Waste Not!

I love the concept of this meme or photo someone posted on Facebook. I hope the message is true. What a novel and logical idea! 

 
I remember having dinner with a friend in South Africa, Refilwe. As we were leaving the restaurant, she gave her doggy bag to a homeless man outside the restaurant. He was quite thankful and did not take it as a sign of disrespect being given food from the unfinished plate of another. He did not counter that instead he wanted money. None of that.

She gave from her heart and what seemed the natural and logical thing to do, he received it accordingly. I loved it and made note to self that it was so un-American-like. We often take our doggy bag home of our much too large servings provided us by a restaurant who under pays it's workers, put it in our overstocked refrigerator, forget about it, and often eventually throw it away or feed it to the doggy, which is probably the origin of the name "doggy bag" and might also be why our homeless would likely reject such an offer. Who knows? 

Never, however, would it be the norm to simply give it away or would we be so kind to offer our bounty to a hungry stranger. What an UN-American concept! Nightly, bakeries, grocery stores, restaurants, banquet organizers and such throw away tons of food for fear of lawsuits, lack of empathy, no compassion, etc. 

Meanwhile, there is no shortage of homeless people who are hungry and begging in the streets of America, homeless shelters and food centers are everywhere and still there are not enough, school lunch programs are thriving as though only the school aged children in the family are hungry. 

Also meanwhile, America consoles herself in flooding the television with PSAs featuring starving and malnourished, usually Black or Brown, children in other countries promoting the notion that all is well here in America, the "land of plenty where the streets are paved in gold". SMH... 

American capitalism disappoints me yet again. I love when I hear stories like this about France and remember the natural concern for a fellow citizen by my friend in South Africa where I hope her gesture is the norm. 

The USA MUST do better! Many of her sheets are off, to include that poverty and hunger in America is a very real thing! Ignoring it will not make it go away...