Most of the readers of this blog celebrated Thanksgiving this past weekend – at least the majority of us in the United States. I have faith that most of us shared grateful expressions for the riches in our lives – we are, after all, a community of people who support nonprofits and understand the inequalities of society.
Along with millions of others, I spent weeks reading recipes and ideas about how to make the turkey moist, the multitude of side dishes interesting and the conversation meaningful. However, this year, our conversation changed, thanks to a recent series from one of my favorite nonprofits, WBUR, one of my local NPR stations.
While WBUR offered many sweet (and savory) stories about this holiday, they also produced a series about food waste. As far as I know, the connection between our annual festival of overindulgence and excess and this series concerning the 30% of food wasted up and down the food chain was never clearly stated, but the timing can’t be a coincidence.
I love Thanksgiving and celebrating the holidays with family and friends. But, I think it’s important that we sometimes take a closer look at whether our actions match our ideals. For me, this means examining my waste, sharing the links below to the WBUR pieces about food waste, and offering a reminder that Tuesday is #GivingTuesday and December is, well, the nonprofit’s favorite month of the year.
If you have not yet chosen your charity(s) of choice for your 2014 donations, consider that 1 in 7 families in America are food insecure. There are many worthy organizations in your area that accept food (including those extra cans of cranberry sauce or pumpkin), financial contributions as well as much needed volunteers.
Here are the articles from the series:
To End Food Waste, Change Needs To Begin At Home
Supermarkets Waste Tons Of Food As They Woo Shoppers
Everything But The Squeal: How The Hog Industry Cuts Food Waste *I know that many of our readers keep Kosher and may think this article is not for them but the efficiency in the system is remarkable.
To Stop Picky Eaters From Tossing The Broccoli, Give Them Choices
And, lastly, if you would like to read more about how to take advantage of #GivingTuesday you can find my recent article by clicking here.