Do you like rice? Do you discard food items too quickly? Are you convinced that food prices are too high? Well, let’s digest this topic as we celebrate National Agriculture Week.
I still remember my first breakfast with my wife at a Cracker Barrel restaurant about 4 years ago. The restaurant was packed. I saw many tables where the diners left with lots of food still on their plates. I couldn’t help but think that portion sizes were too big, and/or people had no respect for the value of a dollar. We brought home over half of our food for future meals.
It irritates me when I hear complaints about food prices. I know that the farmer is only responsible for about $.14 of every dollar spent on food. I have read that the United Nations claims 40% of all food produced is wasted, and the biggest single item in our landfills is food waste. I have seen what is left behind at restaurants. I am aware that many mistakenly use best by dates as the alarm to throw perfectly good food away. I also know that most of us consume way over 2,000 calories, the recommended daily allowance (RDA). I am guilty of that last one myself sometimes.
I like to post on my Facebook page when I drink milk or eat food weeks past the sell by date. I like to see some of the reactions. It gives me a hint of how different each person is. Are they misinformed about food safety, exercising an abundance of caution or just have money to burn? I have learned that some people never save and eat leftovers or throw food in the garbage excessively. They better not complain about food prices. The state of California, in order to reduce food waste and raise consumer awareness of food safety, has banned sell by dates and is legislating how food is labeled.
Recently I loaded a customer’s dump truck at my farm, and he commented that his older truck “only” had 37,000 miles. That got me thinking, since my phone app says I walked 7 miles per day last year. Some quick calculations lead me to believe my 61-year-old body is nearing the 250,000-mile mark. If I was a vehicle, how many people would still own me? Thank goodness I was not born with a use by date; some people would have thrown me in the trash by now. If we do not discard people past their prime, why do we do it with food?
A couple weeks ago I had to repair a sewer pipe that broke where it entered the septic tank. I was careless and dropped my phone in the tank with all the, well you know. Ignoring my wife’s advice, I retrieved it. After a brief wash in bleach water, which completely trashed the skin on my hands by the next morning, the phone was put in a bag of rice and set on a floor register. In hindsight the rice was another mistake. Some of the grains went into every orifice of the phone and took some skill to remove.
Given that I do not like to waste food, I took that rice… and threw it away. That is one Facebook post that is never going to happen. You must draw the line somewhere; I am not completely crazy. This article is now done. I will treat myself by rummaging through the fridge to find some fruit that is starting to turn south. It will eliminate food waste and be good for my health. That is a win/win.
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