I imagined writing a breezy, Friday-friendly post, but this entry on eating disorders sparked my interest.
Karen Koenig, an expert in the psychology of eating, writes that people can’t change their unhealthy eating practices without first changing their underlying beliefs about food/body/weight. (I have a similar belief that people won’t stop wasting food until they change their attitude about food value and wastefulness.) In relation to trying to stop eating when you’re satisfied, she writes:
If you irrationally believe that you shouldn’t waste food, you must finish everything on your plate, and more is better, you’ll need to reframe these beliefs to make them rational.
Is it irrational to think food shouldn’t be wasted? Is there a lack of reason behind this idea? If so, I’ve totally lost my mind.Â
Now, I’m certainly no expert on eating disorders and I agree that a person’s health is more important than a half-eaten drumstick. In addition, I can empathize with people struggling not to eat too much/too little and understand how trying to rectify that problem could result in some food waste. But does that mean that, as she writes, “…it’s okay to waste food?”Â
Finally, I agree that the “clean your plate†mentality can be harmful. Yet, instead of saying waste is fine, how about advising folks to take less on their plate and/or save the leftovers? What do you think?
Comments
5 responses to “Eating Disorders and Waste”
I understand your concern that I might be telling society to waste food, but this is not the case. These blogs are written for people who have eating disorders, ie, those who have difficulty deciding how much food they prefer to eat. They need to believe that they can throw away or waste food; some will actually do it and some will take smaller portions. “Normal” eaters have a better sense of the amount of food they require, and it is healthy and common to occasionally throw out food. I agree, however, that it is not conscientious to be wasteful of food in general.
Karen R. Koenig
“The Rules of ‘Normal’ Eating”
“The Food and Feelings Workbook”
From your last paragraph, it’s very obvious that you have no comprehension of eating disorders, and therefore are in no place to critique the treatment methods that professionals employ on their clients.
People with eating disorders are powerless over their eating habits – whether it’s overconsumption, underconsumption, rituals, purging, etc. When somebody embraces the fact that food can be wasted, it gives food less power. It gives the eating disorder less power.
You’ve admitted that a person’s health is more important than wasting food. Well, eating disorders have the highest mortality rates of all mental health conditions. I’d say any food wasted is worth it.
You’ve posted something which, as you say, “peaked your interest.” You’ve then followed up with “what do you think?”, a general question to all readers. I imagine you’d want some opinions from people who have or have had eating disorders, wouldn’t you?
A friend of mine earlier posted a comment that she shared with me, and I found it illuminating. You rejected it. I wonder if the same fate will befall this comment here. It’s not important to me if your reader base sees it; it’s just for you.
You posit yourself as someone who’s interested, and wants to hear more. From the way your entry is written, you acknowledge not being an expert on eating disorders. I don’t think anyone will begrudge you a few dissenting opinions. It doesn’t make you a complete fool to not understand EDs, having never had one (so I gather).
My friend wrote, in part, this:
People with eating disorders are powerless over their eating habits – whether it’s overconsumption, underconsumption, rituals, purging, etc. When somebody embraces the fact that food *can* be wasted (different from the idea that food *should* be wasted), it gives food less power; it gives the eating disorder less power.
You’ve admitted that a person’s health is more important than wasting food. Well, eating disorders have the highest mortality rates of all mental health conditions. I’d say any food wasted is worth it.
I think she’s made a rather good point. Now that you’ve seen it twice, I hope you’ll consider this point of view. Which IS more important– the wasted food, or the wasted person? Let the PERSON be what matters here.
One factor which may contribute to this is plate size. Plates used to be 9 inches, standard. Now they’re 11 or 12 inches. Maybe something as simple as switching to a salad-sized plate could help someone who wants that full plate of food, but finds that newer plates hold too much.
Note: I don’t “reject” comments, and I welcome all discussion. It sometimes takes longer than I’d like to wade through all the spam comments I receive. I apologize for the delay, and I’m working on this problem.