The Secret Life of Leftovers
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The Secret Life of Leftovers
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Re: The Secret Life of Leftovers
#2As someone who has sometimes used "food waste" as an excuse to overeat, I find the concept of "metabolic food waste" useful. That is, food that you overeat is still wasted food. If you bought or cooked too much food, that was the point at which you made a mistake, and that mistake cannot be undone by proceeding to stuff your face.
Re: The Secret Life of Leftovers
#3As someone who has sometimes used "food waste" as an excuse to overeat, I find the concept of "metabolic food waste" useful. That is, food that you over eat is still wasted food. If you bought or cooked too much food, that was the point at which you made a mistake, and that mistake cannot be undone by proceeding to stuff your face.
But what about Africa?!
But seriously, you can just put it in Tupperware and keep it for later.
Re: The Secret Life of Leftovers
#4As someone who has sometimes used "food waste" as an excuse to overeat, I find the concept of "metabolic food waste" useful. That is, food that you over eat is still wasted food. If you bought or cooked too much food, that was the point at which you made a mistake, and that mistake cannot be undone by proceeding to stuff your face.
Not to mention that to overeat to the point of feeling sluggish is possibly a waste of energy and time.
Even worse is when it negatively affects your sleep and body's restorative processes.
Re: The Secret Life of Leftovers
#5This seems overly pessimistic, and perhaps very myopically metropolitan. I can't imagine wasting food from a restaurant -- I always have taken my leftovers home and eaten them later. Even at home, stuff gets used or I feel shame, and unusable scraps go into the compost.
Re: The Secret Life of Leftovers
#6As someone who has sometimes used "food waste" as an excuse to overeat, I find the concept of "metabolic food waste" useful. That is, food that you over eat is still wasted food. If you bought or cooked too much food, that was the point at which you made a mistake, and that mistake cannot be undone by proceeding to stuff your face.
So what about people who overeat just to work off the calories later? Is that food waste too?
In other words is leisure exercise above that which helps keep the body fit, exercise that leads to food waste?
Re: The Secret Life of Leftovers
#7As someone who has sometimes used "food waste" as an excuse to overeat, I find the concept of "metabolic food waste" useful. That is, food that you over eat is still wasted food. If you bought or cooked too much food, that was the point at which you made a mistake, and that mistake cannot be undone by proceeding to stuff your face.
So what about people who overeat just to work off the calories later? Is that food waste too? In other words is leisure exercise above that which helps keep the body fit, exercise that leads to food waste?
nope, they're just people with a larger carbon footprint; to put in some way, point being they're using more energy. keeping in mind that these people are usually healthier thus look good.
I think of this a bit like tiying your shoes and untying them over and over, or maybe it's like putting a lego set together, taking it appart, then back together...
Re: The Secret Life of Leftovers
#8This seems overly pessimistic, and perhaps very myopically metropolitan. I can't imagine wasting food from a restaurant -- I always have taken my leftovers home and eaten them later. Even at home, stuff gets used or I feel shame, and unusable scraps go into the compost.
No post body was provided.
Re: The Secret Life of Leftovers
#9One of my earliest jobs was dishwasher. I saw so much waste. Part of my work involved jumping into the dumpster and stomping/hopping around to pack down the garbage so it wouldn't overflow before pickup time.
This is an impressively detailed piece and I agree with most of it, but changing the culture around these things is very hard. There are people salvaging food which would otherwise be wasted, and on many occasions I've been one of them... it makes me glad to know there are backchannel options for those who are struggling or can put the food to good use. Sadly, the social stigma is still very high, and that will continue to be a major barrier.
As the author points out, we are never going to give up the current system voluntarily. If it is to happen at all, it will be a result of some kind of crunch. I guess the silver lining is that there's still plenty of slack in the system to feed the most desperate among us right now. In any case, my parents taught me to fold leftovers into casseroles or stews and I'm glad for it-- you never know when those skills might be more than just an ideological preference.
Re: The Secret Life of Leftovers
#10Reading about food waste has always bothered me. Growing up in a Jewish orthodox household wasting food was verboten. There is even a mitzvah (commandment) regarding wasting food and or resources[1].
I think that mindset drove me to be named the "leftovers king" by my extended family, as I repurpose leftovers into delicious meals.
There are a couple techniques that can help turn fridge leftovers into really good meals besides for soup. You can make an amazing Frittata using whatever leftover veg and protein you have.