Saturday, November 9, 2013

Day 9 - Food



Funny enough, this is a more apropos topic than seems on the surface. To start, I am so so so incredibly thankful that I in a position to be lucky enough to grow food at home, not because I need to, but because I like to and because it gives me a semblance of pleasure and surprise to see what actually comes up.
 
When you have great sources of fresh fruits and vegetables nearby, you take it for granted. You don't realize how very many people either can't afford fresh fruits and vegetables, or do not have them within an attainable distance. Back when I was working, one of my passions was learning about and speaking about food insecurity, food deserts, edible landscaping and suburban farming.
 
Why this post is so appropriate today is that for the past two weekends, I have spent hours cleaning out my grandparents house, which involved filling a large part of three dumpsters with cans, boxes, and packages of food spanning the past three or four decades or so. My grandmother, as so many from that era, had a Depression-era, WWII era mentality, and had uncountable amounts of foodstuffs packed into cupboards - not hoarding, but "preparing". Unfortunately, most of that food went uneaten and although the food was completely unsafe and inedible, it hurt my heart to throw that much food away, because at one time, it was good and could have fed so many people. It was a great reminder to me to be so thankful for what I have, and tomake sure my family is always taken care of, but after that, to work to make sure others are taken care of as well. 

No comments:

Post a Comment