House Of Horrors ~ The Food Hoarding Edition (VIDEO)
via Jezebel
Typically, the hoarders featured on Hoarders will keep expired, rotten food in their homes as part of their mental illness, but have the ability to recognize that they should not actually eat it. However, Lisa, a food hoarder featured on last night’s episode—whose house was likened by several people as something out The Texas Chainsaw Massacre because of the bones and gore and stench—was a different story entirely. She actually re-purposes the bugs and worms that her old food attracts and uses them as ingredients. She doesn’t have a working refrigerator so she hangs newer food from chandeliers in plastic bags so the rats can’t get at it. And that means that the rats are stuck eating older food, and are dying from it. The cleanup crew found several carcasses, some of which were fossilized. The head of the cleanup crew actually described one of the smells in Lisa’s kitchen as a mixture of “sugar and butt.”
Lisa’s interest in food began after her husband—whom her daughter described as an “abusive sociopath”—wouldn’t let her engage in crafting or her other interests and cut her off from the outside world, so she channeled her creativity into cooking. However, over the years her passion for food took a dark turn and she began cooking things with raw chicken hearts and telling people it was apple pie. Eventually, her husband gave her HPV, but wouldn’t allow her to see a doctor, so it progressed into cervical cancer, which is when all the junk really started piling up. Still, Lisa doesn’t see a problem with it, and actually ate something unidentifiable out of a 25-year-old jar to prove a point to the hoarding specialists, who eventually called Adult Protective Services on her.
Food Hoarders
Get a peek at the people and stories behind “Stuffed: Food Hoarders” on Cooking Channel
Too Much of a Good Thing
Do you fret over keeping a stocked fridge and pantry? Want to be absolutely certain you’re prepared for any and every nutritional necessity? For some, that struggle has taken over their life in the form of hoarding. Stuffed: Food Hoarders takes a look at the people, stories and habits behind this peculiar and persistent compulsion.
Corinne
Corrine’s kitchen is full of “stuff.” She buys more food than her family can eat and is running out of space to do any cooking.
It’s tough for John to admit his dining room is not currently functioning as a dining room, but he acknowledges that he misses being able to gather his family at the table to enjoy a meal together.
John
John has been hoarding food for years. Experts say that some people have not thrown out food for so long, they have forgetten how. Food hoarders often forget what criterion to use when making critical decisions that could influence their quality of life.
Shari
“I don’t think I’m a food hoarder” says Shari. She explains to a personal organizer that her father was a grocer and always had lots of extra food at home, so to her it feels natural to have some extra lying around.
Jill
Jill’s home is a nightmare. Food in various stages of decay is stuffed among her two freezers and four refrigerators–one of which is held shut by duct tape and a box of dented canned goods.
She recently lost her job and knows that if her landlord were to pay a visit she would get evicted immediately. (If I was Jill’s landlord, she would’ve been evicted YESTERDAY!)
Richard
Retired veterinarian Richard (or as he likes to be called, “Dr. Dickey”) is a self-proclaimed “collector” who has filled up his entire home, two garages, and two storage units with his “collections”. What does he collect exactly?
How about hundreds of decorated eggs, tons of veterinary related figurines, and 60,000 beer cans. And “Dr. Dickey” claims he’s only had two beers his whole life. Uh yeah, right.
