Fear of wasting food

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Anyone else have a fear of wasting food? And no, it's not anything to do with an eating disorder. I just hate food being thrown away. I don't like the thought of it rotting. I like it to be eaten by somebody, like what it was sold in the shop for. I don't ''feel sorry'' for food if it's eaten because that is what it's for, but I seem to ''feel sorry'' for it when it goes to waste.

If there's a microwavable meal in the fridge what is supposed to be eaten by tomorrow or today and nobody's going to get to eat it (for various reasons like another meal is being planned), I start worrying about it and I can't stop thinking about it until we find a solution of what to do with the microwavable meal without it being chucked out, like offering it to another family member or friend or whatever.

Or if there's a whole pack of yoghurts that have been forgotten to be eaten, and then somebody finds them and sees they're out of date and chucks them away, I spend the rest of the night feeling bad for them.

And when I finish eating a pack of crisps, I always have to double check in the corners of the packet to see if there are small crisps lurking in the corners, before I put it in the bin.

Could this be like an OCD thing?

Wouldn't say it was OCD, but I think it's kind of understandable to find it unpleasant to have to throw things away. It's this kind of cognitive shift thing--like, you had it in your mind as the "food" category, and now it's being wrenched out of that category and into the "trash" one, and it doesn't really match up. Not to mention that many of us have been taught that wasting food hurts people who don't have enough food, somehow.

Hmmm...I can relate to this, partially, but it's more to do with not liking to throw anything out, not just food.

I went through a few phases of wanting to eat healthier and bought all kinds of things I never ate, and never intended to eat after a certain time, but I always left them in the refrigerator or pantry. My stepmom eventually goes through after a couple of months and throws out the things I'm not eating.

Although, up until very recently, I did always feel an absolute need to 'clean' my plate. I didn't like leaving food on my plate, even if I was full, so I'd keep pushing myself to eat it. I only stopped because I recognized that it wasn't smart to continue eating when you're full.

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It helps to learn to throw food out, if you have to. Otherwise, you force yourself to eat it, and that means eating too much, which means getting fatter, which means having to buy bigger clothes and carry around more weight and generally not be as comfortable. I wish I'd learned it sooner. Eating something just so "it won't go to waste" is a great way to gain unwanted weight.

'Course, if you're underweight and need to put on weight, I guess it might be a way to force yourself to eat more; but that's assuming you're unhealthy because you're underweight. Lots of skinny people are perfectly healthy just like lots of chubby people are perfectly healthy.... Wouldn't recommend stuffing yourself just to fit into the height/weight chart, if you've got enough energy, are healthy, etc.

No I do not feel bad throwing out of date food out, however I do feel bad if the food was behind other food and forgotten and became outdated due to being forgotten. Usually I eat leftovers the next day and after that throw them out. It is just something I have about eating food that is older than a few days old.

I have a fear of starving on the streets so when my food needs to be eaten before it goes off I will make sure I eat it. I think it's also got to do with not wanting to waste money.

I feel the same way. Sometimes I will buy food that I can tell just isn't going to agree with me (allergy-style), yet I feel compelled to eat it all, because otherwise it would be wasting it.. However, I've abandoned that recently because it just isn't worth it. The sorrow I feel in throwing the rest out shall prevent me that much more from purchasing it again..

Dd(10) has a problem with throwing away food left on her plate as well, I'm actually somewhat relieved to see she's not alone. In our situation, with her being young, I tell her I'll eat it, wait until she's otherwise distracted, and toss it. It doesn't even have to be a large quantity (she'll ask me to save- say, a half sandwich). I don't think it's a fear, at least for her, more of thinking about the people without enough to eat, and not wanting to waste the food. I understand that, but we're talking, six greenbeans left on her plate. She has several mealtime "quirks", can't stand to see someone lick their fingers, the squeak of a knife/fork on a plate, the leftover food thing.

Right now I indulge her quirks- am careful not to lick my fingers, squeak my silverware, etc, but I'm not always sure I'm doing her any favors. Maybe some of you all could give me some input on that

Re: squeak of knife/fork - metal squeaking is incredibly annoying in general.. Particularly when I click it against my teeth.. and the taste of metal.. metal is weird.. weeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrd

Yeah, it's kind of rude to squeak your silverware anyway.

But she's going to have to learn about throwing away food sooner or later. Maybe have a talk about it when you're not eating, explain to her that sometimes food does have to be thrown away.