What would you do?

[Lorna from Canada]

Yesterday, my winter camping neighbour dropped by with a plate of Paleo scones she had just baked. We don't know her well - we winter camp together and see each other around - we've only socialized together a few times. Still, she's very nice and we enjoy bumping into her and her husband when we're out for walks or skating. 

So, back to yesterday. Knock on the door and here comes Susan with a plate of fresh from the oven, blueberry Paleo scones. I am SO glad W30 has given me a name for these kinds of things - SWPO indeed. I have never liked foods masquerading as other things. I'd rather eat a handful of almonds than some traditional wheat based baked good made with almond flour. Still, this offering (which, in addition to being a SWPO item, contained vanilla extract, sugar substitute and heavy cream - totally W30 non-compliant) was thoughtful, generous and kind. I really appreciate her thinking about us and sharing this gift with us.

So - what would you have done? We accepted her lovely gift, thanked her profusely and threw them out. I have a real problem with food waste - I keep all my organic vegetable peels and waste in a bag in my freezer and, once there's enough, make veggie stock with it for heaven's sake! So, I feel tremendous guilt at throwing them away but think I would have felt worse had I rejected her kindness. I couldn't have re-gifted them - there are only 2 of us in the park at the moment.

So, what would you have done? Have you ever had a gift like this rejected? How did that feel?

Thanks in advance - this is really bugging me.

[ShannonM816]

I think you did the right thing, as far as not wanting to hurt her feelings, although if this becomes a regular thing, you'll probably have to talk to her about it. 

If they were something you had an interest in trying after your whole30, you could've frozen them for later, but if you weren't likely to eat them then either, that would be a waste of freezer space and you'd probably end up throwing them out anyway. 

 

[Jihanna]

I have to agree -- taking them allowed her to feel that her generosity and thoughtfulness was appreciated (which it seems was actually the case, as well). For me, I probably would've frozen them and at least tried one after my Whole30 OR I'd have considered maybe donating them to a local school or church office, something that would make sure they'd get eaten without having to be eaten by me.

[Christie Inge, HHC]

 

So, I totally understand the whole not wanting to waste food thing. AND, what I've also realized along the way is that food is always going to get wasted; we have an overabundance of food in the US and unless you are going to ship it off to people in less fortunate countries, you can waste it in the trash or in your body. 

As far as the neighbor, if it continues to happen, you may need to have an honest conversation with her and perhaps discuss other ways you might be able to connect that isn't food (her actual motivation for bringing you the scones was probably to connect with you). 

[Lorna from Canada]

@ShannonM816 @Jihanna @Christie Inge, HHC

Thank you all for your replies. I really appreciate the time you took and your thoughts about this - it is giving me lots to think about. I snuck off to Australia for 9 weeks so am miles away from Susan and her generosity but this has given me time to think about the next offering.

Thanks all!!

[AllyB]

If you don't want to waste food, buy some chickens and feed things like this to them   The result is that you turn that food into eggs.

Yay chickens!

[Lorna from Canada]

On 3/1/2020 at 11:24 AM, AllyB said:

If you don't want to waste food, buy some chickens and feed things like this to them   The result is that you turn that food into eggs.

Yay chickens!

I think my condominium board would be challenged by my choice to keep chickens on the 20th floor  I, on the other hand, would LOVE to have chickens!