Guest post by Claire Youmans, author of The Toki-Girl and the Sparrow-Boy Book 2 Chasing Dreams
We, as Americans and others in privileged societies, waste terrible quantities of food each day. We buy too much. We toss leftovers. We clean refrigerators of all the produce we bought and didn’t eat. We grow science projects in those little containers in the back. We make it illegal for restaurants to donate unserved leftovers, for stores to donate expired foods and slightly off produce, and often there is no way for them to do so even if it’s legal. What do we get? We get fat. We get sick. We get broke. Our neighbors go hungry.
We don’t have to do any of this. We can make meal plans before we shop. We can make lists and stick to them. We can eat what we buy. We can bring home the leftovers from our own restaurant meals and eat them. These causes produce an effect: we eat less, we spend less, and we do not waste what other people would give their eye teeth to be able to eat, often right in our own neighborhoods.
We save money. We can use some of that money to help finance food banks, meal programs, restaurant donations, help feed others in our own neighborhoods, and still have some extra. We eat better, others eat better, we have a little extra cash, and our neighborhoods improve.
If we just stopped wasting edible food, fewer people would go hungry. It’s a modest proposal, but well within our grasp. It would make a difference.
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Books by Claire Youmans
The Toki-Girl and the Sparrow-Boy Book 2 Chasing Dreams ~ View on Bookshelves | View on Amazon
Most of us have lived in a time of excess. My parents did not, so I did learn some good habits. I try not to buy more than I will eat, but if I find a good deal, I’ll share the excess. There are people near me that don’t always have much to eat. Some may be unable to cook often. If i cook enough to last a week, but I don’t want to eat the same food for a week, I share some. Sometimes someone shares back. It is all good. Then none of us are wasting. I’m not perfect. I do find the occasional science experiment in the back of my fridge but I try. I know a local store and farm contribute to a mission and a food bank here and people are grateful. Sometimes the bread is expired but the produce is not over ripe. Every little bit helps.