Throwing candy away - Page 9

[Grace and Granola]

Originally Posted by WC_hapamama

Ditto this. Not all of us consider sugar to be poison. I am perfectly okay with letting my kids have access to candy and other junk food in moderation.

As far as my suggestion of donating candy to homeless shelters, nursing homes and food pantries goes, I'll repeat myself, not everyone thinks that sugar is poison.

For a homeless person who doesn't have access to a kitchen and regular meals, that handful of "garbage" or "poison" halloween candy is a source of calories.

IMO, while I think it's fine for parents to eliminate processed sugars from their kids diets if they're really that "afraid" of it, I think it's incredibly short-sighted for parents to teach their kids to look down their noses at other people's lifestyle choices, unless you're preparing them for the same treatment in the outside world... and I don't know many of that type who are telling their kids "Hey, most people think we're zealots."

Ok, candy as crack was a stretch....and probaby inappropriate. But I still have a hard time teaching my kids that anything that I say is not healthy for them, we should pass on to someone else. Even a video that I find is not "good" for them, I can't encourage them to give that to their friend. I don't like Ferber books, I find them harmful....I will NOT give it to my friend so it won't go to waste. I'd just as soon throw it in the garbage (I know it can be recycled, not the point!) And I don't feel that I'm teaching my kids to look down their noses at other people's lifestyles. I'm teaching my kids to make healthy choices. And I have to be consistent in teaching them to be good stewards of their bodies. If I tell them eating candy is not good for you, how can I possibly tell them to give that food then to someone else....who it also is not good for. If I'm going to teach my kids to be generous to their grandma or to the homeless, then let me teach them that "Hey, homeless people usually have to eat some pretty unhealthy things because that's what is available and cheap. Let's make some heathy treats to give to that homeless man that we see every day. He'd probably really appreciate a homecooked meal. Not a sack of candy."

[purplemoon]

Hospice is a great place to donate candy. I know my grandma was over the moon when she could get her hands on chocolate again (after being so good about it with her health issues). In hospice, it is about pleasure and taste and the sugar tooth. While we could get all the chocolate (and for some reason sardines that she called snails) she wanted, some families don't have the time or resources.

So even if you think it is poison, there are people who would enjoy it very much and it wouldn't matter what the health consequences.

And if I am ever in a nursing home, bring the candy to me, I will hide it under my bed, Diabetes or no diabetes, I am going to eat chocolate like a queen too.

[pjs]

Thanks Mamatoblessing- just getting back to this thread now.

[jennpn]

Have you looked at the nutritional information- or lack of? This IS garbage. Binging one night of the year on crap as part of the tradition is not a big deal...and then into the garbage it goes. We don't trick or treat to many houses...Up the street and back so it is not like a whole pillow case full. This year ALL the candy is going in the garbage when I swap bags for dried fruit, apple chips etc. This candy is crap-however a fun tradition- If you don't want people throwing it out and are offended about wasting your money, give out raisons, playdough or wedding bubbles. It is much more considerate to put it in the trash then in your child's body... what a way to weaken the immune system during prime illness season!

[JL83]

Originally Posted by jennpn

Have you looked at the nutritional information- or lack of? This IS garbage. Binging one night of the year on crap as part of the tradition is not a big deal...and then into the garbage it goes. We don't trick or treat to many houses...Up the street and back so it is not like a whole pillow case full. This year ALL the candy is going in the garbage when I swap bags for dried fruit, apple chips etc. This candy is crap-however a fun tradition- If you don't want people throwing it out and are offended about wasting your money, give out raisons, playdough or wedding bubbles. It is much more considerate to put it in the trash then in your child's body... what a way to weaken the immune system during prime illness season!

That seems hyperbole.

Everything in moderation. 1 or 2 tiny candies per day until it's gone won't harm a kid in any way.

If you don't want your kids to eat the candy - don't take it. It just seems so wasteful to take something knowing you're going to just going to throw it out. There are other people who'd appreciate that candy.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by jennpn

If you don't want people throwing it out and are offended about wasting your money, give out raisons, playdough or wedding bubbles.

That's funny. I know more families who would throw away the raisins, the playdough and even the bubbles than would throw away the candy. There have been several comments in this thread about the tradition being out of step with the reality and such. I disagree. I knew people - my own mom, for one - who refused to give out candy even 20-30 years ago. But, most people still give out candy, and most families (ime) are looking for just that.

[moondiapers]

Originally Posted by JL83

That seems hyperbole.

Everything in moderation. 1 or 2 tiny candies per day until it's gone won't harm a kid in any way.

If you don't want your kids to eat the candy - don't take it. It just seems so wasteful to take something knowing you're going to just going to throw it out. There are other people who'd appreciate that candy.

I think moderation is in the eye of the beholder. I would never consider eating something every day as moderate. An occasional piece of candy is fine (thinking like once a week or so) and moderate (to me). However, for halloween we just step back and get it over with. We also only give them a bag that will hold a small amount.

[WC_hapamama]

Originally Posted by Heatherb917

I'm teaching my kids to make healthy choices. And I have to be consistent in teaching them to be good stewards of their bodies.

That's it... it's a choice. A lifestyle choice.

Candy isn't healthy, and I don't think that anyone would deny that, but it's still FOOD and it's wasteful to throw away FOOD that someone could actually eat, healthy or not, when there are people who suffer from food insecurity in our own communities.

[childsplay]

Originally Posted by Pkutniewski

Wow. I can't imagine telling a 5 year old "here honey, let's go door-to-door and say trick or treat and NOT take their stuff"! As for being greedy and wasteful what exactly are we wasting here? It's junk food. Not steak. There is no "starving kids who would love to have it" guilt attached to junk food. I don't know a single person who isn't wasteful with most things. Anyone who produces more than that one tiny bag of garbage that couple made a documentary of, is wasteful to an nth degree comparatively speaking. Those that don't recycle are wasteful, those that do not reuse what they can are wasteful but throwing out junk food to me, is not wasteful. Nor is it greed. We don't go to to other neighborhoods to see how much candy we can get. We stay in our 24 house development and see our own neighbors. I see no greed whatsoever about it.

But rather than TAKING candy, which you are going to toss anyway, could you not turn it around and give something?
On my kid's first few halloweens, we really got into the dressing up bit (of them) and trick or treating as did our neighbors.
Instead of collecting candy for the kids, we'd carry a sack of treats
( homemade caramel apples, rice krispie squares, stickers, halloween pencils...etc) and hand them out to the doors we went to. Mind you, we knew most people. It turned into quite a conversation topic and therefore was quite social. Plus, it was fun!
Just thoughts from me who doesn't like to throw anything out (especially food! : )

[aprons_and_acorns]

Originally Posted by Heatherb917

Ok, candy as crack was a stretch....and probaby inappropriate. But I still have a hard time teaching my kids that anything that I say is not healthy for them, we should pass on to someone else. Even a video that I find is not "good" for them, I can't encourage them to give that to their friend. I don't like Ferber books, I find them harmful....I will NOT give it to my friend so it won't go to waste. I'd just as soon throw it in the garbage (I know it can be recycled, not the point!) And I don't feel that I'm teaching my kids to look down their noses at other people's lifestyles. I'm teaching my kids to make healthy choices. And I have to be consistent in teaching them to be good stewards of their bodies. If I tell them eating candy is not good for you, how can I possibly tell them to give that food then to someone else....who it also is not good for. If I'm going to teach my kids to be generous to their grandma or to the homeless, then let me teach them that "Hey, homeless people usually have to eat some pretty unhealthy things because that's what is available and cheap. Let's make some heathy treats to give to that homeless man that we see every day. He'd probably really appreciate a homecooked meal. Not a sack of candy."

This kind of reminds me of the feelings some people have toward alcohol. My husband doesn't drink, but once in a while someone who doesn't know that will gift him with a bottle of liquor or wine, which he then passes on to someone who does drink alcohol. Some people would dump out the alcohol because they feel (or would like to demonstrate the value to their children) that no one should drink it. So if you want your children to glean that you feel no one should eat candy, then I guess it does make sense to not encourage them to give it to others.

[celestialdreamer]

Due to food allergies we haven't let our kids eat more than a piece or two of candy (usually something we provided anyway) on Halloween. They still go out trick or treating for a little bit and then the "Great Pumpkin" takes their bag of candy and leaves a little gift instead.

Even still...it never would have crossed my mind to actually throw the candy away. My dh usually eats a bit of it that night after the kids go to bed and then takes the rest to work to share with his coworkers. I have personally watched my friends children gorge themselves on candy the night of Halloween because it was getting tossed the next day and it was frankly a bit disgusting. They literally were shoving it in their faces as fast as they could unwrap it!

[hibiscus mum]

I just wanted to mention that one year some teenaged girls came to my door for TorT, but instead of taking candy, they said they were collecting canned goods for the local food bank. I thought that was really nice.

[DaughterOfKali]

I don't toss the candy away unless it looks like it's been tampered with or the package is ripped, etc.

Ds can't eat the majority of candy he gets so I just replace it with stuff he can/will eat.

All the other stuff I bring to my church office and put it in the candy dish for visitors.

[mamazee]

My daughter eats as much as she wants, and I don't place limits. But most of it seems to go uneaten. I usually send it with dh to work.

[EnviroBecca]

I wrote:

If I've accepted food to be polite, I'll eat it if I possibly can (I'm not painfully full, and it doesn't literally make me gag) and adjust my eating later in the day to compensate.

and Limabean responded:

I don't understand how this leads to less waste. The food has already been used up in preparation/plating. Whether it goes in your stomach or in the trash, it can't be used to feed someone else who is hungry at that point.

I don't get how eating past the point of comfort is helpful at all. I can see how not accepting food when you're not hungry could be helpful, because then that food would still be available for someone else to eat. But shoving stuff down your gullet when you'd rather not? That's very unappetizing, and could lead to a really weird relationship with food, I would think.

It's reducing waste because I adjust my eating later in the day to compensate. For example, if I go to a friend's house at 4:00 and she says, "Try this chili I just made!" and gives me a bowlful, when I eat dinner at 6:00 I'll be less hungry and I won't have seconds on spaghetti, but of course I won't throw away that spaghetti; I'll have it for lunch tomorrow. The "extra" food I eat to prevent it from being wasted is REPLACING food I would otherwise seek out later, so my total caloric consumption is the same. (Approximately. I'm not a calorie-counter per se, but I think about how much I've eaten in the last 6 hours or so when I'm deciding how big a serving to take or whether to eat at all.)

I guess my relationship with food is "weird" by American standards, in that I find it really easy to resist CHOOSING to seek food when I'm not hungry. I don't eat a full meal just because it's 12:00 or eat chocolate because I'm sad or any of that sort of thing. I realize a lot of people's relationships with food are badly broken but mine is not.

I will grab every available calorie when the alternative is letting it go to waste or being rude, but I don't eat PAST the point of comfort as you said; I eat UP TO the point where it becomes uncomfortable.

3boobykins wrote:

The candy the dental office buys will then be donated to the huge gingerbread village that is created at a local resort hotel each holiday season.

I think this is a great idea! The wasting of food by buying candy to make decorations has always bothered me, but if it is unwanted candy and being used in decorations instead of going into the trash, that's an improvement! Yes, the gingerbread village gets tossed AFTER A BUNCH OF PEOPLE ENJOY SEEING IT FOR WEEKS, just as candy eaten by a person gets tossed out of the body AFTER THE PERSON ENJOYS EATING IT FOR TWO MINUTES--both are ways of using the candy.

[peainthepod]

Originally Posted by MammaG

The past few years, the Great Pumpkin has visited our house on Hallowe'en night. We help the boys read food labels on their 'stuff' and allow one or two special peices, but the rest gets left out for the Great Pumpkin, who then leaves a new game or toy in thanks. Candy went to DH's work, or last year a friend gathered it from many families and sent it to the troops in Iraq.

This is brilliant--thank you for the idea!

[peainthepod]

I also wanted to add that it seems like a major issue here is the difference in mindset between people who think of candy as no big deal, and people who consider it actively harmful. My son isn't old enough for candy yet but when he is, we will trick or treat, and I won't be letting him eat stuff made out of HFCS and artificial colorings--his health is more important than some abstract principle against "waste" (in my opinion, you can't waste something that has no value, but whatever), and my refusal to let him eat the candy is not going to prevent him from enjoying a cherished childhood tradition. And since I don't think it's okay for my kid to eat that stuff, I'm not comfortable giving it to someone else. Into the garbage it will go...

I understand the waste argument but really, this seems to be about much more than that. Let's face it: throwing away candy is easily perceived as a judgment about whether or not it's okay to let children eat (most) candy. And that riles people up something fierce.

[limabean]

Originally Posted by EnviroBecca

...I don't eat PAST the point of comfort as you said; I eat UP TO the point where it becomes uncomfortable.

Okay. The way you phrased it earlier made it sound like you did, when you said, "I'll eat it if I possibly can (I'm not painfully full, and it doesn't literally make me gag)." I would be uncomfortably full well before I was in pain or gagging. The way you described it earlier, I pictured you miserably choking down scraps of food just because it would go in the trash otherwise. The bowl-of-chili scenario sounds much more reasonable.

[Youngfrankenstein]

Originally Posted by peainthepod

My son isn't old enough for candy yet but when he is, we will trick or treat, and I won't be letting him eat stuff made out of HFCS and artificial colorings--his health is more important than some abstract principle against "waste" (in my opinion, you can't waste something that has no value, but whatever), and my refusal to let him eat the candy is not going to prevent him from enjoying a cherished childhood tradition..

I guess I still have a problem with seeking out something you know you don't want just to toss it. Personally, I see ToT as purely optional and families decide what they want to do. I don't see missing it as a trauma.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by peainthepod

I understand the waste argument but really, this seems to be about much more than that. Let's face it: throwing away candy is easily perceived as a judgment about whether or not it's okay to let children eat (most) candy. And that riles people up something fierce.

I'm not sure where you get that. Plenty of people here have made suggestions such as sending it to people in military service overseas, or donating it to a shelter. That doesn't translate into "you think you're so much better than me because you don't let your kids eat candy". I certainly have no objection to people not allowing their children to have any candy - actually, I can totally understand that, even though we don't do it. I just find it really odd to deliberately take kids out to participate in a ritual that boils down to asking people for candy, just to take it home and throw it out. It seems incredibly wasteful - not just because it's thrown out, but because participating in trick-or-treating supports the production and distribution of all that candy in the first place. If I didn't get the number of trick-or-treaters that I get, I wouldn't buy as much candy. Ditto for many of the neighbours. If people didn't buy as much, the manufacturers wouldn't make as much. I just don't get the thinking here...and I do think it's very different than politely accepting an unsolicited gift and then getting rid of it (although that generally means something one doesn't want for oneself, ime, so donation comes up there, too).