You are not a garbage disposal

Nicest of the Damned · Post by **Nicest of the Damned** » Thu Dec 30, 2010 5:55 pm

Just a reminder for the Season of Leftovers. You are not a garbage disposal. You are not a means of non-wastefully disposing of leftovers. You are worthy of more respect than that.

It's actually more wasteful to eat leftovers when you don't want to eat them than it is to throw them in the garbage can. Spending on food is at or near historic lows in the US:

http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?31,783685

(data from USDA, I can't speak for anywhere other than the US)

And we know people aren't simply buying less food now than they were in the past. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Medical care, in contrast, is not cheap in the US today. Whatever your political opinions are, you pretty much have to admit that. People are generally not going bankrupt in the US today because of the cost of food. They are, however, going bankrupt because of medical expenses. Medical expenses are a factor in something like 60% of bankruptcies in the US.

If you eat too much, you will weigh more, and you will probably require more medical care. Eating food you don't want so you don't waste money on food, while ignoring the additional medical costs that overeating generates, is a foolish economy. It's like leaving your door open all winter to avoid wear and tear on the hinges, while ignoring the resultant increase in your heating bill.

Remind yourself of that when you are tempted to eat some leftovers, or to eat a little more at a meal even though you're full, "so it won't go to waste".

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Thu Dec 30, 2010 9:21 pm

If there are leftovers that I don't want (rare, but it happens) or that don't keep well, I get rid of them immediately.

Nicest of the Damned · Post by **Nicest of the Damned** » Fri Dec 31, 2010 3:01 pm

If you're going to eat leftovers, there's nothing wrong with that, as long as you eat them instead of other food, not in addition to other food.

Who Me? · Post by **Who Me?** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 6:36 pm

If you have a garden, you can compost unwanted leftovers!

Over43 · Post by **Over43** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 4:39 pm

I beg to differ. I am a garbage disposal!

Nicest of the Damned · Post by **Nicest of the Damned** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 6:16 pm

Over43 wrote:I beg to differ. I am a garbage disposal!

No, you're not. Or, if you are, you're a very expensive one to maintain. I suggest using the one in the sink instead. If something happens to it, the worst that is likely to happen is you'll have to replace it and call a plumber. The cost of that, plus the cost of any wasted food, is peanuts next to what you could spend to fix a health problem. Your homeowners' insurance policy probably doesn't have a lifetime cap on payments to repair your garbage disposal.