"The Big Waste" on the Food Network

**ferhoodled** · 01-07-2012, 06:18 PM

Has anyone else seen the promos for this program? The show description is "Chefs make a multi course meal out of what would have been trash." Looks interesting. My TV listing is showing it as being on at 10:00 tomorrow night on the Food Network. Thought this might be of interest to other members of Frugal Village too.

**Palooka** · 01-07-2012, 08:31 PM

Thanks, I haven't heard of it, sounds interesting though. Will have to check it out!

**bunnys** · 01-07-2012, 09:52 PM

It will be interesting to see what they found the was "leftover."

**newstudent** · 01-08-2012, 04:35 PM

Thank you for the reminder.

**Contrary Housewife** · 01-08-2012, 06:25 PM

Yeah, I'd like to know what tv chefs think is trash. In my house they'd be working with egg shells, used tea bags, onion peels and a crust of moldy bread.

**Maisiedotes** · 01-08-2012, 09:22 PM

I am so glad I happened upon this thread today! Just set it to record.

**pollypurebred39** · 01-08-2012, 09:36 PM

I hope that this will be aired on the internet eventually. I'd love to see this!

**AspiringToBeFrugal** · 01-09-2012, 12:35 AM

While the farms, orchards, stores, etc. featured are only in the NY area, you have to believe many similar facilities all over the country experience the same kinds of waste and loss. It's astonishing and sickening to see what people toss aside. It makes me want to do an immeasureably better job of watching our food to use it up before it spoils as well as picking produce (particularly from the farmers market) that may not be picture-perfect.

**ferhoodled** · 01-09-2012, 02:48 PM

I could not believe the amount of perfectly good fish and chicken that was going to be thrown out. I had no idea. That bothered me more than the veggies and fruit because of the fact that an animal gave its life and it was just wasted.

So many hungry people could be fed with all this good healthy food too. Such a shame.

Enjoyed seeing what the "freegan" man found too.

**brennasmom** · 01-09-2012, 02:58 PM

Thanks for sharing. I hadn't heard of it but will record it

**Palooka** · 01-10-2012, 12:38 AM

I could not believe the amount of perfectly good fish and chicken that was going to be thrown out. I had no idea. That bothered me more than the veggies and fruit because of the fact that an animal gave its life and it was just wasted.

Exactly my thought! I had a tear in my eye thinking about how common that is.. looking at those chickens in ice...please a broken wing....and suddenly they can't use/sell the meat??

**gapeach** · 01-10-2012, 10:29 AM

I watched it and was just flabbergasted! I don't understand why some of the soup kitchens and homeless shelters couldn't get that food and use it. I don't know about any of you but I find that the "perfect" fruit and veggies often don't taste that great but the blemished ones are much more flavorful. I have a supermarket that I go to and they put all of there marked down produce in a shopping cart and I have found great deals in it. In the summer they bag up the very ripe tomatoes in bags of about 3 lbs and sell them for $1. They make the marinara sauce!

With the rising costs of food and the economic situation in the US it was just sickening as well as disgusting.

**Incognito** · 01-10-2012, 10:45 AM

It is deplorable that people forget the wise, old saying:
"WASTE NOT...WANT NOT".

There is a cycle of plenty and poverty.
When there is plenty, we should use the resources well, and store up for the leaner times, because they are coming too.
History will continue to repeat itself; wisdom will help us to survive.

**Contrary Housewife** · 01-10-2012, 11:37 AM

It sounds as if the show is being misleading. A lot of that "imperfect" food does not go to waste. Farmers are smarter than that. Blemished fruit gets sold to be made into jam or sauce, or chopped fruit products. Same with vegetables, a lot of it ends up in canned soup or frozen meals. "Perfect" vegetables only go to grocery stores, where it gets a higher price, the rest of it often goes to companies like Campbell's or Kraft. And they do the same on their commercial farms. Also, a lot of leftover vegetables get sold as feed, ground up and fed to pigs and cows.

"Imperfect" chickens end up in soup, bags of frozen chicken nuggets, and cat food. Farmers get a good price for pretty, organic chickens, but they usually aren't stupid enough to just destroy the remainder because there is a market for "parts", too.