Is it permissible for me to throw away junk food?

[guest 2025 531]

Salam,

There is an issue with my family and junk food. It is always there, and thanks to it members of my family have not only put on weight, but also now decline to eat lunch with the family because they keep filling themselves on chips, granola bars, sugar cereal, noodles, popcorn, etc. I have tried to resolve this issue with my mother, but they always pressure her to keep buying snacks by refusing to eat her normal food. Most of the time she won't bring junk food in the house, but there's always some option for them, some food they can always easily prepare like noodles or nachos. Now the school has started to give away groceries to families during this pandemic, and of course, half the stuff is unhealthy ultra-processed food. There is no getting away from this, I think that the only solution is to take the junk food and throw it in the trash every time I see it. But is this haram? Am I wasting food even if in the bigger picture it is hurting my family?

[starlight 14,754]

Salam,

I wouldn't advise you do this.

Firstly, this is waste of food. If you have to get rid of it you could give it to a homeless person.

Secondly, those people in your family are supposedly adults? And in this case you have no religious or ethical authority over them. You can be a nag and remind them repeatedly, print out information from the internet and paste it in the fridge/pantry and generally be an annoying health freak around them :p  but keep it verbal without using your hands(don't take away or throw away food).

[The Green Knight 8,340]

Feed it to the animals. Never waste food or water,

[Mahdavist 3,807]

Wa alaikum as salaam

A more productive approach would be to set up cooking sessions (or even competitions) using fresh and healthy ingredients. 

This will slowly change the eating culture in your home. It takes time though so be patient. 

[starlight 14,754]

This ^^ or make it more regulated, like no junk food during the weekdays and if they stick to healthy food during the week they can have junk food on weekends. 

I started doing something like this with my kids since I know I can't keep them away from eating out and junk food altogether (and it would be unfair tbh) and it's working out well. 

[Abu Hadi 9,810]

4 hours ago, guest 2025 said:

Salam,

There is an issue with my family and junk food. It is always there, and thanks to it members of my family have not only put on weight, but also now decline to eat lunch with the family because they keep filling themselves on chips, granola bars, sugar cereal, noodles, popcorn, etc. I have tried to resolve this issue with my mother, but they always pressure her to keep buying snacks by refusing to eat her normal food. Most of the time she won't bring junk food in the house, but there's always some option for them, some food they can always easily prepare like noodles or nachos. Now the school has started to give away groceries to families during this pandemic, and of course, half the stuff is unhealthy ultra-processed food. There is no getting away from this, I think that the only solution is to take the junk food and throw it in the trash every time I see it. But is this haram? Am I wasting food even if in the bigger picture it is hurting my family?

You shouldn't throw it away, but you should continue with your stance regarding junk food. This is becoming more and more of a problem in the muslim community. Also, maybe you could volunteer to cook sometimes so they have an alternative to junk food. If it's edible, it's haram to throw it away. Like the members suggested, you could try and find someone to give it to. What I do, as a last alternative, is I put it outside, away from my house, so that the animals can eat it. I live in an area with alot of squirrels and deer, and there are some stray cats and dogs who might eat it. 

Edited January 26 by Abu Hadi

[313_Waiter 1,191]

Give it to me 

[guest 2025 531]

Thank you for the suggestions. I can't toss the food to the animals because my family already does that with leftovers, and they would see the piles and piles of junk food that they bought tossed out on the grass and ask me what I'm doing. Not to mention, it's winter and in my area the animals are either gone or hibernating. The rice that we threw out a while ago is still there. I could give it to the mosque, but a lot of the time the bags are already opened, and due to quarantine it's not as easy to give them the food. Either way, I'm not comfortable giving people from the mosque junk food anyway. I hope that Imam Mahdi abolishes junk food when he comes out.

The two members I'm primarily concerned about are 10 and 13.

It doesn't matter if we make healthy food, they will not eat it. They will not eat certain normal foods. One of them is like the people from the show "Freaky Eaters", you can count the number of foods that he'll eat one two hands. Some foods which he does deem acceptable he will refuse to eat because one single variable is different whether it be the color or the spice or the way it was prepared. He will refuse to eat incredibly delicious foods like roast lamb. So in order to prevent him from starving, she is forced to cook 2 lunches a day. One proper meal, and another silly meal like chicken tenders or chicken wings or ramen noodles. That is why I feel the need to throw the food away. Throw it right in the trash as soon as I see it. I figure that if they don't have junk food or snacks, they will feel hunger for the first time in years, then they will be more willing to eat my mom's cooking.

The only solution I've come up with is to take the food to the middle of a field and dump it there. If an animal eats it, great, if they don't, it wouldn't be on me.

Edit: And I just remembered that my mother is against the idea of me getting rid of the food

Edited January 27 by guest 2025

[Mahdavist 3,807]

1 hour ago, guest 2025 said:

He will refuse to eat incredibly delicious foods like roast lamb. So in order to prevent him from starving, she is forced to cook 2 lunches a day. One proper meal, and another silly meal like chicken tenders or chicken wings or ramen noodles.

Consider step wise improvements to slowly bring them towards a cleaner diet.

Chicken wings: grill them rather than frying them. Buy them raw from the butchery rather than pre-flavoured and frozen and make your own home made seasoning.

Chicken tenders: you can also grill these in the oven using raw chicken breast, seasoning and home made breading.

Noodles: teach them how to make their own pasta at home. It won't exactly be ramen, but you can get close enough by cooking your home made pasta and preparing a spicy broth. 

Make sure they assist you with this. Don't just make it and feed them. 

[guest 2025 531]

2 hours ago, Mahdavist said:

Consider step wise improvements to slowly bring them towards a cleaner diet.

Chicken wings: grill them rather than frying them. Buy them raw from the butchery rather than pre-flavoured and frozen and make your own home made seasoning.

Chicken tenders: you can also grill these in the oven using raw chicken breast, seasoning and home made breading.

Noodles: teach them how to make their own pasta at home. It won't exactly be ramen, but you can get close enough by cooking your home made pasta and preparing a spicy broth. 

Make sure they assist you with this. Don't just make it and feed them. 

He can't be tricked. If he doesn't like the idea, he won't eat it, and one thing that he doesn't like is any difference. He likes spaghetti, but one time he didn't like what my mom prepared because the noodles were too thin. And he has refused foods that he literally likes because he forgot that he liked them or he changed his mind.

That's why I think the only solution is to throw away all his options until he has no option but to eat what's available due to hunger. I know that throwing food is haram, but isn't it not haram to steal food in order to survive? If this keeps going on, he'll end up like the guy in the video below. A small problem now, but a disaster that will be very difficult to clean up when he's an adult.

 

[Mahdavist 3,807]

To be honest at that age, if you engage him in sports and fitness activities he will probably be ok. 

Eventually he has to change his eating habits because its not sustainable in the long run.