Tell that to my specialized carrot lathe

You're not wrong. I'm personally a big fan of making fondant potatoes, which is all about cutting them uniform. You can always save the scraps to make mashed or fries.

Well you gotta make compromises somewhere. The rind of an orange is used for cocktails, but do you make yourself a drink every time you eat one? Or are you so concerned about not wasting edible food that you eat the peel? It's edible but I imagine doing so rather ruins the taste.

Sure you can use 100% of that carrot, pic still has the stem on it too. All edible cookable things. But because I want a specific texture and flavor for my dishes, getting things uniform so they cook evenly is important. Especially if you are following a written recipe because those are crafted with specifically prepared ingredients in mind. It's absolutely not just an aesthetic thing.

Besides, if you peel it correctly we're talking losing maybe 5-10%. That's worth it to me to improve the final product. We're just talking, not trying to lay down cooking laws or anything. But at a certain point ya gotta accept leftover residue at some point.