I have a few questions about food offerings on Alters. First is it ok to eat the food after you have placed on the alter? How long should you leave the food on the alter? And is it disrespectful if you use fake food, plastic food? I live in Florida and it’s summer so I’m just wanting some guidance.
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Good question, sorry I have no answers but wanted to hear what everyone has to say.
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What I was taught many years ago is to leave the food for at least a full day and then dispose of it. Bury it if possible or put into a compost pile if you can. Otherwise the garbage is fine. Do not eat it.
Rather than food, I generally leave a beverage. That way I don’t have to worry about bugs and smell (or my dog eating it lol ) and it’s much easier to dispose of.
Even an offering of incense, or even the burning candle is acceptable to most goddesses or gods.
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I usually use incense, but yeah, don’t eat or drink it. For one, it should be left out a day. For another, it’s rude to take food from the Gods. They might get upset, you never know.
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Hi @heather50,
Great questions! When it comes to offerings, there are a lot of potential methods to place, leave, and dispose of them. If you’re interested, I’d suggest browsing through the offering tag for more ideas. Generally, I’d say that so long as you handle the offerings with respect, your deities will appreciate the effort.
Personally, I leave offerings on the altar for at least one day. I have cats, so I can’t leave out anything they might be interested in (re: the herbal blend including catnip that ended up all over the floor 
). Since it is an act of giving/sacrifice, I don’t think the item should be consumed after being given. There’s also health and safety reasons for not eating non-stable food that’s been left out. I bury or compost any offerings that are biodegradable. If it contains salt, I wash the salt away with water down the sink. I don’t usually offer things that aren’t consumable, but if I did, I’d consider returning them to the cycle via donation.
Again, this is just what I’ve found works for me - I’d suggest reading around, collecting ideas, and then experimenting with offering disposal methods that work for you and your deities.
Good luck and blessed be! 
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Honestly, the answers to your questions will vary based on your beliefs and who you’re giving the offering to.
Some people say yes, and others say no.
In the name of eco-friendly living and environmentalism (and people who struggle with food insecurity), some people believe it’s okay to eat the food after you’ve left it as an offering. This helps prevent food waste, which is bad for both the environment and the wallet.
For those who say no, they believe that once the spirit has taken the energy of the food offering, it becomes spiritually “unsafe” to consume and should therefore be given back to the Earth.
Again, this is going to depend on so many different variables. For example, if you have kids or pets, you’ll want to make sure your offering is safe for them to consume if they do so by accident. If your offering is perishable, it will go bad faster than a non-perishable, and that will affect how long you can safely leave it out.
When I worked with Brigid, I would give offerings of heavy cream during the winter and butter during the summer. The heavy cream went bad faster than the butter, but they were both perishable, and I wouldn’t leave them out longer than 24 hours. Of course, these were things that needed to be discarded after being on the altar because they would go bad.
I’ve heard people leave food offerings for at least 24 hours, and sometimes up to a week depending on the food.
Only if the spirit you’re leaving the offering for finds it disrespectful.
The general idea of modern offerings is a form of sacrifice. We’re giving something up as a sign of respect, worship, etc. It will be a good idea to evaluate what you believe about offerings, how they work, and who you’re giving them to. That will help you determine the answers to your questions, because there’s no right way to give offerings unless you’re following a specific tradition with specific rules.
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