US commentary
I’m home from Cali. and my predominant memories are of time spent with my cousins and friends — however, I don’t feel like writing a “play-by play account of the trip” (and then Nikki took me to San Fran and we ate crepes and got my nose pierced and rode the street cars . . .) so instead I’ll do what’s more fun: social commentary . . .So, before I delve into my main topic, I’ll point out that in LA they dip just about anything in ranch dressing (or other types of dressing usually reserved for salad on the East Coast). At an Italian restarant, we were served buttery garlic rolls, and when asked whether we wanted to await the sauce, I assumed it meant marinara — nope. Another night my cousins showed me how to dip the cheesy pizza into creamy ranch, and that “animal style” french fries are: deep friend potatoes (duhh) covered in fried onions, thousand Island dressing and cheese. My mistake was to help my cousin eat this heart-attack to be before experiencing just how hill San Fran is (let’s just say my stomach was less than settled in our taxi-turned-Disney ride out of town.
Okay, the other striking thing, which doubtless occurs in VT too but became more visible as I travelled, is the amount of food people throw away. Sure, we all know that portions have gotten too big and that it’s unhealthy to eat all that’s presented on one’s plate, but I am discusted by the waste, both food and its fancy packaging. I’ve heard doggie bags described as tacky, and certainly to the average American with an overloading fridge, it’s hardly worth it to bring home leftovers, and perhaps the styrofoam container really does more harm than good. Still, people can make the decicion to order dishes to share, bring their own containers and eat at home more, packing the leftovers for lunch. My concern over food waste developed in INdia — sitting in the Western Canteern, I remember contemplating a small pile of beats on my plate — was I hungry? If not who should I give these too? With so many hungry mouths tossing the food felt criminal (actually, at least there thrown out food would be eaten by hungry dogs, so not entirely waste). In the US of course we do not have that problem, and, as is easily argued to justify callous waste “it’s not like we can pack this and send it to starving kids in Africa.” Well, that is partially true, and it also misses the point. First, in a world where so many people want (I know 50% of Indian kids are malnourished and I believe something like 2 billion people live in real poverty) it’s simply disgustingly pompous to toss food because we can — it represents tilling of the earth, seeds, water, often chemicals and man power, not to mention transportation and careful preparation. Thanks in part to our heavy gov’t subsidies, food is cheap enough to toss, and refusing leftovers or overbuying is not just a crime of the rich, even middle and lower income people, I’ve observed and afford to toss food, or in fact might want to as a status symbol, not to show too much attachment or need to conserve. Along these same lines, if people truly cut back on their wastes, through buying less food, they really could use the money to feed/aid “starving kids in Africa.” A friend told me she easily spends $20 eating lunch out (drink, dessert, tip, etc), packing a lunch could save at least $15, that money could, through proper NGOs such as Doctors without Borders, American Jewish World Service, etc. really save lives.
I’ve been thinking a lot about spending in general because I’m reading a book called “The OVerspent American” about the American drive to work hard in order to buy, but more on that later.
Tags: Travel, US travel
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