Wasteful

I think we, as Americans, are far more wasteful than we ever think about. After Marc and I moved to Honduras, we made an effort to not be as wasteful as we once were. We always ask for a to go box and hand the box to someone who needs it. We sometimes cut our food in half before we even start so we can share it with a hungry person. There are many other ways we try not to be wasteful.

Currently, we have three young men who have been working in the dump all week. Tomorrow Trey Morgan and four others arrive. Trey raised $12,000.00 in May so we could continue to feed hungry people at the dump. Tomorrow is also the day we feed at the dump. We have had the dump on our minds a lot this week.

Today, we were eating lunch with Mark and Lori Connell and some other friends. The dump came up in conversation. We began to talk about how wasteful we still are, even though we are all more conscious of it than before. Marc and I admitted we let food go bad in the refrigerator. We cook it, eat it, and put the leftovers in the frig to be eaten later. Too often, those leftovers are not eaten before they go bad. Then we throw them away. We let food spoil when people in this country are starving to death every single day.

After lunch, I went to PriceSmart to buy groceries for our arriving guests. I could not get all that I purchased into the refrigerator. I began to throw out the ruined leftovers, with our lunch conversation echoing in my head. I threw away two moldy sandwiches that I believe were left from the Middle Tennessee group. Yuuuuuuuuuck!!!!. That was the last week of May. There were other goodies as well.

I immediately tied the garbage bag and took it out. I did not want any Honduran to see we had thrown food away. Or how much. Then I got sick to my stomach thinking that it would sit in the barrel for a couple of days, then be moved to the dumpster up front. Who knows how long it will sit there before the dumpster is emptied. It might, in several weeks, end up at the dump. Someone, perhaps a little child, will rip open that bag and go through it piece by piece. When that person finds those yucky moldy sandwiches, will he think he has found a gold mine and eat it. I hope not. I pray not.

Marc and I made a committment tonight. When we have leftovers, we will bag it up and take it to someone that really needs it. There are people here in Santa Ana that need it. There are people who are our neighbors that need the food.

I beg for forgiveness for not being more sensitive to people around us and for being wasteful in a country where people are starving.

Terri