Wasting food...is it a sin?

[Saved IFB]

Can wasting food be considered as a sin?

Cooking too much; letting food constantly sit in the refrigerator until rotten; purchasing too much from take-out...

[John81]

This would depend upon why the food is being wasted. Is the food being specifically wasted? Is there simply just too much to eat or more than one wants to eat?

Waste is a fact of life. We should do what we can to limit waste. If we are very wasteful that means we are not using that which God has blessed us with wisely. This includes the financial aspect of great waste too.

[Saved IFB]

I normally try to cook for myself, but find that at the end of 2 weeks the refrigerator has left over food or food that I purchased...but it went to waste because of the expiration date.

[Annie]

There are a number of ways to cut down on waste; meal planning is one of them. For example, if you are cooking only for yourself, and you buy a container of sour cream to go with, say, quesadillas one evening, then you can also plan another meal for that week which uses sour cream...like chili (use sour cream as topping) or potato soup. Another way to cut down on waste is to freeze perishable items before they go bad. This works pretty well with milk, very well with grated cheese, etc.

In our affluent society, waste is very common. We have too much stuff...more than we can use! I throw away or give away toys after every Christmas to make room for the new ones our kids have gotten from grandparents. Our family averages 10 tall kitchen bags of trash every week. And I actually save things like Zip-lock bags (I wash them out and reuse them) and gift tissue (I iron and reuse it), not to mention gift bags, "disposable" storage containers, and plastic shopping bags. And still...at least 10 bags of trash a week!

[chev1958]

A prOBlem in our house has to do with grocery shopping. None of us really like to do the shopping, so we get everything we think we'll need for a month, and the fresh stuff ends up going to waste. To prevent that, I end up making several trips a month (the store is on my way home) to get just a few fresh fruits and vegetables, instead of trying to buy an entire month's worth.

[Brother Rick]

This would depend upon why the food is being wasted. Is the food being specifically wasted? Is there simply just too much to eat or more than one wants to eat?

Waste is a fact of life. We should do what we can to limit waste. If we are very wasteful that means we are not using that which God has blessed us with wisely. This includes the financial aspect of great waste too.

This is a great answer. Waste, to some degree, is unavoidable. The question I would ask is, "Am I doing the best I can to be a good steward of God with what He gives me?"

When I was really young (durrr, I am still am really young)... ok, when I was 20, I had a lot of zeal for missions (and still do). I promised a very large amount of money to God for missions. I was irresponsible with my money and didn't keep that promise, to my shame. It wasn't God's fault - IT WAS MINE. I was too busy going out to eat with my buddies and blowing money on stupid things to be a good steward of what God gave me. He gave me the money I needed to fulfill the promise, but I was a knucklehead.

Having three kids (one more on the way too - PTL) and a mortgage, a car loan, and college debt (and making a lot less money in this recession) has changed that. My wife and I strive to be good stewards with what God gives us. Edited November 19, 2010 by Rick Schworer

[Saved IFB]

I am going to try to do the meal planning thing to see if that helps.

[Brother Rick]

I would add that tasty food never gets wasted at the Schworer house. Me and the three little amigas makes sure of that.

[Saved IFB]

I find that the more I have to prepare the food, the more it goes to waste. If I know I have to spend time cooking and preparing, the food usually goes to waste. But if it is something quick, I normally eat it.

[Invicta]

I normally try to cook for myself, but find that at the end of 2 weeks the refrigerator has left over food or food that I purchased...but it went to waste because of the expiration date.

A TV programme here said that up to 50% of food bought is wasted in some households. One reason is that stores sell things which are "Buy one get one free" (BOGOF) People use one and then waste the second.

We hate waste and find that many things such as fruit and vegetables often laste well after the "best before" date, such as potatoes, cellery, celeriac, cabbage, whole lettuce. The father of our previous pastor owned a village shop and our pastor said they lived on out of date food.

Often, we shop late at night when the store reduce items that the bb date is that day and we buy them sometimes at 1/10th 1/20/th or even up to 1/60th of the original price. Vegetables we put in the Fridge, but leeks we freeze. Meat and fish we freeze. As seniors it helps our budget. Last Wednesday a young man was reducing things and had a container with a lot of veg, sald and fruit in it, he said take anything yoy want and I'll reduce it all to 10p (appox 15c) at about 9.45pm they waste what is not sold.

If you can waste food, you must be wealthy.

[1John2:15-17]

My wife does a great jOB at planning meals, getting 2 or 3 meals out of a whole chicken, etc. I will also take leftovers to work for lunch...I can't stand to throw food away.