Throwing away hoarded food.

I have just put my food recycling container out for collection.I didn't bother last week, it only had two bacon rinds in it. I will put it out this week as it now has 6 bacon rinds in it. All vegetable waste goes on the compost heap.

I saw this on the news, packs of vegetables and ready meals, bunches of bananas etc. Mindless stupidity.

Paperbackwriter as has already been pointed out upthread, this was also in the Guardian, the I, local newspapers containing photos by local councillors and a publication by a recycling company.
So it is perhaps wise to read the thread and discuss the message rather shoot the messenger.

We knew this would happen, didn't we.

However, perhaps the woman with all the crisps was working in a school, looking after the children of essential workers and trying to make packed lunches for them. Support staff are at work too, not just teachers.

Perhaps someone with a very full trolley is shopping for a family as well as trying to buy food for elderly relatives who are self-isolating.

However, there is no excuse for waste and now is a good opportunity for some people to learn how to waste not, want not.

Also during the crisis the amount of people trying! to buy 4 boxes of paracetamol when the limit has been 2 for the last goodness know how many years.

We have a limit of 3 of the same item.Doesn't matter what it is, whether its a packet of dishcloths or whatever You can argue till your blue in the face but its 3 and 3 only.

Whilst it makes it difficult when shopping for Aunty Margaret who can't get out and Uncle Bill who isn't well and the neighbour down the road.It is still only 3 of the same item.Even if you split the shopping up and pay seperate.

So if Aunt Margaret wants 3 tins of beans then Uncle Bill cant have any (unless Aunt Margaret wants to share hers)

I've had a few efffing this and effin that..because I wouldn't let a "person" have 4 boxes of dog food, she tried to then put it on her mothers shopping, but even that is not allowed.

"Well I will just effing go back round then"!!! 2 I've got 4 dogs ya know"!! thankfully my supervisor was near by and put her straight

Thankfully 99% of my customers are lovely, obliging and understanding

I can't understand food waste at any time, let alone at a time of national crisis. It isn't necessary to be a great cook, or even a good cook to ensure that there is not waste. I am by no means a good cook but even I can ensure that decent meals are on the table with no waste. I think it is more a question of not being spoil rather than being a good cook and I think this is where the older generation have the advantage. Most of us began with little money in the days of really high mortgage rates or had fairly frugal upbringings so, although more comfortably off now, we are quite happy not to pick and choose and eat what is next in due date in our fridges.

The other day dh and I had a lamb casserole for dinner. There wasn't enough left to make another full meal so dh added a tin of herby tomatoes and had it the next night with the left over potatoes. No problem ...very tasty.

Tonight we will have quiche and salad. We will have greek yoghurt with sliced banana with a little honey drizzled on top for desert. I have no idea what we are having tomorrow but whatever we have it will be with broccoli because that is the next vegetable needing used up. I will keep the carrots until last because they last longer.Definitely no evidence of great cooking here just common sense. Maybe that is what's missing with those who are throwing fresh produce away.

What a horrible thread. The Gransnet Lynch Mob being whipped up by the media.

I agree crimpedhalo that lots of people would think they would still be able to have friends and family round for meals.

My two grandchildren, 15 and 12, usually come to us and have a cooked meal after school twice a week when mum is working. That’s not happening now of course, but it certainly means our food stretches further.

Artdeconan - You believe everything in the Daily Mail? That newspaper (just a vile rag really) runs entirely on stoking up false outrage!

I know that some people did panic buy and I largely blame the media and social network for a lot of this. Showing photos of empty supermarket shelves fed this panic. None should have been mentioned or shown. I think that, slowly, things are starting to return to something a little normal. However, do not condemn anyone you do see with a lot of stuff in their shopping trolley. My daughter has her husband in total isolation in their bedroom due to his medical problems and meds, she has him, herself, three teeanager and one sub-teen at home. Normally, these all get their midday meals at schools/college, - now all meals are at home. She has noticed the extremely large increase in their family shopping costs due to this, and is trying only to brave the supermarket close to their home once a week. She, as all my children, have always taken pride in the fact that they use fresh veg, etc a lot and cook most meals from scratch.
I do wonder at the shortage of bread flour, and have an amusing vision in my head of lots of people who grabbed packets of this without know what it was, opening those packets , thinking they were getting some sort of bread, and looking in dismay at the powder in front of them!!!

Not a scrap of anything gets wasted or thrown by me. My moronic neighbours have left bin bags of rotting food out.

The local foxes have had a field day ripping them open - so there's litter everywhere. Normally, I'd be out picking it up - but not now!

I do not think anyone is excusing panic buying but is building up stock when you need to be prepared for a sudden fortnight confined to house really hoarding?

The alternative is what happened to DS and family, who had not stock hoarded, A fortnight ago they were suddenly consigned to social exclusion for a week when a friend went down with Covid-19 and before they had a chance to do any shopping.

With no online shopping slots available for weeks, DH's first action was a dash to a supermarket to stock up with food for the week. Not an entirely sensible thing to do, as in retrospect he would agree, but just an instinctive reaction, when he got the phone call saying his friend had it and they must socially exclude. His immediate reaction, was to think about provisions and dash straight out.

Thankfully no one in the family developed the illness and they have been out of social seclusion now for over a week and are now set up with enough food and deliveries to see themselves through a fornight of exclusion if required. But it shows the consequence that can result if you are too morally superior, to disorganised, or too poor to make sure fairly early on that you have enough food in the house to tide you over.

I've seen people putting loaves of bread in the bin after a couple of days of snow when the fresh loaves were back on the shelves. I guess I was brought up after the war when nothing was wasted.

I saw a good tip from a cook at a local restaurant on video yesterday - wash all your vegetable peelings, including onion skins, and boil them up to make stock. Add a chicken carcass if you have one, let it stew away for a couple of hours, then strain it and add diced vegetables, any shredded leftover chicken or pork or whatever you have, herbs, seasoning etc. to make a tasty broth. I'm never throwing vegetable peelings away again!

I am surprised at so many people excusing the type of panic buying and stock hoarding that we were witness to at the beginning of this pandemic, and the resulting food wastage we are seeing now.

It probably about how you come at life and what you assume you know. I always think that I have little knowledge of why they were doing this, how many they were buying for - or even how many families.

What I do think is unforgivable and deserves zero tolerance is rudeness and aggression but that is unforgivable anywhere.

I was one of the people who just did a normal shop 3 weeks ago. People were piling their trolleys with food bit I thought it would all calm down. I’m nearly 80 no health problems but not supposed to go out but I can’t get a delivery slot. I’m now depending on others to buy fruit, veg and bread for me. My fallback was my daughter but last week her 3 year old had a temp. and a cough. He was right as rain next morning but the family is now in isolation! The real tragedy was when I ran out of gin last weekend!

I like to think people just panicked totally in the first week and hopefully will settle down now they know there is food for everyone? I am not a panicker so was quite shocked on my weekly shop where there were so many empty shelves that I found myself buying stuff I would never normally buy like a jar of hotdogs! (hotdogs? never eaten one in my life ha ha) I couldn't get any loo rolls (naturally) no fresh stuff, no pasta. Came home and panic did set in a bit.....what if.......

But thankfully sense prevailed and our local shops started limiting sales. Was totally speechless when my local shop told me they had had so much abuse from customers trying to instil this so much so they had had to hide things in storeroom! Shocking. I was told to 'ask' if I needed anything and if they had it I could have it. Sometimes pays to be good customers of the small guys eh?

I am confident that the word will get round and people will start to be more sensible and thoughtful.

I went to the supermarket today and it was a very pleasant experience. There were queue's outside but they moved quickly. One in and one out basis.
People were not grabbing, enough toilet rolls ect. People were conscious of distance. Also a good selection of fresh produce. I am not holding my breath but maybe/hope lessons have been learned and people realise they now have to be considerate to others.

None of the bins on my street were overflowing with ex hoarded food. In fact, the local bins overfliwed LESS than they usually do. Maybe being home more allows people to meal plan more?

I am surprised at so many people excusing the type of panic buying and stock hoarding that we were witness to at the beginning of this pandemic, and the resulting food wastage we are seeing now.

There is absolutely no excuse for it. I think the supermarkets were caught on the hop, and were probably as taken aback by it as the public were at the locust-type behaviour. I think they were much too slow in putting in controls as to numbers of customers in stores and restricting the numbers of items that each were allowed to purchase.

The only saving grace is that now that the supermarkets ARE aware and are putting in restrictions, this kind of behaviour will be curtailed from now on.

£££££’s in the supermarket’s eyes & tills, shopping limits should of been put in place to ensure 1 item of shopping per trolley or basket, but no! Greed & Gluttony stepped in & now all the foods it’s wasted instead ? now wonder the CEO’s of theses supermarket are rubbing their handlings together but in the end we all will have to pay for that waste with higher food prices, that’s if we still have our jobs for those of us who have to work thru no choice

I saw a lady with a full trolley yesterday and she looked at me but I’m not interested in how much people buy like that I have no idea how many people that lady is providing seven days meals for, shopping for neighbours or parents. I have a live and let live attitude keep out of my business and I do the same to you and don’t judge either. I ate out a lot before this with friends and now have to admit planning meals and what to buy is new to me. With children off uni where they maybe would eat out parents are having to feed them Plus schools off more, parents have to buy more otherwise they’re back again at the supermarket soon, I think we should think of this.

I believe some people thought they were still going to be socialising at home.

Perhaps food had to be thrown away as a COVID 19 patient was in hospital or even died. Probably going to happen quite a lot.

We could all foresee this, but greed overcomes everything else for some people. How are they going to cope when the credit card bills arrive - or are they going to expect everyone else to chip in to bail them out.

Jamie Oliver is doing a great programme every day on Channel 4 at 8.45. Easy simple quick recipes from your store cupboard or freezer. However he obviously doesn’t have a clue about most peoples larders, who has a stock of olives and pine nuts! But he does say use whatever you have.
I live alone and am in the vulnerable group over 70 with COPD. I am not going outside and have just ordered food from my local village stores. It was an eye opener. £3.60 for a very small cauliflower and everything else in my basket twice the price of Sainsbury’s or Tesco. They did deliver it for free and leave it on my doorstep though!