Will you give expired bread to other people who would want to eat it?
By marisriel
@marisriel (1156)
Philippines
September 11, 2008 7:01pm CST
We are guilty of buying food a lot without estimating if it is already excessive. So most of the time, I am in a situation whether I should throw the food away or just give it to someone else. For me, if I don't like to eat them, so does the other people. I mean, if it tastes bad for me since it's already expired, then other people will find it just the same. But my husband is not like me. He would rather give the food to the maids than throw them away telling them that they are going to eat them. And yes they do. Will you be doing the same?
4 responses
@Wizzywig (7847)
•
12 Sep 08
If we buy it and its still edible, we eat it... I dont have the money to be able to waste food. Its usually ok to eat food that is past its 'sell by' date but, if its not fit for you to eat then I would say its not fit for your maids. (If its simply a case of you having too much food and its still fresh its a nice gesture to share it)I think its disrespectful to assume that they should eat 'second-rate' food. I appreciate that they may be grateful if they do not have sufficient money to feed themselves or their families but they shouldn't have to be in that position. Perhaps you could just buy less food and use the money you save to pay the maids more.
@Wizzywig (7847)
•
12 Sep 08
I regularly buy things on their sell by date when they are reduced in price. I would have no problem eating bread after the given date as long as there was no mould on it and thats not just from financial necessity. I agree with your husbands point about not throwing food away. I initially assumed he was giving the maids bad food but it sounds like the food is perfectly edible. My apologies for my wrong assumptions.
Under those circumstances, I think its better to offer it to someone else, irrespective of their position, than to throw it away. The fact that you can afford to be so picky about what you are prepared to eat appears to be advantageous to your staff - so, I think your husband is right to give them the opportunity to have this food. I think its morally wrong to waste food either by eating too much or by throwing it out if its still edible.
Under those circumstances, I think its better to offer it to someone else, irrespective of their position, than to throw it away. The fact that you can afford to be so picky about what you are prepared to eat appears to be advantageous to your staff - so, I think your husband is right to give them the opportunity to have this food. I think its morally wrong to waste food either by eating too much or by throwing it out if its still edible.@marisriel (1156)
• Philippines
12 Sep 08
Actually, the breads that I often want to thrash out is those types which expired a day away. For example, if the date on bread says Best Before September 11 and it is now September 11, I would not want to eat that already even if it still smells and looks fresh. I don't know but I am really not comfortable eating them. I would not want to give them too for anyone else to eat but my husband says our helpers can decide if they would want to eat them or throw them away. At least we gave them chance. That's what my husband says and I just give in.
@Sarah1108 (310)
• United States
12 Sep 08
If they eat the old bread they give it to them. i dont think it can really make them sick. now milk or something like that yeah i would not give that away. i think first your husband should ask if they will eat it before giving it to them. if they say no then he should toss it out.
@marisriel (1156)
• Philippines
13 Sep 08
Actually my husband does ask them sometimes, but sometimes he just prefer to put the bread on the kitchen counter and since the maids were already instructed to throw away food that can't be eaten anymore, he just lets them decide if they would eat them or not. Thanks a lot for responding.
@greenglitterturtle (2750)
• United States
12 Sep 08
hi marisriel...old bread is great to give to ducks,geese and birds. it's fun to feed them. if something isn't good for me then i don't want someone else to eat it.
@marisriel (1156)
• Philippines
12 Sep 08
Hi, that's a good idea, but we don't actually have birds as pets and there are not a lot of ducks and geese and animals of that sort to which I can give the left over bread. But there are lots of dogs and cats littering on our neighborhood so I think I will just tell our helpers that instead of throwing them out, they can give it to the animals. In that way, the stray dogs and cats don't have to scatter garbage just to find food. Thanks, a simple idea really but I haven't thought of that really.
@medney1988 (560)
• United States
12 Sep 08
i wouldn't give old bread to someone because it could make them sick. whenever we have bread that expired before we could eat it we usually go down to the pier and feed the birds with it. that way we're not wasting and the birds dont have to go hungry.
@marisriel (1156)
• Philippines
12 Sep 08
Hi, thanks for responding. We don't give breads which are "too expired" or the types which smells bad already or which have molds. They are still fresh actually and can be eaten. But I think I really have to check and ask the helpers first if they don't get offended whenever my husband does that. In that way, we will know if we really ought to give the bread to them or just give them right away to birds or stray animals in the neighborhood.
