Halachot and Customs
What to Do with Leftover Bread
Question
Since I was a child, my parents taught me that bread must not be thrown away. I wanted to know how significant this is, and what should be done with bread that is left over and has become hard and can no longer be eaten. What about crumbs? Are they forbidden to throw away as well? So what should be done with them? And what should be done with a piece of bread that is given to small children and they throw it on the floor?
Answer
Hello
Since the days of Judaism, great importance has been placed even on the way one treats inanimate objects, and from this arise the prohibitions of bal tashchit, and the like. Human food, and especially bread, is Hashem's blessing to a person, and from it he lives. One who disgraces food is as though he disgraces a gift from Heaven, and therefore the strictness in this matter.
Leftover bread should be wrapped well in an airtight plastic bag and thrown into the trash, and by doing so the disgrace of food will be prevented.
The crumbs, if they are large, should also be wrapped.
Disrespect toward food can be an obstacle to livelihood and causes poverty.
Blessings
