# Disposal of sprouted potatoes

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disposal-of-sprouted-potatoes/656111>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 19, 2013, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disposal-of-sprouted-potatoes/656111 "2013-04-19T07:25:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disposal-of-sprouted-potatoes/656111/21 "2013-04-19T20:52:58Z")

</div>

> [@johnpost](#):
>
> locations prohibit yard waste and organic material in trash because of this.

So, these locations prohibit throwing away food?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Michael63129](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Michael63129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael63129)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disposal-of-sprouted-potatoes/656111/22 "2013-04-20T02:40:41Z")

</div>

> [@johnpost](#):
>
> the rest of the potato is not poisonous to eat just not as much goodness as before sprouting. dig out the base of the sprout.

Beware though if the potato is [green](http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/potato.asp), although this is more likely to happen if they are exposed to light (link advises to throw out sprouted potatoes though, although I wouldn’t if the sprouts are just starting, e.g. less than an inch long).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disposal-of-sprouted-potatoes/656111/23 "2013-04-20T03:27:11Z")

</div>

If all they are is sprouted and an awful smell didn’t give away their location, they’re fine to either clean off for eating or to plant. If you don’t want to plant them (which is fine, not everyone has readily available space/resources for even container planting) put them on Freecycle and someone will happily take and plant them elsewhere. (Or at least that’s how it is here in Utah.)

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disposal-of-sprouted-potatoes/656111.md?page=1)