After spending all day Sunday out on a boat with some friends, the issue of food waste (and garbage in general) is particularly fresh in my mind. I am not a fan of throwing perfectly usable items away, and even before I decided to walk the green path that I'm currently on, I was always very careful about what I earmarked for the wastebasket. But a typical American I am not, and just one afternoon with my wasteful cohorts made that abundantly clear. This should no longer surprise me and yet I keep making the mistake of thinking that the rest of the world -- my friends included -- are finally on the same page as me. Surely going green is mainstream by now, right? Of course, when you're floating out in the middle of nowhere on a sea-faring craft, I understand that it's not exactly convenient to tote along a bunch of supplies that have to be washed, but if you were entertaining at home, it would simply be a part of the process -- dishes/silverware/cups get dirty and you scrub them clean. Still, when you're water-bound, there aren't very many places to put things that you no longer want or need...but that's what a few tote bags or garbage bags are for, right? My thought is that if you can manage to bring things onboard in bags, there's no reason why you can't remove them in the same manner.
Just to offer a little backstory, we were tearing up the calm waters of our local reservoir this weekend -- the very same one that feeds the households of countless residents in my community. As I tried to put visions of gasoline, human waste and sunscreen tainted tap water out of my head, I watched as my blissfully ignorant friend poured approximately 2 cups of white wine lemon-garlic-onion marinade into the water that everyone was boating and swimming in. The same water that Canadian geese, assorted Malliard Ducks, and countless types of fish were hanging out in. Bear in mind that my friend's discarded marinade was previously tenderizing 4 raw chicken breasts for close to 24 hours in a large ziptop bag that was still onboard. She could have chosen to bring the remaining salmonella marinade back home in the bag, and yet there was something about the flick of her wrist that led me to believe that this wasn't the first time she poured inappropriate liquids into the reservoir and it certainly wouldn't be the last, either. She then proceeded to rinse the trays that held her raw hamburgers and hot dogs in the water, rubbing vigorously with her fingers, and then (amusingly) tore open an individually wrapped disinfectant towelette to scrub her dirty hands with.
Later that night, I recounted the entire scene to my husband, pointing out that our friend clearly recognized the danger of raw meat juices -- that towelette was proof positive! He countered, "Um...yeah...that's pretty gross, but at least the city is filtering it before it ends up in the municiple water supply." I began launching into a discussion about all of the foreign pollutants and bacteria that still remain after the filtration process and he said, "I'm surprised that you weren't more disturbed by all of the food and other stuff that she threw away." Apparently, I wasn't facing in the right direction when our host chucked cheese cubes, two ziptop bags filled with Triscuits and Ritz crackers, the remainder of the hot dog and hamburger rolls from our onboard barbeque, 1/4 of a vegetable tray (along with its recyclable plastic container), 4 sun warmed peaches that were slightly dented, more than 2/3 of a pint container of blueberries, two bags of potato chips that were half-eaten, all of the recyclable beverage bottles (including stainless steel and plastic varieties), and dozens of used paper/plastic plates and cutlery. Meanwhile, the reusable washable plates that our host had also brought onboard remained untouched. Have you witnessed this type of scene recently? Did you say something out loud? How did it make you feel? Have you own personal food habits changed due to your eco-sympathies? Do you believe that there is a moral aspect to food conservation?
Meena Kapur
said on July 20, 2009
Elizah Leigh
said on July 21, 2009
Food conservation, just like water conservation, should be a basic responsibility that every citizen takes seriously. We are so blessed to have such "plenty" in our lives in spite of tragic levels of poverty and starvation on the other side of the world. In many ways, I do think that our nonchalant attitude toward food and garbage generation is immoral and arrogant. The friend that you described above who threw out all of that food -- I wish I could ask them right here and now what was wrong with it. Could there possibly be a reasonable answer to that question? To live in a country where throwing food out is a casual and widespread behavior is to be reminded that our culture's priorities are majorly screwed up.
jen w
said on July 21, 2009