“Sold them rather than let them rot” ... Daughter-in-law sells her mother-in-law’s side dishes on Karrot to buy chicken [What Do You Think?]

[Financial News] A story about a daughter-in-law who sold the side dishes her mother-in-law had lovingly prepared and sent her because she did not eat them has come to light, sparking heated debate online.

A post titled “My family was torn apart because I sold the side dishes my mother-in-law had packed for me on Karrot” was recently uploaded to an online community.
The mother-in-law of the poster, identified as A, sent large containers of vegetables, kimchi, pickles, and bone broth she had made herself two or three times a month. But because A and her husband enjoyed eating delivery food and strongly seasoned dishes, they never touched the healthy food his mother sent them.
At first, they kept the food in the fridge, but it often ended up going bad or growing mold. A asked her husband to “tell your mother to stop sending side dishes,” but he refused, worried that his mother would be hurt.
As she struggled to deal with the growing pile of food, A began using Karrot, a local secondhand trading platform. She listed the food as “eco-friendly, pesticide-free side dishes and bone broth made by my mother-in-law in the countryside,” pricing it at around 5,000 to 10,000 won or giving it away for free. A explained, “I felt good seeing food that would have been thrown away become a warm meal for people living alone or seniors, and I put the money I earned toward our weekend food expenses.”

But things blew up when A ran into an acquaintance of her sister-in-law’s during an in-person transaction. After checking the sales history, the sister-in-law shared it in the family group chat, and the in-laws were thrown into an uproar.
A said, “My mother-in-law sobbed, saying, ‘You sold for a few paltry coins the bone broth I simmered down to the bone to feed my daughter-in-law?’ My husband yelled at me, ‘How can you, calling yourself human, do business with food made with such care?’ and shouted that I should go to his parents’ house and apologize right away.”
She went on to lament, “Isn’t it truly unfilial to let side dishes we don’t eat rot and throw them in the trash?” and “I feel wronged that sharing them with neighbors who needed them and putting the money toward food expenses, rather than flatly refusing them, could be such a grave offense.”

Online users who heard the story were sharply divided. Many criticized the daughter-in-law’s actions, saying, “Taking the care and love a mother put into the food, selling it for money, and buying chicken with it crossed the line,” and “It could also violate the Food Sanitation Act, and it goes against the most basic duties toward one’s family.”
Others defended her, saying, “The husband bears the greatest responsibility for standing by and failing to mediate,” and “Rather than letting the food rot when she couldn’t even refuse it, it was better for it to go to someone who needed it.” The debate continues.
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