Well its no shocker but I really like food. Have a bit of obsession with yummy treats. So it seems fitting to start my charity giving with a food cupboard donation. We actually just dropped off the food today but I honestly pulled it out of our cupboards January 31st. I am so lucky to have a person in my life who completes me. I am a dreamer with lots of ideas. LOTS! Not all winners but some good ones. However, I tend to get bogged down with the gazillions of details needed to complete these numerous tasks. God blessed me with a hubby who can sift through the clutter of tedious details and help me complete a few of the projects while sometimes quashing a few of my dreams in a wonderful loving way so that we can merely function. I say all of these compliments because with his assistance we got the food to the right people: Harvest Hope Food Bank. We dropped off a box full of twenty-two items. And sadly, our pantry is still bulging with goods. A great way to gather goods/food for other people while still keeping within your own budget is to shop the buy one get one free sales. You aren't truly overspending for the item and are sharing with the food pantry what you consider a good purchase. You are feeding the same item to your family that you would give away. That's truly a way to love your neighbor as you love yourself.
The food pantry idea came from a show my hubby Corey and I watched on the Food Network several weeks ago titled The Big Waste with several TV chefs. The goal was to cater a large event with food that would be considered waste (about to be thrown away and has no sale value). It was heartbreaking what was considered waste. Watching produce be thrown away because of blemished. And I have to confess I am a produce snob. If you aren't shiny enough, blemish free, or look questionable I won't choose it. After this show I am buying a little more practical. Blemishes for the most part can be cut away. Too much of our produce buys have been trashed because of little inconveniences. Sadly I am not alone in this country with my snobbish ways. Perfectly edible tasty food is thrown away because of our need and search of perfection. So many people in our country are going hungry and I refuse to cut away a bruise a centimeter in diameter on an apple. And with all of us handling the produce like a jeweler with a loupe we are creating most of those bruises in the first place. Another big waste we have in our country are chickens' eggs. If they come out slightly a different color or the size is too small or big they get trashed because of no resale value. The size affects packaging and most of us freak out if our eggs aren't white. We have been taught they are white - therefor our logic if the egg isn't white it isn't good for us to eat. Admit it - if you saw a blue tinged egg in a carton you aren't buying that carton of eggs.
We have enough food in this country to feed our people we just aren't connecting all of the dots. We have safety guidelines which is good to keep most of us safe from foodbourne illnesses. We recognize food is usually perishable (and for the most part what isn't perishable we shouldn't be eating a ton of anyway). And even today my hubby who is a good sport and listens to my rants and soapbox appeals quietly reminded me to not be such a hypocrite. We bought cucumbers semi-recently and they both felt waterlogged with a bad spot. I was ready to throw them they cost a total of a dollar I believe on sale. I have shared my enthusiasm and passion about cucumbers. But I was ready to throw them as they weren't ideal. We didn't eat them in the best time frame. Corey asked if we could salvage them and make a quick salad with the good parts. I shook my head felt the produce and said I don't think there is much to save but we can try. Yeah one and half inches is all that we didn't use. As the blemish was quite a hole. Otherwise by making a quick cucumber salad we had an easy and tasty side for dinner with our delicious cod and turnip greens (new post tomorrow about the greens :) And I am proud of myself for using apples with bruises as a snack for today without a second motivation speech from my dear husband.
It's easy to hold onto old values and teachings. But its no secret that our world, especially our country is not doing too well. Our old ways are quite destructive so slowly we need to work together to establish new protocols that benefit us all. Let's scale back on our waste so that we have more to share with our neighbors.
May your HealthFULL Journey open your eyes and hearts to new viewpoints and causes that matter and that will in turn mold you into a better version of yourself. 'Til we meet again. . .
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