I was lunching with a friend of mine just the other day. As always, I was eyeing her leftovers, to her irritation.
Do not mistake my intentions, I had eaten my fill and was not hungry for her leftovers but it's an old habit of mine to frown
on people who fail to finish their meals. Sub-consciously, I'd scrutinized how clean their plates are, as if I was the equivalent
of the big bad monster under the bed to keep the children in check. However, most of my charges are grown ups and all I could
do is frown and show some form of disapproval. If I ventured on to nagging, there might be 1 less lunch partner in the future.
So I kept the comments to myself...
Of all my principles of life, one of them is not to waste food. Over the years, I've come up with a system to prevent
food wastage (unless the food was inedible) - that is to spend a moment in reflection before every meal to feel thankful for
the food that I'm about to eat. Most people mistake my gesture as saying grace but I beg to differ. There is no particular
entity that I'm thankful to but instead, it is the feeling of gratitude that there is food available in the world we live
in today.
War, famine and poverty
are the main culprits for causing food shortages in many parts of the world. The unlucky majority would not even have enough
food to last them a day, yet here we are wasting food, taking them for granted. Although we are sheltered from the cruel reality,
the least we could do is to eat what we take and not waste. I hope that no one has to go through starvation to understand
the importance of food. Start cultivating the desirable habits of food appreciation now, lest you end up squandering your
food supply. As Michael Jackson sang:
I see
the kids in the street, with not enough to eat.
Who am
I, to be blind? Pretending not to see their needs.
I'm starting
with the man in the mirror
I'm asking
him to change his ways
And no
message could have been any clearer
If you
wanna make the world a better place,
take
a look at yourself and then make a change.
