In an editorial, Nature Briefing, a British based online publication noted, “In a world where 29% of the global population is moderately or severely food insecure1, the fact that FLW [food loss/waste] amounts to about one third (or 1.3 billion tonnes) of the total food produced is hard to swallow.” The writers weren’t just talking about what we throw out at home.
Although a study points out that 13% is actually lost at the production level, mostly in developing countries because of infrastructure deficiencies that prevent edible food from spoiling before it reaches the market, it made me think about the way we shop for food, especially here in America.
Driven by so-called “discount pricing,” we tend to overbuy, and as a result some food spoils before it can be used, especially fruits and vegetables. The discount mentality is not just limited to food, of course. It’s part of the no-limits thinking we have, but there are limits, something we really don’t like to consider but we need to recognize.
Prayer for the Day
Even with good intentions, O Lord, we have poor follow-through,
For the world does not reflect what we know is just;
Wanting to live in the light, we often live in the shadows,
Content, for less is demanded of us there.
Restore us, O God, not just to our hopes,
But to action so we truly care for how people live.
In the name of the One who showed his care,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others.
Saint Augustine (354-430)
No child, no senior, nobody should go hungry at night, and for us in government, that is a moral imperative to get it done.
Rosa DeLauro, U.S. Representative, Connecticut
How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.
1 John 3: 17-18