“Am I A Jerk For Letting My Roommate Go Hungry Because They Cannot Understand How Food Works?”
When someone brings you a home-cooked meal, it should be enjoyed and appreciated, not thrown away in one swift motion. If the latter happens, food waste might not be the only problem.
Redditor u/ZealousidealFan8906 told the AITA community about falling out with their roommate because of such a situation. The roomie repeatedly asked for leftovers only to dispose of them soon after. The OP eventually refused to give any more food, but started to wonder if they’re a jerk for doing so, as the roommate said they were letting them starve.
Home-cooked meals take time and energy to prepare, which makes throwing them away—wasting more than just food
Image credits: vladans (not the actual photo)
This person repeatedly shared leftovers with their roommate, but refused to do so after seeing what they did with them
Image credits: borodai (not the actual photo)
Image credits: ZealousidealFan8906
People waste billions of tons of food every year in countries all over the world
The OP was understandably upset about Tammy throwing away the leftovers. They spent time, money, and effort cooking the meal, and the roommate sent it all down the drain. (Well, into the trash can, in this case.) By doing that, she disrespected the cook and definitely didn’t make the situation with food waste any better.
As a matter of fact, as much as one third of the food in the world is wasted. An astonishing 1.3 billion tons of it would have been suitable for human consumption. To put matters into perspective, it is the equivalent of nearly 1,500 Golden Gate Bridges (887,000 tons each) combined. The situation in the US is no better than the global one—40% of food in the country ends up not being used.
To make matters worse, 14% of it is wasted after harvesting before even reaching the shelves. Another 17% is disposed of in homes, stores, and restaurants. Solving this global problem could help alleviate the issue of world hunger, which currently affects nearly 10% of our population.
Image credits: stayhereforu (not the actual photo)
Such waste negatively affects the humankind as well as the planet, therefore, certain management strategies are created
More saddening statistics reveal that food waste has a strong negative impact not only on the human race, but on the planet as well. The quantity of CO2 it emits would be enough to make it the third largest emitter of greenhouse gasses, right after the US and China, if it was a country. In addition to that, it leads to wasting large amounts of water each year as well.
In order to tackle this problem, organizations are taking action to scale down the amounts they misuse or discard. Some of the ways to do that include reducing the surplus of generated food, donating it, and diverting scraps to animal feed or composting it.
Each person can contribute to minimizing such waste on their end. Steps as simple as planning your meals, storing the produce wisely, and paying attention to the food labeling can be enough to make a difference in the household. Trying to reduce it can also help to save money, which was one of the reasons the OP was so sensible about their food.
Image credits: Andrea Piacquadio (not the actual photo)
People in the comments were unanimous about whether the OP is a jerk in the situation
I had one roommate who couldn't cook, so he always ate bread for dinner. My brother came over and I had just cooked a whole pan of macaroni, but my brother wanted to go to the cafetaria and eat fries. So I asked that guy if he wanted the macaroni. He was so grateful. Poor guy was hungry as a wolf. Whenever someone whines that my food is not good enough, I think of him.
That was my thought too. If she was really *that* hungry she would’ve put some salt on it and kept it moving.
If he was paying for some of the ingredients, I would have cooked for him - we're roommates (assuming the issue was just "he couldn't cook", and not "couldn't afford to"). But just bread? Nothing on top? No cheese, butter, or salami?
You shoulda taught him how to cook.
Believe it or not, there's actually at least one "YTA" vote because OP gets money from their parents that they don't really "need". Sometimes it's fun to sort the AITA comments by "controversial" and see the trolls at work. (I'd vote NTA, for the record, it doesn't matter if OP has money to spare, wasting food, especially in the current climate - this was posted 3 days ago to Reddit - is criminal)
Who gets to decide if she "needs" the money and even if the doesn't, she is in no way obligated to provide for a roommate.
Agreed. I always looked at it like we both need the money or we wouldn't be roommates, regardless of financial situation. So, OP is already helping her by sharing housing and bills. IMO
Yeh well unless she is sitting on a nest egg in the million or so range, every penny she gets and manages to squirrel away is needed. If that sounds harsh consider potential health setbacks, her parents well of good will coming up short mid study, losing her second source of income and any number of other emergencies, heck she might want to save a truly homeless or struggling soul who would appreciate the help by buying them food, clothing or a blanket, she will be glad she was frugal on that day so she can help.
I don't think OP has money to spare. Roommate needs to make some changes. As it stands she is not ready for the adult.world.
That’s what makes BP so bad at this. There are tons of posts on Reddit where the question is valid and the audience is divided. A real discussion. These are just rage porn on BP for everyone to agree on the same s**t. To the point where ONE YTA vote is surprising.
I’m fine with these, it saves me from having to go on goddamned Reddit.
Absolutely NTA. I *hate* seeing food wasted, particularly after I've spent a good amount of time preparing it.
I agree. We were raised to finish what was on our plates. I had a nephew come over and went to throw out 3/4 of an expensive ribeye steak. I stopped him before it hit the garbage, telling him that could make another meal, like a steak sandwich. Besides, that’s part of an animal that gave its life for us to eat well. We must respect that. Not sure if he learned anything until there’s a day when he has to earn the money to feed himself and the time comes when funds are short…
The only thing that pisses me off more than people throwing away food, is people throwing away meat. I hope your nephew learned a lesson and became a better person for it.
A ribeye? That one brought tears!
If the inconsiderate little brat did that to an expensive ribeye steak, he would get a hotdog for his next meal.
It would be the cheapest, nastiest Wal-Mart hot dogs they have on $.99 buns...
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He'd probably prefer a hotdog. Adults who serve kids a bunch of food they don't want are AH's who are creating lifelong eating disorders.
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it didn't give its life tho. It wanted to live and its life was brutally stolen.
We don't go out hunting "wild cows". The cow that was slaughtered to make that steak only even existed because a beef rancher made it so. Their life wasn't "stolen" to become beef, they were GIVEN a few years of life that otherwise would never have happened. During those years they're safe from predators, comfortable, and have all their needs met. Most prey species in the wild only live a few years, and those years are filled with near-constant desperation and fear. Do you advocate for going out and stopping wolves and bears from "stealing" their lives too?
I had one roommate who couldn't cook, so he always ate bread for dinner. My brother came over and I had just cooked a whole pan of macaroni, but my brother wanted to go to the cafetaria and eat fries. So I asked that guy if he wanted the macaroni. He was so grateful. Poor guy was hungry as a wolf. Whenever someone whines that my food is not good enough, I think of him.
That was my thought too. If she was really *that* hungry she would’ve put some salt on it and kept it moving.
If he was paying for some of the ingredients, I would have cooked for him - we're roommates (assuming the issue was just "he couldn't cook", and not "couldn't afford to"). But just bread? Nothing on top? No cheese, butter, or salami?
You shoulda taught him how to cook.
Believe it or not, there's actually at least one "YTA" vote because OP gets money from their parents that they don't really "need". Sometimes it's fun to sort the AITA comments by "controversial" and see the trolls at work. (I'd vote NTA, for the record, it doesn't matter if OP has money to spare, wasting food, especially in the current climate - this was posted 3 days ago to Reddit - is criminal)
Who gets to decide if she "needs" the money and even if the doesn't, she is in no way obligated to provide for a roommate.
Agreed. I always looked at it like we both need the money or we wouldn't be roommates, regardless of financial situation. So, OP is already helping her by sharing housing and bills. IMO
Yeh well unless she is sitting on a nest egg in the million or so range, every penny she gets and manages to squirrel away is needed. If that sounds harsh consider potential health setbacks, her parents well of good will coming up short mid study, losing her second source of income and any number of other emergencies, heck she might want to save a truly homeless or struggling soul who would appreciate the help by buying them food, clothing or a blanket, she will be glad she was frugal on that day so she can help.
I don't think OP has money to spare. Roommate needs to make some changes. As it stands she is not ready for the adult.world.
That’s what makes BP so bad at this. There are tons of posts on Reddit where the question is valid and the audience is divided. A real discussion. These are just rage porn on BP for everyone to agree on the same s**t. To the point where ONE YTA vote is surprising.
I’m fine with these, it saves me from having to go on goddamned Reddit.
Absolutely NTA. I *hate* seeing food wasted, particularly after I've spent a good amount of time preparing it.
I agree. We were raised to finish what was on our plates. I had a nephew come over and went to throw out 3/4 of an expensive ribeye steak. I stopped him before it hit the garbage, telling him that could make another meal, like a steak sandwich. Besides, that’s part of an animal that gave its life for us to eat well. We must respect that. Not sure if he learned anything until there’s a day when he has to earn the money to feed himself and the time comes when funds are short…
The only thing that pisses me off more than people throwing away food, is people throwing away meat. I hope your nephew learned a lesson and became a better person for it.
A ribeye? That one brought tears!
If the inconsiderate little brat did that to an expensive ribeye steak, he would get a hotdog for his next meal.
It would be the cheapest, nastiest Wal-Mart hot dogs they have on $.99 buns...
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
He'd probably prefer a hotdog. Adults who serve kids a bunch of food they don't want are AH's who are creating lifelong eating disorders.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
it didn't give its life tho. It wanted to live and its life was brutally stolen.
We don't go out hunting "wild cows". The cow that was slaughtered to make that steak only even existed because a beef rancher made it so. Their life wasn't "stolen" to become beef, they were GIVEN a few years of life that otherwise would never have happened. During those years they're safe from predators, comfortable, and have all their needs met. Most prey species in the wild only live a few years, and those years are filled with near-constant desperation and fear. Do you advocate for going out and stopping wolves and bears from "stealing" their lives too?