# Is HowToBasic wasting food? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 2, 2013, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-howtobasic-wasting-food/657351 "2013-05-02T20:33:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![R3d\_Anonymous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aeb1de/32.png) [@R3d\_Anonymous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R3d_Anonymous)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-howtobasic-wasting-food/657351/1 "2013-05-02T20:33:15Z")
If you check out [their channel](http://www.youtube.com/user/HowToBasic?=feature=watch) and just watch one of their many videos that “teach you” how to make a food item, while they are kind of funny, I have been wondering: isn’t this guy unnecessarily wasting a lot of food? Or is the food that he’s using old and inedible so therefore it’s not waste? ---
**Author:** ![geneb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e4f/32.png) [@geneb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geneb)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-howtobasic-wasting-food/657351/2 "2013-05-02T20:53:50Z")
Looks like they’re wasting perfectly good food to me. And it makes me a bit sick to watch. ETA: One of their other channels is “TheFruitSmasher”. That fruit is perfectly good, so I am guessing everything else is too. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-howtobasic-wasting-food/657351/3 "2013-05-02T20:56:15Z")
Also I dispute the “it’s funny” premise. Logically it’s probably just wasted food, though: it would be a lot more trouble to make realistic props of food, and food is pretty cheap around here. The food in the two videos I watched would probably run around $10 combined, at most, with most of the cost being in the whole fish they whack around. Making realistic props would be far too expensive when real food works just as well, and limiting themselves to food that had gone bad would cramp their style. Takes all kinds, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![R3d\_Anonymous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aeb1de/32.png) [@R3d\_Anonymous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R3d_Anonymous)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-howtobasic-wasting-food/657351/4 "2013-05-02T21:24:10Z")
I asked because as you probably know, millions of people are dying from hunger in the world. I once saw this video a couple years ago where they showed that a couple of girls didn’t completely finish their chicken legs or something like that and a guy came and had two bags: one for completely eaten food and one for semi-eaten (like half-eaten chicken legs) food. Eventually the semi-eaten food was transported to hungry children in Africa and the kids were literally _so happy_ when they got the food. I would link to the video but I can’t find it. Considering that, I feel like HowToBasic is being a dick if the food he’s using is perfectly fine to eat. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-howtobasic-wasting-food/657351/5 "2013-05-02T21:36:09Z")
Gallagher smashing a watermelon with a sledgehammer: Funny. Some guy smashing food with his hand: Not so much. Kind of “7th grade food fight” humor. Both are wasting perfectly good food. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-howtobasic-wasting-food/657351/6 "2013-05-02T21:37:16Z")
> [@Anonymous User](#): > > I asked because as you probably know, millions of people are dying from hunger in the world. I once saw this video a couple years ago where they showed that a couple of girls didn’t completely finish their chicken legs or something like that and a guy came and had two bags: one for completely eaten food and one for semi-eaten (like half-eaten chicken legs) food. Eventually the semi-eaten food was transported to hungry children in Africa and the kids were literally _so happy_ when they got the food. …Wait, what? Some individual actually sent half-eaten food to Africa? Besides being amazingly expensive to do, half-eaten food is an astounding breeding ground for bacteria. It would have been far easier, safer, healthier, cheaper, and more efficient to just donate the cost of that food to an aid agency in that area. Besides, I can fairly confidently predict that most food shows waste food. For instance, Iron Chef America has the contestants make food in a time limit, then has them remake prettier/fresher versions for the judges’ table. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-howtobasic-wasting-food/657351/7 "2013-05-02T21:53:18Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > …Wait, what? Some individual actually sent half-eaten food to Africa? No they didn’t. > [@](#): > > Besides, I can fairly confidently predict that most food shows waste food. Of course. All kitchens of all kinds waste food. > [@](#): > > For instance, Iron Chef America has the contestants make food in a time limit, then has them remake prettier/fresher versions for the judges’ table. huh? What’s the point of working under a time limit if those results aren’t judged? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-howtobasic-wasting-food/657351/8 "2013-05-02T21:58:55Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > …Wait, what? Some individual actually sent half-eaten food to Africa? That didn’t make any sense to me either. The truth is that there is enough food in the world to feed everyone; the problem is of distribution, corruption, and, yes, waste. But the fact that you didn’t finish the dinner your mom made last night has no bearing on whether some kid in Inda or Africa gets to eat something tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![R3d\_Anonymous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aeb1de/32.png) [@R3d\_Anonymous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R3d_Anonymous)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-howtobasic-wasting-food/657351/9 "2013-05-02T22:14:44Z")
Well at least cooking shows have a purpose. I watch Masterchef India by the way. They are basically practicing the art of cooking (at least Master chef). Besides, I am pretty sure much of that food does not go to waste. But HowToBasic? That is just smashing and wasting food for no purpose or reason. Sure it is humorous to some, but it is still waste and a significant amount too. He has made hundreds of YouTube videos on this and he wastes quite a lot of food in each video. Therefore, I am surprised that practically no one has bothered to even give thought to this. I say this because before hitting GQ, I decided to give Google a few shots and nothing came up about HowToBasic wasting food. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-howtobasic-wasting-food/657351/10 "2013-05-02T22:19:39Z")
I take it you’ve never seen pumpkins on the porches of all of your neighbors there in Connecticut at Halloween? What is that but food wastage? ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-howtobasic-wasting-food/657351/11 "2013-05-02T22:21:06Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > huh? What’s the point of working under a time limit if those results aren’t judged? They have to remake it within the same time limit. It’s more of a logistics problem in filming the whole thing, then filming individual shots of the food, then having it judged and so on. (The judging for one chef might take quite some time, the other chef’s food would just be sitting there getting cold and dry). ---
**Author:** ![Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fake_Tales_of_San_Francisco)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-howtobasic-wasting-food/657351/12 "2013-05-02T22:32:33Z")
This seems like a very odd thing to hone in on as far as food wastage goes. I find it amusing, and nobody is really losing out. This isn’t food that would have otherwise have gone to someone who needs it. What about supermarkets that deliberately spoil thrown away food so homeless people can’t steal it? What’s the _real_ reason there’s starving people on our planet when we have food in abundance? ---
**Author:** ![R3d\_Anonymous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aeb1de/32.png) [@R3d\_Anonymous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R3d_Anonymous)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-howtobasic-wasting-food/657351/13 "2013-05-03T00:59:43Z")
Supermarkets deliberately spoil food??? That is just…sad. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-howtobasic-wasting-food/657351/14 "2013-05-03T01:00:27Z")
> [@Anonymous User](#): > > Well at least cooking shows have a purpose. Their purpose is to entertain and make money for the producers. It seems that HowToBasic (which I’ve never heard of before) is setting out to do the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-howtobasic-wasting-food/657351/15 "2013-05-03T01:04:49Z")
> [@Anonymous User](#): > > Supermarkets deliberately spoil food??? That is just…sad. In theory, they’re worried about being sued by dumpster divers who cut themselves or get food poisoning (or by soup kitchens who they send off food to), so apparently many do this, yes. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotGrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-howtobasic-wasting-food/657351/16 "2013-05-03T01:20:27Z")
> [@Anonymous User](#): > > is still waste and a significant amount too. He has made hundreds of YouTube videos on this and he wastes quite a lot of food in each video. Dude, you are innumerate. BTW, I don’t think MIT wants innumerate students anymore than they do illiterate ones. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-howtobasic-wasting-food/657351/17 "2013-05-03T01:23:52Z")
> [@Anonymous User](#): > > Supermarkets deliberately spoil food??? That is just…sad. Can’t find a cite at the moment but I once heard about orange growers soaking surplus crops in kerosene so they couldn’t be consumed. They wanted to control supply to keep prices up. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-howtobasic-wasting-food/657351/18 "2013-05-03T01:38:29Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > …Wait, what? Some individual actually sent half-eaten food to Africa? I’m guessing a joke video. Sounds funnier than the ones in the OP’s link… ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-howtobasic-wasting-food/657351/19 "2013-05-03T01:38:42Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Can’t find a cite at the moment but I once heard about orange growers soaking surplus crops in kerosene so they couldn’t be consumed. They wanted to control supply to keep prices up. [Hell, the US Government paid farmers to kill excess livestock and destroy/not plant crops at one point!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agricultural_Adjustment_Act) ETA: Really, very little you can do to fresh food like fish or fruit is depriving anyone in any third world country of anything. Distribution channels are a huge problem. It’s hard to keep 500 watermelons fresh between here and the middle of nowhere on another continent. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-howtobasic-wasting-food/657351/20 "2013-05-03T01:41:13Z")
> [@PatriotGrrrl](#): > > Dude, you are innumerate. No, he’s trying to make us Concerned. Which is like being concerned, only louder, and less honest. [Anyone who was actually concerned about hunger would be focusing on the places starvation is being used as a weapon of war.](http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2101786,00.html) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-howtobasic-wasting-food/657351.md?page=2)