I always said...then send this to them. haha

Lol Brilliant response Lyn

I didn't get the "starving children" comments, instead I got the "that's good food you are wasting" and "what's wrong with that food" so I was forced to sit at the table alone, after my parents were done eating, until I finished my food. I hated milk, especially as it got warm from sitting, and would sit and stare at this bland, boring and rather tasteless food. My mother didn't season foods much at all, and we never had anything other than American foods (no Italian or Mexican cooked by my mother).

My parents always said "There are starving people in China" to my sisters & brother and Me. Like Lyn, I always said "Well....send it to them" as well. Smart Alec kids! Ha!

Hahaha I see Food guilt in its many forms Jenn and Deb
I've only recently unwound this ingrained belief that now when the thought comes that I can't throw it out and I HAVE to eat it I retort cheekily "That would make MY body the garbage bin, then"

Yep, any time food is not being used for nutrition it is wasted. Whether that be wasted in the trash can or "waisted" in our bodies. And either way, it does no good for the starving children in Africa.

I grew up on a farm. We were poor but we always had enough to eat. My parent rule was... if you take it, you must eat it. So you were torn about how much to take. With 9 family members you weren't sure if you'd get a second chance so the tendency was to take more than you should. My sister and I would run around the outside of the house to make room so we could finish our meal. No one was allowed to leave the table until everyone was finished so our siblings didn't appreciate it if we couldn't get that food down. I still have a hard time wasting food so I waist it. (Good one Lyn) Ugh.

I've really enjoyed reading all your stories and it's really interesting that a lot of our struggles as adults can be pinpointed to our childhoods.
Lyn I don't think I can ever forget the term waisting ever again. I can't unknow it. Lol

I used to hear that and..."when I was a kid, I would have loved to have had half of that to eat all day". In my Mom's defense they were dirt poor growing up. 6 girls when my grandpa passed away with my grandma pregnant with one. They lived in Europe and they had 1 cow. My grandma wouldn't sell the cow so she could give her girls the milk and bread. My mom said that's what they ate all the time. She was a live in maid by the time she was 11 years old for some rich people that treated her very badly and only went up to 3rd grade. I can't imagine. So I'm grateful for all that I had hearing those stories. My grandma confirmed with me that it was all true. Once she found out my mother was being treated badly she got her out of there. The other sisters older than her were luckier and landed in better homes as maid's. My grandma was the strongest lady I ever knew. I miss her. She was sweet but no one took advantage of that lady.
I don't like wasting food because of all these stories.

I think it's very odd...in a society built around "throw away" items, that we struggle to throw away food we don't want/need to eat. We have so many things that are disposable. What is it about food that we feel so compelled to eat when we don't NEED the calories?

My mothers dinners were rather bland. I never liked eating boring food. Once I moved out and discovered Chinese, Japanese, Thai, good Italian, etc, I started eating too much food as it was so tasty. Now I struggle to limit my eating to what I NEED to eat.