I’m not sure if we actually realize how much food we waste as a society. A few weeks ago as my wife and I were doing some late night grocery shopping we decided to pick up some stuff from the food buffet/bar. Neither of us really felt like cooking. As we rushed get some food before they shut the food bar down I noticed the employee dumping the leftover food into a big black storage container. Nothing unusual about this right? Wrong! Upon second look she was piling all of the food into one bin. Being curious about what she was doing I asked her what they actually did with all of the leftovers. She informed me that they toss the food in the trash. Yes in the trash. Lo-mien, shrimp stir-fry, fried chicken, rice, Indian cuisine, thrown in the garbage!

I walked off in shock but I returned to ask my second question which was why not just give it away? She said she asked her manager the same thing and he told her it would be a health hazard. Not only is that strange it is also bogus! If it was such a health hazard why in the world would you allow me to purchase this food?

Scattered throughout the Bible we are informed of how we are supposed to care for the poor.

In Deuteronomy 14 and in Deuteronomy 26 The Bible speaks about giving the tithe (in this case it was food and grain) to the widows, orphans and foreigners every third year.

In Matthew 19 Jesus tells a rich man if he wants to be perfect he needs to sell his possessions and give to the poor.

So what exactly can we do? Well I plan to give the store a call and see if they will donate their leftovers instead of tossing them away.

Stay tuned.
In the mean time watch this video. Cornell West speaking on How Intellectuals Betrayed the Poor