# Office workers - do you keep food at your desk? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 13, 2019, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-workers-do-you-keep-food-at-your-desk/838627 "2019-08-13T21:37:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-workers-do-you-keep-food-at-your-desk/838627/41 "2019-08-16T00:02:32Z")
Most I’ve ever kept in my desk has been a bottle of hot sauce. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-workers-do-you-keep-food-at-your-desk/838627/42 "2019-08-16T00:36:46Z")
I never had an office job, as such, but I spent 31 years teaching high school and that involved a lot of time at a desk. I never kept food in my desk. Partly, this was because I taught science with associated labs and one never eats in a lab. Partly it was just that I have long had the habit of not eating during the day. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-workers-do-you-keep-food-at-your-desk/838627/43 "2019-08-16T00:52:03Z")
No wonder we’re getting so heavy. Keeping food at our desks when we used to keep low calorie goodies like cigarettes, lighters and ashtrays.:eek: ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-workers-do-you-keep-food-at-your-desk/838627/44 "2019-08-16T01:03:36Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > They say that to scold people who skip breakfast. So the time of day is important. They are saying “It is important to have a meal at the start of the day, soon after you wake.” Those are the people I snark at…especially the ones who are blatantly scolding. They can keep their aggregate rules of thumb away from my non-aggregate body. Skipping breakfast is the clearly better answer for me. I cant eat without feeling ill for around and hour or two after I wake up. Feeling like I am going to hurl for half the morning is the normal result of eating before that. Sometimes it’s been more than feel like. If I bothered to get a diagnosis, I pretty clearly have Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder. In more colloquial terms, I’m a night owl. Mix the two and I’m skipping breakfast anytime I’m on a normal daytime schedule. Just conforming to daytime hours is a constant challenge. I’m not getting up early enough to eat without getting ill. I find other ways to manage food around conforming to the already unnatural schedule that society mostly dictates. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-workers-do-you-keep-food-at-your-desk/838627/45 "2019-08-16T14:18:55Z")
On the breakfast tangent, [I’ve always been a morning person](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jcn7hFgveQI), but I haven’t regularly eaten breakfast since middle school, which was more than half a century ago. This morning, the alarm woke me up at 5 (I usually wake up well before the alarm; this was unusual), and yes, I keep food in my desk drawer. So far this morning, I’ve nibbled my way through half a bagel with nothing on it. Definitely not a breakfast-eater. When I do eat breakfast, it’s inevitably in addition to, rather than instead of, my other meals. So if I ate breakfast regularly, I’d gain weight fast. > [@MandaJo](#): > > I can’t even conceptualize hommade chocolate chip cookies going stale. I’m with you - the notion totally boggles the mind. At my house, they’re lucky to last long enough to cool down to room temperature. . ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-workers-do-you-keep-food-at-your-desk/838627/46 "2019-08-16T14:44:37Z")
Oh yeah, definitely. At my last job my snack drawer was well known in the (admittedly small) office and it gave people an excuse to come chat. I always have some kind of granola bar/Pop Tart for breakfast because I hate breakfast and force myself to eat it. Usually some peanuts, sometimes chips and something sweet like a Fruit by the Foot or a hard candy. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-workers-do-you-keep-food-at-your-desk/838627/47 "2019-08-16T15:49:37Z")
I keep a jar of peanuts on my desk, and a big bag of dried fruit or trail mix or something similar in my overhead bin. Sometimes I will have a box or two of Kashi bars. I also keep a snack-sized zipper baggie of Grape-Nuts at my desk, for those days that I bring a cup of yogurt to work for breakfast, so I can mix them in. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-workers-do-you-keep-food-at-your-desk/838627/48 "2019-08-16T16:05:29Z")
When I commuted I kept pistachios at my desk. Great to nibble on when thinking great thoughts. Pistachio dust kept getting into my keyboard and actually ruined one calculator. Now working from home, I just walk to the kitchen for my nibbles. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-workers-do-you-keep-food-at-your-desk/838627/49 "2019-08-16T23:19:48Z")
The mice here have been known to chew through thin plastic containers for a yummy treat, so I use metal containers with good seals. One has peanut butter-based snacks (mostly Reese’s Pieces), the other has chocolate bars of varying darkness (eaten one square at the time, hence the need for a container with a good seal). > [@DinoR](#): > > I cant eat without feeling ill for around and hour or two after I wake up. Feeling like I am going to hurl for half the morning is the normal result of eating before that. Me too!! My appetite doesn’t show up until 9:30 AM or so, but if I don’t eat breakfast I’ll start scarfing down my snacks by mid-morning. I’ve figured out a few things that help me: [ul] [li]No multi-vitamins in the morning (too much iron, I guess?).[/li][li]No heavy foods – a piece or two of toast, and a few bites of fruit.[/li][li]No orange juice – it’s acidic enough that it triggers instant heartburn and gagging.[/li][/ul] Of course, on days when the company provides breakfast or someone has brought in tasty treats, I have to repeatedly explain why I haven’t grabbed a plate. I’ve resorted to explaining that if I try to eat when I’m not hungry, I throw up (which is true, but is rude to share at work). ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2019, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-workers-do-you-keep-food-at-your-desk/838627/50 "2019-08-17T21:07:43Z")
I keep some shelf stable foods in my desk but I almost never eat there. They’re for emergency lunches. Right now off the top of my head (it’s Saturday), I’ve got a couple small canned hams, a can of green beans, some heat&eat Indian packets, a can of Progresso split pea for when I need a sodium spike. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2019, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-workers-do-you-keep-food-at-your-desk/838627/51 "2019-08-17T21:22:44Z")
Yep, a few protein bars are a staple. Then it’s whatever I grab when I remember to stock back up. Right now I think I have some Sun Chips, Gardettos rye chips, dry roasted peanuts and pretzels. I don’t keep anything perishable since I might not be in the office for several days at a time. I also keep generic Crystal Light type mix or Propel water mix, and hot tea bags on the winter. ---
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2019, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-workers-do-you-keep-food-at-your-desk/838627/52 "2019-08-17T22:53:46Z")
I eat breakfast at work every day, so I have protein bars for breakfast. I have a variety of snacks, like fiber bars, chocolate covered almonds, after lunch mints, trail mix and small packages of cookies. And a can of mandarin oranges, in case I run out of fresh fruit. I had to get rid of the peanut butter because I have a coworker who’s very allergic to peanuts, and I don’t want to kill her. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2019, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-workers-do-you-keep-food-at-your-desk/838627/53 "2019-08-18T00:54:58Z")
No food but I always have a box of Keurig pods and a few assorted bottled drinks within reach. mmm [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-workers-do-you-keep-food-at-your-desk/838627.md?page=2)