How many people in the UK & US throw out food?

I see this kind of waste at the All You Can Eat buffet style restaurants. Too many people are under the impression that, since they paid for the food, they have the right to not only gorge themselves but to overfill their plates and then leave half of it behind. Back when I was a kid my parents used to tell us to finish our food because other kids were starving someplace else in the world. This may be why I support charities that feed the hungry and try not to waste food at home. It was harder when my kids were still at home but now that it's just my husband and me, it's a lot easier.

I too am poor and never eat out. I live on veggies and sandwiches and soup. There is no waste in my home. What I don't eat my darling African Grey Parrot will. We fight over the veggies.lol But, I know what you mean. I often have to clean up around the garbabe area at the Apt complex, because the racoons dump the cans over. The amount of good food in the cans is horrible. That is why we have so many racoons. And we are a low income Apt. Complex. I can imagine what its like where the wealthy live. Shalom~Adoniah

we do not waste food. even when we COULD afford it, lol. I do tend to cook more than what we need for a meal - but that is more economical than cooking smaller amounts, and then we eat the leftovers or alter them into a different meal. any small scrapings on our plates get used... usually as animal feed. Veggie scraps and meat scraps from food prep either go into the freezer for a later soup meal or to the animals.

I generally eat everything on my plate unless I absolutely can't but we waste food two ways: 1. My kids are starving and then are full after 2 bites 2. I over buy and then don't get around to using Oh yeah and my mother-in-law cooks WAY too much and leaves us the leftovers. I try to be careful about it though. I don't like wasting anything.

My parents grew up during WWII. They never threw anything away. We sometimes had a leftover day with just almost kind of one bite of each. My husband's family is American, a younger generation, and what I call a throw-away family. Leftovers end up in the garbage or only reheated at most once. A lot of stuff is thrown out and when needed lets say a year or so down the road (foreseeably so) they'll just go and buy new. It's crazy and well that behavior is not good for your bank account. I had to teach my husband a lot about leftover magic and such. It took him a long time, but he came around eventually as he noticed that we can manage our budget much better when things don't get thrown out all the time. Here in the US, you can still see a lot of waste. Here they have all-you-can-eat buffets. People will have a plate full of stuff, bring it to the table, not like it and go again for something else. There is so much waste there. At least in other places one can take the leftovers home. Even that is not always done. I can't stand that behavior. I think quite a few people are adjusting their thinking now that money is soo tight.

No, I don't. I save things and recreate them in different meals. I grew up on a farm. We lifed by the moral of the ant and the grasshopper. My parents are products of the things that their parents passed on too. Grandma and grandpa grew up in the depression and were taught to use everything. So this followed down hill to me and my siblings - sliding further down and teaching my own children. I do think of all the people that go hungery. I know families that have had some pretty hard times too. I don't hesitate to share my garden with them or meat that I've had butchered. I figure we're all here for a reason and if we can 'see' what's going on around us, then I think that helps prevent it or help heal it.

My hubby is into making soups and stews especially in the winter time, I can eat it one day and maybe the next but after that I don't want anymore. We always call my daughter that lives a couple houses over and ask her if she wants some, she has gone back to school and by the time she gets home, so tired she just wants to sit down. If she dont' take it we freeze it. Then on somedays we get out all the left overs and have a night of warmed up left overs, that takes care ofmost of it. I have a friend that makes hardly enough to pay her rent and when we make speghetti or stew or whatever that there will be a lot of I put some in containers and when she comes we give them to her. All she has to do is put them out to thaw before she leaves for work in the morning. As for the All YOU CAN EAT places I get what I can eat and then if I want more I go back and get a bit more.You know how you always feel when you come out of them, as if you are stuffed to your eyeballs. I do see people with piles on their plate, and then push the plate aside and go get another plate to fill. Like one said I guess they feel they paid for it so they can eat what they want and leave the rest. But I also seen waste in placs like McDonalds, my son worked there and at closing, he said they had sandwiches piled up and the employees are not allowed to take any home with them, they throw all the sandwiches in the trash. We have a place called Pinrita (not spelled right Breads, here. My daughter and I went there and the lady told my daughter all the bread which was stacks of them, and all the pastries at closing they are put in the dumpster. My daughter ask why they couldn't be taken to some nursing homes or food pantrys and she said cause they didn't believe in giveing anything away for free. These was very expensive loaves of bread and pastries. So as far as business is concerned I guess if they aren't going to make a nickle off of it then trash it rather than give to a retirement home or food pantry. I think Americans have always had more than they need and up until now it didn't matter if they threw it out, the food after supper was always scraped out when I was a child. Now a lot of people wish they had that left over food the next day.

I am not guilty of plating up too much food honey - especially with my other half and my kids - it is almost impossible to give them too much food! I do understand where you are coming from though and although I very rarely finish a meal if we go out as my appetite isn't that big my other half will usually finish it so that there is no waste. If we were in a situation such as help yourself buffet I would only take a very little at a time to try and avoid waste although I do have to confess that we do sometimes have to throw food out as it has gone out of date but thankfully not too often! xxx

I dont know. But here in saudi arabia. INDIANS and ARABS always throw their food. especially when they are finished eating and their is plenty left over and can still be eaten, they are just ignoring it and throw it to the trash. idont know why they are angry if you served them a little food but when you served them large amount of food, they will have plenty of leftovers and they will threw it. may it is in their culture. but it is not a good manners after all. right..

Now that life is hard I think wasting food is not necessary. Many experienced hunger and nothing to eat. We are lucky that we can be able to eat 3 times a day. Our mother told us to always finish the food on our plate. Sometimes I told my mother not to cooked too much because we can no longer eat all of it. We avoid throwing foods if we have a leftover at home we refrigerate it.

some times i do it when im full, even if i don't want to waste it into the bin, but most of the times i try not to do such a thing.