Can anyone tell my why it is immoral to waste food?

Question

I have a friend that always throw half of her meal away, and I want to talk her out of doing it. Ever since I was a kid I've been taught to now waste my food, and being a good kid, I listen. But I don't know any philosophical or moral or religious reasons behind it. Can anyone help? I don't know how to explain it to her.

Answer 1

Simply because there are other people in other parts of the world that don't have enough food so that's why we're taught not to take things for granted.

Answer 2

Assume any one of the following scenarios:

1). Enough additional guests who would not otherwise have a meal are invited, and are fed by the wasted food.
2). The same amount is prepared, but used for two meals, and the additional money that would have been spent is donated to an organization which uses the "second meal money" to purchase food in quantity/bulk and feed many many more people. For example, if the second meal would have cost $10, that purchases a whole lot of grain or rice and can feed many more people.
3). A variation on #2. Less is prepared for the initial meal, and over time the savings are accumulated and used to eliminate family debt. This in turn lowers the outgoing paid interest and increases the family's available spending resources. Allowing further spending to the food bank organizations, etc.

Or assume that about twice as much is needed is prepared/served, and thrown away. Goes into the landfill and does nothing for anyone.

Which is more morally correct?

Answer 3

There's not really a religious reason as to why you shouldn't waste your food, but it is immoral. When I was a kid, I was taught never to waste food because there was always a kid somewhere else in the world that needed food. It wasn't right to throw away food and not think about it because there are kids that are literally starving and wishing that they could eat a whole meal. If I were you, I would tell my friend that throwing away half of her meal is wrong because there are children that long for food, and that don't have the luxury to even think about throwing away food. You should tell your friend to read a book called A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN by BETTY SMITH. It tells about this luxury in a story about a poor girl growing up in Brooklyn. I hope that this advice helped in any way.

Answer 4

I am not aware of any moral or religious teaching that would prohibit your friend's actions (other than an old saying "waste not, want not") but I do hold to the philosophy that it is out of line to throw away food in a world where so many men, women and children go to bed each night hungry.

While there is no way to pass the half eaten meal on to a hungry person, perhaps you can talk your friend into saving the uneaten portion as leftovers for a meal the next day. That way, no new food is being wasted to create a full meal for her tiny little stomach. If she has a portion problem (is being served too much food), then maybe you could suggest she eat off the children's menu available at most restaurants, or take only what she will reasonably eat when dining family style.

If she is resistant to any of these suggestions, let her know that taking more than she can eat, then throwing half away is simply rude and selfish - period.

Answer 5

There is not a good answer to this. First, the reason that you should not waste food is because many, many people don't have enough. BUT, once that food is on her plate, what else is she going to do with it? If she eats it all, she will be a blimp.(also a big problem in some places) I was raised not to waste food(or anything else) and it was driven home by the fact that many times my parents went hungry so my brother and I could eat our fill, but NOW, my parents and myself, and my siblings are much better off. My brother and both his children are battling weight problems. I have also been down that road. To me, I was more embarrassed to be overweight in the presence of hungry people than to throw away a little food at the end of a meal.

Maybe, you should go halves in restaurants, order a meal and split it. Or, I order an appetizer as my whole meal. When allowed, I will also order off the children's menu. Or, have them box half the meal before bringing it to you. Take it home, share with a friend/co-worker, or, if you are somewhere where there are homeless people, pass it on.

If the images of starving people don't make her change, maybe you can also point out that all that food in the garbage cans attract mice, rats, flys and other nasty vermin!

Answer 6

1. The animals paid their life for it, petrol was used to transport the food, gasoline is used for cooking, plus that fire which contributes pollution, and manpower too! Wasting the food means wasting all these!

2. Yes, gluttonary is a sin, but it is worse to sacrifice other things. The most you can do is to not repeat it again. You didn't sin delibrately, do you?

3. The food you thrown away will take up another space of the landfill. Now India is already running out of land, and there we are wasting land!

4. You say it worse to put it on your waist than wasting it? The reason behind this is that Americans (and anyone with the description)
are not eating healthly! Super fatty hamburgers right from McDonalds, a piece of steak as main course, cakes and ice-cream for dessert, that's why! If one orders more vegetables than meat, fullness can be balanced and you can save a few animals! It won't harm much to gobble more vegetables than a piece of fat.

5. Whatever your religion (even if you don't have a religion), it is a sin to waste what God has provided you with. Gluttony is when you delibratly want more food; you desire more in your mind, which means greed.

6. "So what if I eat it? It won't go to the starving people." Ok, look at this. If you order less and educate people around you to order only what they need, they will in turn do so and also educate others. Which in turn the restaurant will have less to waste. And the food not used could be used for the furture. Take it as a very big bowl. All the world's food is placed into it. If the world waste food, then the food in the bowl will be lesser. And lesser food can be used to share to the needy. And no matter wether if we waste food or not, it is still decreasing. And one fine day the bowl may not be enough to feed even half of the world. If I'm not wrong, you're in the young generation. We're the ones who'll suffer if we don't try to stop this! By then you'll drop to your knees and [place rather useless actions here]. But it'll be too late by then.

Drive all this into her ears and, if he/she has a conscience, should wake up by then. If not, he's a zombie. Leave him aside.

Answer 7

6. "So what if I eat it? It won't go to the starving people." Ok, look at this. If you order less and educate people around you to order only what they need, they will in turn do so and also educate others. Which in turn the restaurant will have less to waste. And the food not used could be used for the furture. Take it as a very big bowl. All the world's food is placed into it. If the world waste food, then the food in the bowl will be lesser. And lesser food can be used to share to the needy. And no matter wether if we waste food or not, it is still decreasing. And one fine day the bowl may not be enough to feed even half of the world. If I'm not wrong, you're in the young generation. We're the ones who'll suffer if we don't try to stop this! By then you'll drop to your knees and [place rather useless actions here]. But it'll be too late by then.

Answer 8

It's a matter of respect for food in general. Some have plenty many have little or none. If you purposefully purchase large meals and then only eat half when a smaller portion was available then this might be considered a sin of waste or over indulgence.

At the same time, remember many of our parents or grandparents were a product of the great depression where hunger was a normal thing and people couldn't generally get enough to eat. So they were strongly taught to eat everything on their plate as a means of servival.

Now adays we have somewhat of a reverse problem in this country. Food is plentiful and people often over eat just because it's on their plate and their parents said they must eat it all. So really you have two things going on.

1. Ordering too much or cooking too much just to disgard half of it is waistful and somewhat disrespectful to those who don't have food.
But
2. Eating everything on your plate when food is plentiful also can be a problem of glutony, which also is a sin.

The truth lies somewhere in the middle. You should strive not to cook or order more food than what you need but at the same time if you end up with more than what you need you should also not just eat it because it's there.

There are a lot of overweight kids and adults out there today because their parents laid it on with the eat everything on your plate routine. Or think of all the starving children in (name some 3th world country).

Answer 9

It is wasteful to a point. Some discretion is to be used. If you order two hamburgers and only eat one, then stop ordering two hamburgers. If you order four of something and only eat two, then stop ordering four of something. If the portion served is too much, then to throw away the uneaten portion is acceptable. While on the surface it appears wasteful, the harm caused by overeating is enough to justify throwing away the excess. If is is possible to order a smaller portion, that is an option. If the item is cheaper in a larger portion, then the excess is again an acceptable loss. I don't know why some places do that, but it does happen. I won't spend more money than I have to just to make someone else feel good about me not throwing away food. It is not always possible to take the uneaten portion home for later use. It is good when that happens, but not always possible.

Answer 10

Well she may have enough money now to throw away, that is what she is doing but one day she may suffer from hunger, millions of Americans and around the world are suffering from this and she one day may suffer from it. She should remember the saying that means more than one thing, never bite off more than you can chew. One other thing, if she could add up how much money she is throwing away by throwing food away, she could have one nice retirement savings. God sees this and she will be hungry some day when she is older, so tell her that she will remember your words. Don't get me wrong, God wouldn't want her to be hungry, it just happens sometimes then she would wish she never threw away a crumb. I wish she was a helper at the soup kitchens or meals on wheels. This is just basic from right or wrong, this is basic knowledge, maybe she should put half the amount on her plate. Someone down the food chain would appreciate it. It seems that your friend grew up never having to worry about anything, food, etc.

Answer 11

It is not is it was not intentional to waste.
It is better to waste food then to waste your health, which would be much harder to gain back.

However it is not immorality but just stupidity working its part if your friend constantly throws away half her meal away when she can simply order less food.
There isn't any immorality, starving people don't get to eat more if you eat less. I am sure that the people involved in getting that meal on your plate won't feel anything if you threw away the food, right down to the farmer who grew the rice, although a friend who has had bought that meal for you might feel really pissed.

Sure, if enough people stop wasting food and demand lesser food, the prices might drop and the poorer starving people will gain access to cheaper food, but that wouldn't happen anytime too soon.

Other than that, nothing else is fair in this world, you can waste food while some other family is starving but it doesn't feed them when you do not throw away your food, unless somehow you can send food you do not want to them by mail.