Americans' food spending/food waste habits

TheGirlCanSkate said:
When my spouse was growing up in Thailand, he said that ordering a lot of food and then not taking it home was a display of wealth.
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Interesting. I think in many cultures a table breaking up from the weight of food and dishes is either sign of wealth or hospitality. In Russia, although, the morning after a party, the family members and invited friends sit down and finish off the last night's feast.. :D, starting early in the morning, and with vodka.

There is an old Russian joke about “leftovers”.
A man complains to his friend “I am tired of my wife making me eat leftovers”.
A friend says “buy a pig”...
Man “no thank you, she’ll make me eat pig’s leftovers”.
 
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I am amused by the idea that all restaurants should force people to wait 1.5 hours for their food. I'm sure that will work out great. :lol:

jadingirl said:
CBC Marketplace in Canada did a show on best before dates and grocery stores. Apparently when the store has a whole cake that doesn't sell before it's best before date they first cut it in half and package each half which allows them to create a new best before date. If the half cake doesn't sell they can then slice it up and package each slice individually and give it yet another best before date. So (in Canada) at least if it isn't a whole cake it could be quite a bit older than you think.
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I'm pretty sure they do that in the US too. I've certainly seen half cakes and slices next to whole cakes of the same type. Technically, they could just repackage the cake with a new date, if it hadn't gone bad. But if it didn't sell the first time as a whole cake, making it into two half cakes definitely improves the chance of getting at least some moeny for it.

The other thing they do is turn whole chickens that are on the verge of going bad into those rotisserie chickens you can buy for a few bucks. So those might be older than you think as well.
 
I am trying to do better about being wasteful with food. But what amazes me is how the junk food never gets thrown out. The produce and dairy, and sometimes even meat makes it to the trash regularly. I have intentions of cooking more, but somehow never quite get there.
 
gkelly said:
That's true. But not all people who are busy (and therefore don't devote much time to meal planning and preparation) are living consumerist lifestyles. Some are working two jobs just to survive (or a full-time job plus managing a family). Some put in long hours on volunteer work or low-paying nonprofit jobs.
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I saw a documentary on fast food and several working poor parents were interviewed and they said they bought a lot of fast food meals for their families because it was all they could afford.

For me, because I'm busy and I live alone, the waste comes when I buy fresh food and then don't get around to preparing it before it goes bad. Or yesterday I threw away 6 or so slices at the end of a loaf of bread because of mold. (I had cut off some moldy spots from the previous 4 slices, but I figured enough was enough, it would only have gotten worse.)
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We're not big bread eaters, so when we buy a whole loaf, some of it usually goes uneaten. The freezer always has some packets with a few slices and and the end slices in it, and they usually don't get eaten. For that reason I prefer to buy individual rolls or bagels.
 
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Japanfan said:
I saw a documentary on fast food and several working poor parents were interviewed and they said they bought a lot of fast food meals for their families because it was all they could afford.
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Especially if you figure in time and not just money to the cost of the meal.
 
FiveRinger said:
I am trying to do better about being wasteful with food. But what amazes me is how the junk food never gets thrown out. The produce and dairy, and sometimes even meat makes it to the trash regularly. I have intentions of cooking more, but somehow never quite get there.
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I have been dieting since January and use different sources to keep me motivated. You are right, there is an obsession with consuming junk food. People don't even seem to toss stale chips or cookies. I walk by the counter at work and toss anything that has been sitting open all day and if it was put in a bag (I'm talking about donuts that get wet in a plastic bag), I do toss it only to hear, Who ate the last donut? Yet people will toss an apple that was there a day or two. With junk food I hear, that you have to eat it because it is wasteful to throw out. Maybe because a bag of chips is 4 dollars and a bag of apples is $2? Anyway, this is the message I got this morning:
Wednesday Sabotage: Throwing away leftover Halloween candy would be a waste of money.
Response: The money is already gone. Eating all of these treats and gaining weight will not bring it back. Now that Halloween is over, consider throwing away or donating leftover candy and treats.
Japanfan said:
I saw a documentary on fast food and several working poor parents were interviewed and they said they bought a lot of fast food meals for their families because it was all they could afford.
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I think this is not really about cost, $3 per kid, maybe $6 per adult. A simple meal of would be about the same.

I think cost is an excuse, it is more about time, convenience, instant gratification , skills (cooking, planning budgeting) and access (stores, transportation).

I grew up with a single mom in the projects of Hayward. Mom didn't know how to drive, we were on welfare. Clothing was from purple heart and we were poor. But she shopped ingredients, we were all engaged to carry backpacks to carry food home after a 2 mile walk as soon as we could walk that far.

She bought whole chickens, fresh and canned produce, and yes, hot dogs and bologna. We had end of the month struggles; pancakes, peanut butter, oatmeal... when families have access, tools and knowledge cooking at home is cheaper.
 
Japanfan said:
Food goes to waste because of most people's consumerist lifestyles, which tend to be busy. Busy people don't devote time to planning a menu in detail and determining exactly what ingredients they need, and how much of them.
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Food also goes to waste because it is very hard to find portion sizes suitable for singles. I never throw anything out until it's spoiled and I can tell that it is, but I often throw stuff away that I needed for cooking but couldn't find smaller packages of. Or I spend a week eating the same thing or I don't buy something because I don't want to feel obliged to eat it for a week. Makes eating no fun but meals should be fun, at the very least, they should be enjoyed.


TheGirlCanSkate said:
I think this is not really about cost, $3 per kid, maybe $6 per adult. A simple meal of would be about the same.

I think cost is an excuse, it is more about time, convenience, instant gratification , skills (cooking, planning budgeting) and access (stores, transportation).
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And would be more filling, too. Many fast-food items aren't really filling, so either you need a lot of it to get full or you're hungry again two hours later and end up eating junk food (which also costs money).
 
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ballettmaus said:
And would be more filling, too. Many fast-food items aren't really filling, so either you need a lot of it to get full or you're hungry again two hours later and end up eating junk food (which also costs money).
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For the same amount of fast food versus healthy food, fast food usually fills you up faster b/c there is more fat and carbs. For some reason food from the food trucks fills me up. I order one entree and get full quickly (the portion sizes aren't that big) and have no need to snack later. There must be a lot of calories in those dishes. This is a contrast to eating fish, sautéed veggies, and basmati rice which has a bigger portion size, and most likely snack later.
 
TheGirlCanSkate said:
I think this is not really about cost, $3 per kid, maybe $6 per adult. A simple meal of would be about the same.

I think cost is an excuse, it is more about time, convenience, instant gratification , skills (cooking, planning budgeting) and access (stores, transportation).
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Whether the cost would be the same would depend on what food was being purchased. I can tell you that my home-made hamburgers and fried potatoes (in olive oil) cost more than what I'd get at a fast food joint, probably even if I used a cheaper oil than olive oil.

Fast food joints buy beef and other things in bulk, so get cheaper prices than the general public.

Also, it is time-consuming to cook many of the foods that are cheap, like beans and rice.
 
Or a plastic container of leftover salad with an unsnapped lid could spontaneously fall out of the refrigerator and onto the floor :wall::wall:
 
Japanfan said:
Whether the cost would be the same would depend on what food was being purchased. I can tell you that my home-made hamburgers and fried potatoes (in olive oil) cost more than what I'd get at a fast food joint, probably even if I used a cheaper oil than olive oil.

Fast food joints buy beef and other things in bulk, so get cheaper prices than the general public.

Also, it is time-consuming to cook many of the foods that are cheap, like beans and rice.
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If you have skills, it takes 30 minutes to cook enough rice for several days at once. Freeze the rest and the other nights, you don't need to cook it. Beans can take as long as you want - in a hurry? then choose lentils or small quick cooking beans like black eye. Make more than one portion and freeze for fast meals at home.

A fast food burger is made with the cheapest of ground beef products. You can make more food with less money at home that equals the quality of fast food and if people shop carefully, it will exceed the quality.
 
Shopping carefully also takes time and mental energy.

The question is what is the highest priority?

*Best nutrition/freshness/flavor, with both time and money (and possibly wasted food) being no object?

*Least expensive, with plenty of time available to research bargains, go to different stores, plan and prepare meals that make good leftovers?

*Most efficient in terms of time, perhaps at the expense of money, freshness, or nutrition?

*Able to satisfy a family each with different nutritional needs and preferences?

*Least wasteful at the personal level?

*Least wasteful on a global scale?

Different priorities and different lifestyles will result in different answer. One size won't always fit all.
 
^^ So true. My grocery cart is usually a mix of stuff like organic vegetables, more humanely raised meats, better-quality yogurt and cheese, whole grains, dried beans ... and then stuff like Cheezits, Oreos, and Annie's mac & cheese packs, as I try to balance what kids will eat, etc., and what we actually have time to cook, vs. what we ideally want to or should be eating. :D
 
If I'm honest, we throw out a lot of food. We never get through the whole bag of veggies before them going bad. We both work full time, and I'm home at 6 at the earliest. My husband is also extremely pick with dietary restrictions (Crohn's) so meal planning is a nightmare. We keep ordering out more and more.

I'll eat leftovers but I can't stand having them more than one day in a row.

ETA: when I was being strict with food before our wedding I was cooking a lot more and doing meal planning and using up a lot more. But my husband had to change his diet, and along with his pickiness, it's become exhausting to even plan anything.
 
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Lol, there have been (many) times when I've definitely eaten the same thing for dinner for >2 weeks in a row. Chinese noodles, with 1 egg, tofu +/- some vegetable, in a spicy sauce. I've also done the same with pasta, cheese, pesto, and string beans (frozen). Very cheap meals, both are probably <$3/meal.
 
gkelly said:
Shopping carefully also takes time and mental energy.

The question is what is the highest priority?

Different priorities and different lifestyles will result in different answer. One size won't always fit all.
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For some of working poor parents with children, cheap and quick is the highest priority - hence an over-reliance on fast foods and cheap easy-to-make meals like Kraft Dinner or instant noodles/soup.
 
FiveRinger said:
But what amazes me is how the junk food never gets thrown out.
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Junk food doesn't usually go bad quickly, or at least has a longer shelf life than fresh produce and meats.

In part because some of it isn't really 'food'. Take for example cheesies or cheese puffs. I doubt they have any real cheese in them, just cheesy flavouring. Foods like that should really have their own food group (or perhaps be classified as edibles, not food).
 
Japanfan said:
Junk food doesn't usually go bad quickly, or at least has a longer shelf life than fresh produce and meats.

In part because some of it isn't really 'food'. Take for example cheesies or cheese puffs. I doubt they have any real cheese in them, just cheesy flavouring. Foods like that should really have their own food group (or perhaps be classified as edibles, not food).
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True....but it wouldn't go bad in my house because it's usually the first to go....lol :D
 
Japanfan said:
For some of working poor parents with children, cheap and quick is the highest priority - hence an over-reliance on fast foods and cheap easy-to-make meals like Kraft Dinner or instant noodles/soup.
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Plus, kids are picky. You can get vegetables and spend your limited money and time making something for the kids that they may or may not eat, or you can save both and get them Mac and Cheese, which they will. Plus, there's many poorer neighborhoods hat are food desserts with very limited access to grocery stores. It's sad :(
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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