When does food turn to garbage?

[Terrasanct]

I've been thinking about this since the Hell's Kitchen where the pasta was rescued from the trash, and because of the recent NYT article about freegans. What turns edible food into garbage?

For some people, it might be as simple as this--when the food leaves the plate, it's automatically unfit for consumption, whether it's in the sink or the garbage or just sitting there waiting to be cleared from the table. On the other end of the spectrum, dumpster divers reclaim edible foods from the garbage routinely. Most people probably fall in the middle.

So, does putting leftover food into a clean trash bag turn it to trash? If so, why not when you put it in a clean plastic bag and put it in the fridge? Does good food go bad when it ferments? Obviously not in all cases, and not even when it begins to stink. Is a clean, wrapped box of cookies from a bakery dumpster more trash than a pot of stinky cabbage that's been buried underground to ferment?

Is it just another cultural idea? In the US, we can't even bear to see that butchered animals have heads and faces, much less think about eating insects or any food that seems rotten to us. Or maybe it's the fear of germs and disease that permeates this culture right now.

It's obvious how most people feel about eating what might be trash--think about the Seinfeld episode where George rescues something from the kitchen trash, and how he's portrayed as being disgusting because of it. I read some of the posts about freegans posted here, and a common thought was that they must get sick from eating garbage. It's "dirty" after all. But so is a potato dug from the ground--why does washing cleanse one thing but not another?

What is the dividing line between food and garbage, and why?

[srhcb]

There was a Seinfeld Episode where George was spotted by his girlfriend's mother taking a bite out of an eclair that had been in the garbage can,

The discussion that ensued, including such "Seinfeldian" distinctions as whether the food had been "above or below the rim", etc, probably amounts to the definative answer to your question.

Edited July 9, 2007 by srhcb (log)

[GTO]

In my house, it becomes fair game for the bin when someone asks "Are you still saving this?" - That's confirmation that no-one is going to eat it.