Amateur Baker Bans Cousin From Eating Their Baked Goods Since He Always Throws Most Of It Away

It's often forgotten that food is still very much a luxury for far too many people in the world.

While some people are able to dine out regularly or buy items that pique their interest at the supermarket, others have to stock their refrigerators and pantries a bit more carefully.

This is why many people are shocked to see people waste food.

Some are downright angry when they witness this.

Redditor JinxXedOmens loved to bring homemade treats to their family gatherings.

As much as the original poster (OP) loved to share their creations, they often left these gatherings somewhat dismayed.

Specifically, their cousin never finished what he was served, leading the OP to give their cousin an ultimatum.

Concerned they might have been overreacting, the OP took to the subReddit "Am I the A**Hole" (AITA), where they asked fellow Redditors:

"AITA for saying that my cousin can no longer eat my baking?"

The OP explained why she didn't plan on offering her cousin any more of their baked goods:

"I bake a lot; it's one of my favorite hobbies, and my family meets up most Saturdays at my grandmother's house."

"We live pretty close, and we've had this routine for years, so it's usually me, my dad, my gran and grandad, my auntie and my two cousins."

"The cousin in question is 22 M[ale]."

"It's become customary that every weekend when we go over, I bring some of my baking along - it can be a full cake, a traybake, cupcakes etc."

"If any is left over, then either my gran will keep it or my dad will take it home and dish it out at work."

"No big deal."

"The problem I have with my cousin is that no matter when I offer him my baking, he will eat some of it, and then I recently discovered that he will just bin the rest. Not because he doesn't like it, he'll just say 'I'm full' or 'I've had enough.'"

"Okay then, so this goes on for a few weeks and I keep seeing that he'll throw ~half of it away, which I think is pretty damn rude, so I go up to him and say if I'm cutting slices too big or if the portion is too big for him, why doesn't he cut himself a slice?"

"So I start bringing the cakes/traybakes etc in whole and offer a knife around to everyone so they can cut as much as they want."

"So he will cut the size portion he wants... and then I opened the bin last week and still discovered about half a slice of flapjack in the bin."

"For the record, he doesn't have any kind of eating disorder, any kind of intolerances, and has always been the kind of person who, if we ever eat out, just eats what he wants and leaves the rest."

"The idea of leftovers seems to be a foreign concept to him."

"I confronted him about it and texted words to the effect of 'I think it's really disrespectful of you to waste food, and the fact that I'm offering you to cut as much as you want, and you also have the option to just... not have anything at all... I don't want you eating my baking anymore. The rest of the family enjoys it, but you obviously don't respect the work that goes into my baking, so from now on I'm not going to let you have any."

"As of writing this, it's Monday now, and there is still discourse going on about it."

"My aunt (his mother) particularly is saying it is really unfair of me to say that, that it will make things very awkward for him being over at weekends because he will be 'left out'."

"I explained the situation to her and how I felt disrespected, not to mention a bit offended at his attitude to food waste, so then suggested that I just stop bringing my baking over at all."

"This has caused an uproar with family saying that they love my baking, they enjoy having it over morning coffee but it's unfair just to leave one person out etc etc and it's all the biggest load of nonsense over nothing, it really is."

"Basically, my cousin wastes food I make for him, I don't like it, said I don't want him wasting it again, family are mad because they want their cake and to eat it too (literally)."

"I started letting him cut his own portion size weeks ago."

"This is NOT a one-time reaction, this is my reaction to my cakes and bakes being repeatedly thrown in the bin despite him cutting HIS OWN PORTION."

'He is under no obligation to take any and never has been."

"If he wants a mouthful only, he is free to take a teaspoon."

"If he didn't want to eat my baking anymore, I would be fine with that."

"It's the cutting of his own portion and still insisting on cutting too much for himself and then resorting to throwing it away that prompted my reaction."

"I do not care if he doesn't like my baking."

"I do, however, care about waste.'

'I am not 'digging through the trash' - it's a foot-pedal bin, you can quite clearly see inside when you open it to throw away other things."

"AITA here or is this just being blown as out of proportion as I think it is?"

Fellow Redditors weighed in on where they believed the OP fell in this particular situation by declaring:

• NTA - Not The A**hole
• YTA - You're The A**hole
• NAH - No A**holes Here
• ESH - Everyone Sucks Here

The Reddit community resoundingly agreed that the OP was not the a**hole for refusing to serve their cousin any more baked goods.

Everyone agreed that it wasn't right for the OP's cousin to keep wasting food, and until he learned this, he needed to face some consequences:

"NTA."

"Wasting it once or twice would be understandable, but it's happening consistently even after you've mentioned how it bothers you?"

"This is a grown man, not a child, and either way, it isn't like they can't wrap it up and save it for later."- Agreeable-Buy6600

"NTA."

"I feel like the yta responses are not from bakers."

"So much work goes into it and money, you're not asking him to clear his plate, you're just asking him to finish what he's served himself."

"If he's served himself too much, he could even save a bit for later."

"He's being rude and isn't entitled to your baking, especially as you've said it bothers you."

"I used to send pictures of my baking when I was proud of something to a group chat with my friends to show them."

"I could say something to the effect of 'baked this for my mum's birthday' and every time one girl would ask if she could have some and would expect me to drive it to her house."

"I stopped sending pictures to the group because she didn't get how rude she was being."- Danie99

"Why doesn’t he just take a smaller slice."

"NTA."- Worldly-Engineer8123

"NTA."

"Someone isn't an ah because they don't appreciate their kind gesture being dumped on."- RumHamFightMilkDiet

"How hard can it be to just grab a smaller portion?"

"And just throwing it to the bin too, like just save it for later or give it to someone else."

"It does take effort to cook/bake for others and it does feel bad if they don't appreciate it."

"For the purpose of communication I think it's better to just tell him 'hey it hurts me a bit to see what i made thrown in the trash'."

If he apologizes, it's all good; if he doesn't, let him starve."

"NTA."- Training-Equal-7647

"NTA."

"I think his behavior is wasteful, and while he and others may not see that as disrespectful, you had every right to speak up and explain that you do find it disrespectful, especially since you have addressed it with him before."

"You are putting a lot of effort, and baking isn’t cheap these days, and this needs to be respected."- Gold_Alternative9961

"NTA."

"It's heartbreaking that so many people here are pro-food waste and pro-disrespect of a person's time and efforts."

"Good on you for calling out the cousin on being wasteful."

"Whoever raised him should be ashamed, too."

"Hold your ground."- BabyLetTheGamesBegin

"NTA."

"Tell them you had talked with him about him constantly binning the baking he takes but won't eat."

"The solution was for him to cut the amount he would eat, or to not have any, but he still insisted on taking more than he would eat and then binning a lot of it."

"You are not putting your effort into baking only to have it go in the bin."

"That's ridiculous and insulting."

"He has considerate solutions available to him but insists on rudeness, so he gets nothing."

"End of."

"You don't have to tolerate what, at this point, is deliberate disrespect."

"Either this issue gets dropped, or you'll comply with the suggestion of not bringing your baking altogether."- kurokomainu

The fact that the OP expressed how they wouldn't be offended if their cousin didn't even try their baking, and he still reacted this way, pretty much says it all.

Of course, we've all had situations where our eyes were somewhat bigger than our stomachs.

Unlike the OP's cousin, however, most people strive to address this.

Perhaps seeing the rest of his family enjoying the OP's baked goods will be the push the OP's cousin needs to change his ways.