Amazing waste

[Bold Believer]

Well, Jesus said that one of the signs of His coming would be Sodom-like conditions. Now most of us think of homosexual men parading about half or fully naked and taking one another sexually whenever and wherever they please, however, while that apparently went on there, other sins went on there as well:

Eze 16:49 "Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy.

[georgedrw81]

I saw a story on the news recently about a woman in Michigan who started a 'Second Harvest" project there in central Michigan. They have 5 refrigerator trucks that pickup each day from area grocery stores and distribution centers - they pick up perfectly good produce and perishable foods that are going to be thrown out. They have several distribution food banks and they manage to save and redistribute 50 million tons of food annually - Just there.... I was just so impressed with this operation - that is an economically devastated area with many people out of work - many volunteer in the food banks and distribute this food - everything from milk, cheese to bananas, strawberries, peppers - everything!! Meat, eggs... ALL this food would have been thrown in a dumpster and it is still good.

They are the exception to the rule. If any of you has the possiblity to observe the amount of food/meals thrown at a hospital yoiu will be amazed,

Very sad when there are many people that are hungry or struggle to have a meal.Many of them in our own cities and towns.

Praying

[nebula]

I was on a short-term summer mission trip during college to a ministry that got its food from the food bank.

Would you believe every boxed item (cereal, chips, cookies, crackers, etc.) was well past its expiration ndate?

[Believer1997]

I was the youngest in a large family. I was a 'surprise' addition and raised by parents, grandparents, great aunts, uncles, etc. who lived through the hardest economic times this nation had ever seen - "The Great Depression". These people were living "green" long before it was a popular movement. If you weren't in a room - you turned the lights out. When you brushed your teeth, the water remained off - until you needed to use it. Cleaning solutions were made of baking soda, vinegar - sometimes other ingredients, but commercial products were rarely used. Recycle? well, looking back everything was recycled - my clothes were cut down and became smaller versions of my oldest sister's clothing. I barely remember ever seeing new aluminum foil - it was washed off and folded and put aside to use again. I think I used the same brown lunch bag for most of the school year. My grandmother used all envelopes that came into the house and saved them - she made a grocery list on one side and put her coupons in the envelope. With a family as large as ours, it was rare to have leftovers - but when there were leftovers from a holiday meal - my grandmother and the Aunts swung into action - we were in for weeks of turkey soup, turkey casseroles, turkey sandwiches, the bones were boiled for turkey stock to be frozen and used in soups. We composted scraps for which, nothing constructive could be used. The garden was lovely - we had a summer garden which yielded almost everything we ate during the year and a fall garden for root vegetables. My Mamma, Grandmother, the Aunts and almost anyone else they could draft into action spent many, many days canning, preserving and freezing the bounty of 'the garden'. Sadly, I am not a canner or preserver of food - if I had a family of 16 - I probably would have been out of necessity, but I've never been comfortable with my abilities to can anything. So, from people who had experienced great hardship and miserable times, I was taught the principle of 'waste not - want not'. There were many times in my young life where I resented it.. a little. Overall, the lessons from these beloved people have helped me when I had hard times and too many days left in the month with too little money.... When I see blatant waste it angers me, and makes me so sad. I can almost hear my Grandmother whisper "Well, I declare"...

[kat8585]

Believer, I could have almost written your post, even down to not canning and freezing food. I tried it one year and that was enough for me!

The difference is I came from a small family. Just me and my sister. My dad's was a big family and my mom's wasn't. But I learned the same lessons in economy that you did, and I practise them all the time. And my daughters are following suit, even my granddaughter. We are the best bargain hunters around. Nothing goes to waste.

We were doing it before it was cool, but in this economy you have to economize.

[2Joyful]

Amen and same here Believer and Kat. The frozen food such as soup, and left overs taste extra good days later.. I saw on a "going green" program how much the electric company is making off of us. They shared how your modem thats hook up to your pc, every time it blinks it pulling on energy to work, so they ask when you retire for the night (yes it will take a few extra mins.), to unplug to help save energy. The light on your cable box that shows the time just feed on energy as we sleep, they asked why did the cable company need to place time on cable box, when we have a bedside clock doing the same thing. My kids use to look at me funny, when at dinner, as they fix their plates, I would say don't let your eyes be bigger than your belly, now they know what I meant, casue they are in their own homes and have to save and not waste.....jot

[Believer1997]

I have a number of young wives and mothers who work for me and we've started a coupon club at work and church - I've also shared with them some of the things I did when my children were young to save both time and money. Even though my husband & I are now emptynesters ... I still "power cook" once a month - cooking and putting together 10 - 15 meals and freezing them. I always loved to cook and my children were picky eaters and liked what I cooked - so I've been doing this for 30 years. It's wonderful to come home after a hard day and have homemade lasagne (I make 5 at a time) and a salad. I was so thrilled when I was at my daughter's home last Christmas to realize that she does the same thing on a bit of a smaller scale - she cooks a few things well and sticks to those. I taught her how to make my chicken and dumplings (I make 4 of those at a time) and sweet and sour pork and some other things that they love but she wasn't sure about how to make.... Last month I had 3 of the girls from work over and showed them what I meant by "Power Cooking" - they've started doing it and report that their 'take-out' bills have gone down dramatically. The husband of one called and said it was fun and he loved it and the results of having a good meal each night. My husband & I both come from large families who were able to sit down to homecooked meals each night - it can still be done, with a little planning, investment of some time - there's much less waste and it costs much less than eating out or using a lot of expensive prepared foods.

[MorningGlory]

I have a number of young wives and mothers who work for me and we've started a coupon club at work and church - I've also shared with them some of the things I did when my children were young to save both time and money. Even though my husband & I are now emptynesters ... I still "power cook" once a month - cooking and putting together 10 - 15 meals and freezing them. I always loved to cook and my children were picky eaters and liked what I cooked - so I've been doing this for 30 years. It's wonderful to come home after a hard day and have homemade lasagne (I make 5 at a time) and a salad. I was so thrilled when I was at my daughter's home last Christmas to realize that she does the same thing on a bit of a smaller scale - she cooks a few things well and sticks to those. I taught her how to make my chicken and dumplings (I make 4 of those at a time) and sweet and sour pork and some other things that they love but she wasn't sure about how to make.... Last month I had 3 of the girls from work over and showed them what I meant by "Power Cooking" - they've started doing it and report that their 'take-out' bills have gone down dramatically. The husband of one called and said it was fun and he loved it and the results of having a good meal each night. My husband & I both come from large families who were able to sit down to homecooked meals each night - it can still be done, with a little planning, investment of some time - there's much less waste and it costs much less than eating out or using a lot of expensive prepared foods.

Great idea (although I don't cook unless I'm having company) and I might point out that, when you cook your own food, you know what is in it and who handled it. I'm very squeamish about people touching anything I eat; to the point that I NEVER eat anything brought into my office on pot luck days. But, on the topic, you can feed 20 people by cooking at home for the price of feeding 2 in a decent restaurant.

[Guest LadyC]

believer, how do you do that with pasta? don't your lasagna noodles get soggy? ok, that's it, we need a new category on the other site (where i can find it easily without getting lost) and you can post suggestions for power-cooking meals.

[Believer1997]

believer, how do you do that with pasta? don't your lasagna noodles get soggy? ok, that's it, we need a new category on the other site (where i can find it easily without getting lost) and you can post suggestions for power-cooking meals.

The secret is not cooking the pasta completely - I used to use Barilla - my favorite pasta brand. Now that I can no longer have wheat products - we use corn pasta - it's great!! Do not cook them too much - remember they are going to be cooked in the oven, too.... also, drain your pasta thoroughly and let it cool before putting your lasagne together... I know how to do everything like an assembly process because when you come from a big family - you learn to do that... now if we can get Chief - to put together some good recipes that freeze well... that would be great. The biggest thing - look at the grocery store advertisements to see what's on sale and in season - that's vital to keeping the bills down.