Throw out unhealthy food, or give it to the poor?

I'm reading a very good book about how the human metabolism works. It is not a textbook, mind you, but it is a readable, popular book by the fitness instructor Jillian Michaels, and it contains a lot of valuable information (not necessarily new, to those of you have been paying attention to medical studies regarding the impact of chemicals on hormones).

In one of the chapters of the the book--"Master your Metabolism"--she suggests we go through our homes and toss any food that contains any of the particular preservatives, chemicals, etc., that she lists.

I do not disagree with her that this is a great idea, and that these chemicals are harmful.

But she also says, to paraphrase, Don't gather them up and give them to the homeless shelter; throw them out, because nobody should be eating them. If you shouldn't eat them, why should poor people eat it? It's poison: Throw it out.

On the one hand, I love that she has the balls to say that, but on the other hand I am thinking: Yes, it is shit food, but isn't it better that somebody eats it as oppose to it just going into the garbage dump?

But this is one of those issues where I honestly can't decide...

and when you are hungry, it really doesn't matter what you eat, as long as it fills your belly.

Have you ever been really, really hungry? It's painful. If junk food can save someone from pain, do you need to know more?

and let them eat it instead of what we pay to feed them.

And what's bad for you may not be bad for someone else (moderation).

looking to write off stale/ unsold products?

I was terrified that if I said "give the food to the poor" I would be accused of all sorts of terrible things.

Well: I ate that food for years, and I'm not angry at myself for feeding it to myself...

The other thing is, in some cases, animals gave their lives for this food--hideous though it may be--the best way to honor that sacrifice is for someone to benefit from it, even if that means eating chili or sausage or whatever for a short period of time until they get back on their feet.

Wasting food is awful, in my opinion. Even if it is horrible food.

If we want to get rid of horrible food, we need to stop buying it in the first place.

I wouldn't even want it polluting landfill. Have you read about the effects of that crap on animals? ..........and I definitely do not think they should be getting tax breaks for donating it. Education on how to eat nutritionally and inexpensive is what is needed.

That crap costs mega bucks to produce.....sucking what's good out of things must be "hard work"

Give it away

but if she (the author) is telling people to toss out the Kraft Mac & Cheese (which I am sure she is) then WTF? :wtf:

Feeding a hungry kid a bowl of mac & cheese is far better than screaming "Be healthy god damn it!" Starving to death is not all it's cracked up to be.

A can of Spaghetti-O's is much better than nothing at all.

that I subsisted on mac&cheese, ramen and other such stuff. It barely qualifies as food but it's better than going hungry. I say donate it.

That was some years ago. I wasn't about to donate those cans anymore than I would have donated the suspect petfood that went into the trash bin during the melamine scandal to a shelter or food bank. I have home cooked for my pets since that time, and we check every label on human food to be sure it is HFCS free.

I'd rather donate cash to those less fortunate, or buy food that is fit to eat to donate to impoverished humans.

I appreciate your willingness to participate.

Thanks.