3/03/2009

Waste Not, Want Not

Last fall, my mother made a delicious preserve using fruit from an apple tree she found in our neighborhood. My mother was surprised that this apple tree was not picked clean by hungry scavengers; people walking by the tree were not tempted by its supple fruit, preferring to leave the apples on the ground to form compost.

Having grown up in a country where food shortages were not uncommon, my mother could not imagine letting the apples she found go to waste. Despite living in a country blessed with an embarrassing abundance of food, she has not forgotten to Waste Not, Want Not.

Then there's me.

Despite the example of my mother, I am ashamed to admit I have adopted the culture of waste that many of us are fortunate to experience. I say fortunate, because it truly is fortunate to live in a country where food is so plentiful, you don't think twice about wasting it.

My behaviour is all the more baffling because I often deride the vapid consumerism that leads to a culture of waste whilst scraping my leftovers from dinner into the trashbin. Perhaps it's time to confront this incongruence and resolve to minimize my contribution to the culture of waste.

2 comments:

annick said...

If this means you're going to start making fruit preserves (and sharing them with me), I'm all for it.

digitally404 said...

It is definitely difficult to adopt that sort've view in our society, but what the hey! Every little bit of contribution counts.

Btw, that apple-sauce was absolutely delicious (and mom would boast about how organic it is too) heh.

Maybe it wasn't waste? But something delicious that needed work and people were lazy?