(This is a Soap Box thing for me)
When people talk about saving the planet they usually want to talk about driving your car less, wind energy, organics, re-usable shopping bags.... but I've been gnawing away at something else recently. So, in the spirit of Earth Day....No, actually this sort of fits in a more inclusive category for me - requiring an observance of its own: "Quit Being So Spoiled Day".
Here's the thing, as a country/western culture we consume a lot of stuff, I think we've established that. One sure measure of our oppulence is the number of picky eaters among us. Kids & adults alike. To me this shows a serious lack of understanding about where food comes from and the rules of graciousness. I have strong opinions ...I make fun of myself for being kind of a food nazi when kids eat over ("In our house we TRY it"). And my kids have heard on NUMEROUS occasions: "There are people starving in the world." Which brings me to my next point. I was listening to the radio a week or two ago and listened to this guy say basically, "Yeah, the 'economic down-turn' is tough...but there are a lot of people in the world who have it worse. They actually starve to death." The University of Arizona did a study in 2004 showing that on average, American households throw away 14% of the food they buy - $590 worth a year. When you add food producers into the equation the number goes up to like 40%, wasting millions of tons of food and huge amounts of money. There are programs out there attempting to chanel some of that wasted food (mostly from mass food producers and restaraunts) to places where it can be used. But what about on a personal/household scale? Maybe along with our attempts to use less of everything else we should try to only USE what we need of food and EAT what we use. (Been on a cruise? Yikes.)
It really all comes down to a sense of gratitude. When I was in high school my Dad took me with him bow hunting. We rode around on horses for several days looking for deer. When one of the guys killed one we all gathered as he skinned and cleaned it. I had never been on a hunt, and I was a little worried that I would be squeamish - never be able to eat meat again. Surprisingly, as I watched him carefully work over the animal - I felt this sense of reverence - among all the people there. It was amazing.
While studying in Russia in 1995 I stayed with families living a very different lifestyle than the one I knew. They offered me their food - some of it strange to me, some of it hard to eat. But that food represented a sacrifice, a gift to me. It would have been SO wrong for me to reject it.
We have grown so prosperous, and food is so accessable that we have become disconnected from it's use, it's meaning, and a proper sense of thankfulness. My kids tell me about how certain school mates throw away apples, bananas, etc. without eating a bite... regularly. ??? That's crazy - and wrong. What have we become that we show so little reguard for the plenty we've been blessed with? I can't help but think that we'll be accountable.
No dessert until you've cleared your plate!
http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Financial-Industry/US-wastes-half-its-food
When people talk about saving the planet they usually want to talk about driving your car less, wind energy, organics, re-usable shopping bags.... but I've been gnawing away at something else recently. So, in the spirit of Earth Day....No, actually this sort of fits in a more inclusive category for me - requiring an observance of its own: "Quit Being So Spoiled Day".
Here's the thing, as a country/western culture we consume a lot of stuff, I think we've established that. One sure measure of our oppulence is the number of picky eaters among us. Kids & adults alike. To me this shows a serious lack of understanding about where food comes from and the rules of graciousness. I have strong opinions ...I make fun of myself for being kind of a food nazi when kids eat over ("In our house we TRY it"). And my kids have heard on NUMEROUS occasions: "There are people starving in the world." Which brings me to my next point. I was listening to the radio a week or two ago and listened to this guy say basically, "Yeah, the 'economic down-turn' is tough...but there are a lot of people in the world who have it worse. They actually starve to death." The University of Arizona did a study in 2004 showing that on average, American households throw away 14% of the food they buy - $590 worth a year. When you add food producers into the equation the number goes up to like 40%, wasting millions of tons of food and huge amounts of money. There are programs out there attempting to chanel some of that wasted food (mostly from mass food producers and restaraunts) to places where it can be used. But what about on a personal/household scale? Maybe along with our attempts to use less of everything else we should try to only USE what we need of food and EAT what we use. (Been on a cruise? Yikes.)
It really all comes down to a sense of gratitude. When I was in high school my Dad took me with him bow hunting. We rode around on horses for several days looking for deer. When one of the guys killed one we all gathered as he skinned and cleaned it. I had never been on a hunt, and I was a little worried that I would be squeamish - never be able to eat meat again. Surprisingly, as I watched him carefully work over the animal - I felt this sense of reverence - among all the people there. It was amazing.
While studying in Russia in 1995 I stayed with families living a very different lifestyle than the one I knew. They offered me their food - some of it strange to me, some of it hard to eat. But that food represented a sacrifice, a gift to me. It would have been SO wrong for me to reject it.
We have grown so prosperous, and food is so accessable that we have become disconnected from it's use, it's meaning, and a proper sense of thankfulness. My kids tell me about how certain school mates throw away apples, bananas, etc. without eating a bite... regularly. ??? That's crazy - and wrong. What have we become that we show so little reguard for the plenty we've been blessed with? I can't help but think that we'll be accountable.
No dessert until you've cleared your plate!
http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Financial-Industry/US-wastes-half-its-food
