I have a lot of trouble throwing out things that I could technically still eat, but won’t. Leftover food that’s too small a portion to heat up, a snack I hate but can’t pawn off… you name it, I probably struggle trying to toss it.
I struggle because I was raised to be very aware of global inequality and food scarcity. I wind up feeling guilty because someone out there is starving and would love to eat this food that I don’t want but am privileged to have. Of course, I can’t get the food to that person in any reasonable time span, and I can’t eat it myself, and so it has to be thrown away.
My solution to this is making bugs into a deity.
Yes, bugs. Maggots and flies in particular, but any bugs known for eating waste food work. A few non-bugs make their way into the roster as well: worms, slugs, bacteria, anything known for being nature’s recycling bins. Decomposers, really. To make it easier to reference all of these creatures to myself, I call them The Little Ones.
Throwing food away becomes a religious act. I’m not wasting food; I’m making a sacrifice to the Little Ones. It’ll be a feast for them, and they won’t mind that it’s something I’m not fond of because that’s what they’re gods of: the unwanted, the cast away, the rotting. They’ll be perfectly happy to consume it and take it back into The Cycle of Things.
I struggle a lot less with throwing away excess food now.
Self-authored, 2025. I’ve used this idea since ~2023 and it’s brought me both relief from this flavor of anxiety and a degree of spiritual comfort.