You waste life when you waste good food. Katherine Anne Porter, Texas journalist and author.
When I was growing up, my mother, who grew up during the Great Depression, put a scant tablespoonful of each dish at every meal on my plate. After I had eaten what I was served, I could ask for seconds of those foods that had whetted my appetite.
However, I was expected to leave my plate clean at the end of the meal. And yes, I was reminded of the starving children in Africa.
By the time I was a mother, I, too, served my children small portions. Hopefully, I spared them the guilt trip.
To this day, I hate wasting food. I am aware that hunger kills. The United Nations reports that 25,000 people, mostly children, die every day from hunger.
On our trip to Florida this year, we delighted in ordering fresh seafood - grouper, shrimp, scallops, catfish and mullet. Since we had access to a refrigerator in the state park cabins where we stayed, we knew leftovers would make delicious breakfasts. At one restaurant, Bob and I split an order and we still had enough leftover for a hardy breakfast. But why such big servings in the first place?
At home, we eat leftovers for several days. And while Bob’s likes leftovers once, he’s not keen on eating the same thing over several days. My grandmother, when she lived alone, cooked herself a big pot of soup or stew at the beginning of each week and ate off of it most of the week. I always thought it was a healthy idea for a single person who found leftovers tasty.
The January 2022 issue of Good Housekeeping Magazine reports, “The average American household tosses almost a third of the food it buys each year. Besides wasting money and adding packaging to landfills that means missing out on nutrients that hide in scraps.”
Dawn Jackson Blatner, RDN makes a variety of anti-waste suggestions that will save one cash, lower one’s carbon footprint and put deliciously nutritious scrap-centric meals on the table. While I’m not inclined to save carrot and potato peels, I do like her advice to freeze extra wine, coconut milk, chicken broth or tomato paste in ice cube trays to use as seasonings at a later date. She also suggests freezing extra fresh herbs in ice cube tray with a teaspoon of olive oil. Her suggestions are also a good reminder for us Americans to be grateful for our freezers for preserving food.
As I was contemplating this column, I came across a number of appropriate quotes. I especially liked Porter’s because she sees the big picture. But Pope Francis says, “Throwing away food is like stealing from the table of those who are poor and hungry.” Anonymous reminds us, “There is a virus that has killed so many people for years. That virus is called hunger and its vaccine is food. However, no one talks about it because this virus doesn’t kill the rich.” Certainly food for thought.
Giving thanks
And so as we once again approach Thanksgiving, the annual meal of all meals, let us consider our leftovers. Do we toss them or do we find unique ways to make them fresh again?
Our daughter recently reminded us of Thanksgivings past shared with extended family. She especially remembered when it came time to leave, the children protested. “It’s time to eat again.” The children had eaten until they were full then ran off to play while we adults had tended to gorge ourselves and didn’t want anything else to eat.
Equally as important as what we do with our leftovers and how much we eliminate waste is the actual giving of thanks on this day. Motivational writer William Arthur Ward reminds us as we once again begin the approach to Christmas, “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year because our family now spread out across the Southeast makes a real effort to come together for this holiday. And while we don’t find much time for one on one chats, having most everyone pull up a chair to break bread together feeds my soul. Talk prompts so many memories. So does taste and smell.
And I know that if I am truly thankful, I will savor these moments together and seek new ways to share not only with family and friends, but also with those in need.
2022
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