The wasteful attitude of the American society has reached a level of absurdity hitherto unmatched, or so it seems to me.
Here’s an example for you. Last week Yahoo News reported that Mitt Romney, that political candidate for presidential campaigns, intended to raze his $12 million home in California to build a bigger, more costly model.
When I read this assertion, my question flag began flapping in the breeze. If this person ever made it into the White House, what perfectly good taxpayer item would he raze in order to spend even more taxpayer money for vanity’s sake? I also asked myself how anyone could be so wasteful in the face of the current economy.
A couple of days later my sister and I returned home from the grocery store, frustrated and irate. We commented—okay, we complained—about the current price of fresh produce. We understand all the arguments about supply and demand, etc. Those weren’t the questions we were discussing.
Instead, we discussed the question of how those who were on restricted diets for medical reasons, like diabetes and heart disease, were expected to afford the continuing price increases with a shrinking dollar. On the tail of that question was another one that asked, perhaps, an even more critical question. How can grocers dispose of perfectly good produce at the end of a work day by throwing it into dumpsters in the back alley?
NAW, you say. Unfortunately, that is a practice that’s been going on for years. If I had the time, I’d research out the mandates of health departments and USDA rulings to uote those covering the length of time fresh produce can be displayed in stores before mandatory disposal. If you stop to think about how grocers display produce, you’ll quickly figure out why such foods have a limited shelf life.
Okay, back to the subject. One of the aspects of this questionable practice that really angers us is that we don’t hear about any grocers who relieve themselves of this frequent burden of fresh food by donating it—as a charitable contribution, no less—to homeless shelters, women’s shelters, prisons, schools, etc.
I realize that for prisons and schools and any other institution that accepts moneys from the federal government, the red-tape necessary for such donations makes such generosity nigh on to impossible. But, organizations like Meals-On-Wheels, and shelters could certainly use the boost, as could local food banks.
For some obscure reason Americans with lots extra to give to solving public problems ha
Hubby and I have discussed all these things, Clauds. I get quite worked up about it all, I tell ya. All the waste with restaurants, too. Why do they make it so difficult to help? As for material goods, I have always agreed with my granddad on this one… “If it in’t broke, d’ot fix it.” It’s disgusting how greedy the top of the financial food chain has become.
Hey, Carrie. Thanks for dropping by and subscribing. I discovered a part of myself that can’t abide the wastefulness of others. I’m by no means perfect, and I know that I occasionally and unthinkingly discard those things which can be reused elsewhere. I do, however, always make an effort to donate anything that I am going to discard. Charities around Jo and I know that certain times of the year we bring in what we no longer need, can no longer use, or have outgrown–in whatever capacity that is.
I just wish more people would learn to donate what they dodn’t use and to share foods with those who go without. If we don’t care for each other, who will?
Thanks for your comment, my friend.