I didn't see the tv show in question, but how old were the food wasters?
I always remember as a kid that we were forced to eat every last scrap of food put on our plates, even if we complained we didn't like it - I suppose it was because my parents remembered rationing all too well. I'm glad they were like that as I never waste food now and there isn't a single food I can think of that I don't like (although I'm not too keen on mushy peas from the chippy!)
I notice that a lot of the youngsters at work chuck food away left, right and centre. I've also seen them turn their noses up and open a tub/packet of stuff just because the current one had been open a while. We order way too much food at work and I often take bits and pieces home because it will just get chucked on Friday afternoon.
I witnessed a crime most foul at the weekend. A blasphemy against all that is good in the world. Words perhaps cannot do this justice. But it is related to food.
Now, cake is very important to me. A life without cake is truly a barren, pointless place. Like Peterborough. So, on Sunday I bore witness to the horrific scene of a young couple sitting down with cake and coffee, taking a few bites, and making some goodly "mmm" noises. Nothing horrific about this, you may think. But wait, they took about two bites and then left the rest. That was it. They then chatted for a while and departed.
Admittedly, my wife did then have to restrain me from reaching over after they left and 'rescuing' the remaining cakes.
I confess that I too was brought up in the if-you-don't-eat-it-now-it's-breakfast school so plates were always cleaned. I can't waste food to this day. And I regularly, to my wife's extreme distress, eat stuff I've dropped on the floor (well, actually anything I find on the floor that looks edible). I don't know what her problem is, I pick off the obvious dirt and cat hair first.
I also got quite narked and had to be restrained the other week. That was a hotel breakfast buffet. People just piling their plates high, eating half and leaving the rest. Why not just take what you need, eat that, and if you are still hungry go and get some more. Fortunately, the medication set in before I could start yelling that there are people who are starving elsewhere in the world.
Then I remember my parent's other make-me-clear-plate strategy, that by not eating everything I'd essentially be personally stealing the food from the plates of starving Africans. It's all Geldof's fault.
I probably spend a lot on food though, mostly through decadence and laziness, but I do believe that food is important and worth paying for. And I will eat it all.