You Can't Leave the Table until...

How often growing up did your parents tell you to clean your plate because there are people starving in Africa?
Lots.
And then all kids think, "Okay, well then let's pack it up and mail it there!"
But no one does that---no one just mails half a meatloaf or leftover turkey across the ocean.
And why not?

In the course of the last two weeks I have decided that truly, really, officially...what I don't eat Can be sent to Africa.
(And by Africa I do mean the huge, diverse, 50+ country continent where humans began!)

So back to food.
mmmm...food. We all love food. Sitting at a table with a huge homemade Lasagna prepared for 4.
If I invited a friend it would feed 5. If Jesus came to the door and was hungry it would feed 6. We all would leave the table satisfied and not hungry for more. But had our two extra guests not arrived we would each most likely consume more.
Why?
"Because we don't want it to waste."
right?
Okay.
I get it.
I think.

But what if...what if we made less Lasagna, bought less beef, a little less cheese. Saved 3 dollars.
Now we don't need to send our extra Lasagna to Tanzania or Somalia or Zimbabwe...We have 3 dollars we can send.
That was just one meal.
It is interesting to think about.
When gas prices we crazy high a few months ago, (not that I remember since I don't have a car) people cut corners---ate out less, or tipped their waitress less (ahem...), or bought Tecate beer instead of Corona. Didn't drive to the store 3 times after dinner---but would actually stop, make a list, think, think. Plan.

So why don't we make the same "budget adjustments" Just Because. For Charity. For others. For people...
for People...Who are Way more amazing and wonderful and worth it than the inside of your gas tank. Duh.

So because I have homework to do I won't delay my conclusion any longer.

The more I consume, the less there is for others. The more I eat on a regular basis---the more people predict I will eat. The more resources I consume, the bigger DENTofaBlackhole I leave behind me. The more I eat and buy and have bought for me, (food or otherwise)---the more money I spend on me. Just me. Me! The more excess adipose tissue I carry around---the more calories I consume to keep me moving, to keep my tummy full, to power my brain. What a waste...when we can all function on less. much less.
And we as Episcopalians should agree. We think alcohol, sex and rock and roll are okay. Okay by Jesus!--as long as they are 'done' in moderation. The Buddha agreed. Balance. Yes. Balanced.

I eat more than my fair share. It doesn't make sense that just because we were lucky enough to be born in America---that we take it all for granted. It doesn't make sense that just because there are leftovers after nearly every meal at an American Family dinner that I should eat more, and my sister, and my father should eat more. If we all just breathed. Ate slower. Thought about it. Realized that for so so so many, food is rarely something that comes, just appears! everyday---much less 3+ times a day.

As I sit here typing on my own personal laptop in my own room in my apartment with my bike and my backpack and my student loans...I didn't Earn this. I didn't...really...actually work Hard to get this awesome life. It was given to me as a gift. A free gift. No strings attached. We use to hear a story with that moral each Christmas at St. Andrew's-Sewanee. "A gift. A free gift. No strings attached."

But I think that moral only gets to part of it.
There Are strings attached. As Christians...and as good human beings...in this interconnected and fragile world, it is not merely "the right thing to do," it is what we have to do. For our people in other countries, for our compatriots and for the planet--and those who follow after us. It is our moral obligation to consume less food, less clothing, less energy. Once again, For us, (health!), for others, (because it Is right and Feels right)...and for the planet, (because Al Gore said so!)

So I know I started with talking about sharing food with starving people. But I haven't written in awhile and my brain is just a mess of exams, epidemiology, biostatistics, obesity, malnutrition, AIDS and malaria...And BY THE WAY for the first time in history there are more people Way Overnourished--as in Fat and Obese than undernourished and hungry. What a conundrum. We Are that statistic. We started this "trend." But beneath all that and at the foundation of my brain these past few weeks...

I have come to believe that if everyone just consumes less, eats less, uses less, walks more...not only will you feel better (and have lower health care costs) but sometimes---and as it has been and will continue to be for me---sometimes small changes, like buying a CSA basket or walking 10 minutes after every meal, or sharing a meal with a friend instead of getting 2 entrees, or buying a CAMEL from Heifer International for Tanzanian farmers(don't get me started on camels...)
---you will start to feel differently. You will start to care more, to feel more, to give more. You will also find you have an extra 5 dollars to give to a charity or donate to The Human Rights Campaign, or buy a local organic Turkey for Thanksgiving...which my mom did. And even though I am a vegetarian I ate. And then shared the leftovers with my friends.

This post is dedicated to William Bennett. My favorite person to chat with before, during and after a Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter dinner...and any other time.
We miss you dearly.