My DD arranged a Cake Smashing for my youngest GD for her first birthday. There we quite a few posed photos before the cake appeared and although it did get broken & my GD did get covered in chocolate icing, ìt wasnt cake flying everywhere. More my GD grabbing handfuls of cake with the occasional foot finding it's way into the mix. The whole session with the cake lasted around I minute before my GD found the bowl of warm soapy water. The cake, made by my daughter, suffered minimum damage and was eaten with coffee and by her siblings later that day.
My daughter and I both saw ìt as an amusing way to celebrate No 4 GCs first birthday, which it was. No photos were put on fb or other media, the photographer used some of the photos in her portfolio to help promote a new start to her career and we all ate cake and had fun.
In my opinion and with no intentionof offending anyone, bringing up food banks and starving people over a cake smash is rather like telling people not to eat cake, chocolate, party food or even eat out because so many people never get the chance. If people wish to help charities, which my DD and I do, there are several ways of doing so, while not denying our own children of fun activities.
As a side issue, No 4 GC is severely allergic to several foods, so has a higher than usual awareness of where food cokes from and it's preparation.
Having participated in a cake smash hasn't turned her into some uncaring monster. Equally, having bought and paid for the ingredients, made the cake, and eaten the remains, nothing was wasted, considering how much food is thrown away by the average household every day.