slightly less than the latter in 2015. Getting rid of cell phones and couponing is not going to make up the difference. Given those numbers, it is safe to say that a lot of two income households are making less than your family made in the 1980s on one income once we adjust for inflation.

 

[MacMadame]

It's a lot like that where I live, Jenny. But there are towns I drive through nearby that definitely have a lack of grocery stores. The other thing to remember is that not everyone who lives in a poor neighborhood has a car. It's a lot harder to grocery shop when you have walk or bike or take the bus. You are limited to only buying what you can carry and going one town over to find better groceries can add significantly to the time spent doing it.

 

[vesperholly]

You know what makes me angry, is the constant complaining that “poor people in poor neighborhoods in USA have less access to good healthy food”, when even in the poorest worst neighborhood in USA the food that is easily available is 100 times better than food in USSR in the 70’s for example for ALL people, engineers, workers, teachers, professors, clerks…. And yet we’re all fine now that we’re adults, nobody is dead, fairly healthy, all went to college, have a job, etc….

Back in the 60’s/70's/80's even in Moscow, we rarely had fruits during spring/winter/fall months, very little fresh vegetables, chicken was a luxury, red meat even greater luxury, most vegies in wintertime was potatoes, canned beans and peas, “meat” was salted herring and canned sardines, lots of dry pasta, soups out of “soup-cubes”, occasional fresh eggs, etc. And those “engineers/professors/workers/clerks” had to travel all over the city and stand in long lines, and then cook it all for each meal…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6i4xy360fgc !!!!!!!!

The shittiest corner store in poor neighborhood in USA has much better selection and variety of good food than what was available to us “back then”…..

The shittiest supermarket for “poor people”, in Oakland/CA, in Harlem/NY has so much more than what “engineers and scientists” can buy in other countries!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHIcmoY3_lE

Children are starving in Africa, too. Someone's always got it worse.

 

[once_upon]

Zip codes do have differences in the sale prices, and they don't always start at the same non sale price. As part of public health rotation we did comparative shopping from poorer, no transportation areas to the upper middle class who could and would drive distances for sale pricing, even the chain stores. That was 10 years so maybe flattened out. I'm not home so not able to do internet search by zip codes
Several years ago, I did comparison shopping of a Target Black Friday item. It did vary by zip code within my city.

 

[Tinami Amori]

Growing up in the 80's in Silicon Valley, my dad was making around $30K and was able to provide roof over our heads for 3 kids.

$30,000 went a lot further in the 80s. I stuck $30,000 as of September, 1985 in an inflation calculator and it is equivalent to $68,371 in September, 2017; median police salary is $54,400 and the median household income was just slightly less than the latter in 2015. Getting rid of cell phones and couponing is not going to make up the difference. Given those numbers, it is safe to say that a lot of two income households are making less than your family made in the 1980s on one income once we adjust for inflation.

Then don't have 3 kids.

 

[clairecloutier]

The fact that food availability may have been worse in the Soviet Union or Africa doesn't change the fact that there's still limited food availability in many lower-income areas of the U.S.

 

[TheGirlCanSkate]

My childless son - now that he has a solid income - wastes much more money going out to eat and he also tosses more food than he did when he only had money worries. He is trying harder now that he has a car and is no longer living in a garret. But the first few months of a stressful job and taking buses and trains really made everything hard.

I would think that eating out a lot, he would have less waste. But it seems like if you eat out and have leftovers and them you get a call the next day to meet friends and you don't eat old leftovers and you bring home new leftovers, than you can end up with a lot of unappetizing take out boxes.