The Land Of Plenty (Plenty Wasteful)

The United States is a very rich country.  We have an abundance of resources and food that many other countries don't have.  In many cultures around the world, being overweight is a sign of prosperity because the majority of people in those countries are so poor they are never able to get enough food to be overweight.  Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio created a book called "Hungry Planet" that is a photographic study of 30 families from 24 countries.  One of the most insightful things about this book are the portraits of each family surrounded by a week's worth of the food they consume.  You can see a small sample of these portraits at "What the World Eats, Part 1" found at http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1626519,00.html. You should go there now.  It will open your eyes.  In our country, obesity is a national epidemic.  We come up with specialized diets that cut out entire food groups so we can lose weight.  We go to the gym where we walk, bike, and climb to nowhere to burn off the excess calories we consume.  Our grocery stores are packed with huge varieties of food that have to be shipped in from far off places so we can have "fresh" produce at any time of the year.  And yet, Americans THROW AWAY 27% of the food they buy.  An average family of four will THROW AWAY almost 122 pounds of food in a month.  In 1997, the Department of Agriculture estimated that Americans wasted 96.4 billion pounds of the 356 billion pounds of edible food.  That was the last year there was a study done on food waste.   Due to the state of the economy, donations to food pantries are down 9% but people showing up at food pantries for help has risen 20%.  In 2008, the Department of Agriculture reported that 1 out of every 21 American households were "Very Food Insecure."  That means that, at times during the year, the food intake of household members was reduced and their normal eating patterns were disrupted because the household lacked money and other resources for food. This means that people were hungry, "the uneasy or painful sensation caused by want of food."  I work part time in the food service industry and the amount of food that ends up in the garbage can is criminal.  My place of employment offers bottomless fries with most of our entrees.  I cannot tell you how often people will demand more fries and eat just 2 or 3.  The rest go into the trash.  The other day a family came in and the teenaged boy wanted fries as an appetizer.  He ate 2 baskets before his meal came out.  He ended up eating about a quarter of his meal and didn't want a to go box for the remainder because he "doesn't eat leftovers."  It also amazes me when parents let their little kids drink 2 or 3 kid cups of soda before their meal.  Kid cups are 12 ounces, the same size as a full can of soda.  Then, when their meal comes out, the kids take 1 or 2 bites and are done.  Guess where the rest of their meal goes?  You guessed it, the trash.  And these are the people that complain the loudest over the menu's prices.  Guess what?  It's not so expensive if you actually eat what you order!  A friend of mine lives near our city's biggest Farmer's Market.  A few days ago he posted a picture on Facebook of a dumpster full of produce that had been thrown away.  People won't buy produce that isn't "perfect" and they can't give it away once it's very, very ripe.  Into the trash it goes.  Drive through my neighborhood on trash day and see the food that gets thrown away.  How many hungry people could we feed on the food that we so carelessly and thoughtlessly discard?  I hear people complain all the time about the economy and the price of groceries.  People who do not know what hunger is.  Here's a thought: How about you stop throwing 27% of your food budget into the garbage.  People behaving badly.

A Flag T-Shirt Isn't Patriotism

Having just come off a three day weekend celebrating our nation's Independence with cookouts, picnics, trips to the lake, festivals and fireworks, I've once again been made aware of a few annoying habits people have when it comes to "patriotic" holidays.  I see them on Veterans Day, Memorial Day and Independence Day. These annoying habits reduce true patriotism to phony, jingoist, flag waving without any substance.  First of all, I am horrified that so many people don't have any idea what these holidays are really about.  Independence Day is the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence where 56 men basically put on paper that they were committing treason against England.  (Punishment for treason was death.)  By doing so, they put in motion a series of bloody events that made us a free country, free to govern ourselves.  Veterans Day started as Armistice Day, celebrating the end of World War I, and is now a day honoring all veterans of all wars.  Memorial Day is a day to remember and honor all soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice and gave their lives in war.  Flying the American Flag on your car on one of these holidays does not make you patriotic.  It's the same as flying the flag of your favorite sports team on your car on game day.  Patriotism is much more than that.  I also can't stand the people who see these holidays as simply a three day weekend where they can go to the lake or throw a big BBQ where the kids run around with super soakers and the adults look at it as an excuse to get drunk and fire off bottle rockets.  Really?  People gave their lives, both soldiers and civilians, so we have the right to elect our government instead of having a monarchy and all its trappings forced on us by hereditary succession.  We live in peace, so we're able to pretty much do whatever we want to do without worrying about showing our papers at checkpoints.  How hard is it to take a moment and remember why these are holidays?  How hard is it to teach this to your kids?  I also can't stand the people who use these holidays as an excuse to push their political agenda.  For instance, I kept seeing posts on fb about The Pledge of Allegiance with the line "My generation grew up reciting this every morning in school with my hand on my HEART. They no longer do it for fear of offending someone! Let's see how many AMERICANS will re-post this and not care about offending someone."  Here are some facts about the Pledge of Allegiance.  It was written in 1892, by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister and Christian Socialist.  (Look that one up!)  It's original form was "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."  In 1923, "my flag" became "to the flag of the United States of America" to avoid confusion for immigrants between their birth countries and the United States.  In 1940, the Supreme Court ruled that public school students (mainly Jehovah's Witnesses who see a flag salute to be idolatry) who did not wish to recite the pledge could be forced to.  Against their will.  A wave of intimidation and violence against Jehovah's Witnesses followed.  (Do we really want to go in that direction again?)  Then in 1943, the Supreme Court reversed their ruling stating "that public school students are not required to say the Pledge, concluding that "compulsory unification of opinion" violates the First Amendment." In a later opinion, the Court held that students are also not required to stand for the Pledge.  It wasn't until 1954 that the words "under God" were added on the basis that Abraham Lincoln used the words "that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom" in his Gettysburg address.  Most people who rant and rave about how the tradition of the Pledge of Allegiance is being trampled on, don't have the first clue about its history.  And, it has NOTHING to do with Independence Day, Memorial Day or Veterans Day.  It doesn't matter who is in the White House or which party has majority in congress, we're ALL Americans and we all should respect and honor our National Holidays instead of just "celebrating" them.  People behaving badly.