Housemate wasting excessive amounts of food

[rue the polywhirl]

Start doing whatever your housemate does with a vengeance and with any luck they'll find it annoying and they will stop whatever bad habits or lifestyle they keep on doing. Or flipside if he's not annoyed by it you'll have a shared activity with them and it will improve your relationship.

[Ray Travez]

I dunno, it's like a form of bulimia isn't it? Bulimia one step removed.

I tend to think that food neuroses are laid down pretty deep in the system, often formed in early childhood and very persistent. They seem to be a reflection of the personality, and therefore hard to infuence without changing one's character. Your eating patterns are fucked up in the same way that you are.

I don't really have any advice. It's going to be hard to influence the guy without going nuclear on him; moving out is going to fuck things up for you and there's no guarantee it won't be worse in some way at the next place. You could work on why it bothers you, but you can't therapise away a bunch of flies. So I'd suggest that the situation is entirely hopeless. I think the only thing you can do is sit down with him and have a full discussion, tell him it bothers you so much you're thinking of moving out.

[flotemysost]

Yeah, it's tough. Presumably you have an existing friendship with this guy (or at least a relationship that goes beyond being two strangers who merely happen to share accommodation) - so I'm guessing he knows that you know about his past, and would hopefully give you the benefit of realising that what you're saying isn't coming from a insensitive place.

On the other hand, your wellbeing is important too, you're also a rent-paying tenant in this place, and mouldy food regularly being left in shared areas seems like a pretty reasonable thing to bring up without sounding like a dick (as it would be in any househsare, I think).

Agree with the above that just bringing it up outright is probably all you can do. It is hard, as certainly from my own experience, disordered eating can be heavily characterised by feelings of guilt and shame and fear of being criticised - but from what you've said it's clear that you're not attacking him personally, you're just bringing up an avoidable behaviour which is causing you inconvenience and stress.

[Endicott]

Get some rats and give them the run a gun.

HTH

[Captain Crunch]

Try going sideways – it's not just food being wasted it's money too.  If he likes cooking but can't eat it all try suggesting batch cooking, there are plenty of scary facebook groups for this sort of thing.  If it's just going to sit in the freezer and go to waste could he volunteer at a community food thing instead? 

Alternatively, you could make friends with some teenage boys, I heard they eat a lot.  Could backfire.

[imitationleather]

Sounds like he needs a case of the infamous munchies!!

[Dex Sawash]

I would refer you to the Black Mirror episode Crocodile. Just murder them and any witnesses/investigators

[Icehaven]

Do you share food bills/shopping?

[Cold Meat Platter]

Piljstaart is right. Just help yourself to his food and if he complains point to some rotting food and belm.

[spaghetamine]

Do you share food bills/shopping?

only on stuff like cooking oil, teabags and herbs/spices, otherwise we have our own cupboards

[Captain Poodle Basher]

Get a big funnel and pour it all in him

Oh eating disorder. Sorry. Bit insensitive

Stick the funnel up his arse and pour it down there

Hammer frozen sausages into his skull.

[Ferris]

Just talk to him and let him know it bothers you (but that you want to be sensitive). That or the funnel up arse thing.

[SpiderChrist]

Take all the mouldy food and chuck it in his bed.

[Alfigator]

Sounds like fuck all of a situation. As someone mentioned earlier, fuck the pig.

[JesusAndYourBush]

only on stuff like cooking oil, teabags and herbs/spices, otherwise we have our own cupboards

Is he wasting his own food, or yours.  If he's wasting his own, then it's his own problem.  If he's wasting yours then find a way of stopping him getting at it.  Keep it in your room, get a mini-fridge in your room for anything that needs keeping in the fridge, then he can waste his own food to his hearts content.