“Don’t waste food, there are plenty of children starving in Africa.” I grew up hearing this phrase. At the Catholic school I was fortunate to attend, the Salesian sisters constantly stressed the importance of conserving (food, water, supplies). At home, my mother cooked 2 lbs. of rice daily, whether we were 7 kids in the house, or three. But none of it was ever wasted… because there were plenty of neighbors in need of and happy to enjoy the rest. Don’t get me wrong. It is not that we had a lot, but that we understood that somewhere – sometimes very close, at times quite far – someone had a lot less. Those were reasons to be thankful. In fact, we considered ourselves blessed and while others might have thought we were poor, at home we felt rather prosperous. For most people, poverty is in the mind.
I say this because many of us who’ve never experienced the threat of starvation, or have had to walk a month to find food and water while loosing loved ones along the way, should indeed feel very fortunate. There are children in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya who are dying of hunger as you read this. The worst drought in 60 years, among other things, has led to a famine now affecting over 11 million people. Much international aid has been blocked by militants and at this point even if people make donations, they would only help to shorten what’s already a devastating set of circumstances. Hearing about it in the news, I can only think back to my elementary school days, and the “missionary group” where a group of 9 year-olds from then barely developing Dominican Republic made small fundraisers, prayed and made crafts for the children in Africa. It makes me realize how long that continent has been in crisis. How the facts we heard over 25 years ago still apply. Not much has changed for Africa… and yet so much has changed for the Dominican Republic, for me.
Poverty is in the mind. An old classmate recently reminded me of this phrase which lives deep in my heart. A friend who was also raised on the guilt trip of no waste. Jewish people, I see your guilt and raise you Catholic. 
This is a type of guilt I still live with and am happy to carry: not wasting. Children whose faces are hollow in Africa and children who are obese in America. Famine and death in the horn of Africa, diabetes and low quality of life in America. Food stuck in boxes in Africa, deep-fried madness in America. Do you see? These are two sides of the same coin. In America, we suffer from abundance, the might of cheap food making us round and unhealthy. I enjoy restaurants but like to cook my own food. I eat my left overs. I love America, but not the food when it is packed with unnecessary fat, preservatives and lacking vegetables. For the past few days I’ve been feeling guilty. Guilty about the famine in Africa and the people who are starving. So today I give. But beyond giving is a sense that we need to stop the waste; this American lifestyle that makes it OK to waste food, packaging, clothing, things, because there’s always more and cheap where that came from. This needs to change. I propose we change it to a state of appreciation for the bounties we enjoy, more so than any other country, and a commitment to less waste. Many people have long been doing this, but America is a big country and the mainstream is not yet in conserve-and-appreciate mode.
If you live in America today and are not loving your life, consider when was the last time you or someone you know went days without food or potable water. If you have complaints, go weigh yourself and be thankful that if you’re overweight, all you might need to do is modify your lifestyle and eating habits as opposed to wait for food to arrive out of uncertainty while your body is wasting away for lack of nutrients. Consider this happening to a child. Poverty is in the mind and you are not poor. Those children in Africa are poor. Those families dying are poor. No question things could be better (with the economy, in our society, with the environment) but they could also be much worse. If you weren’t raised Catholic, it’s never too late to carry some good old-fashioned guilt around and let it pinch you in the subconscious whenever you catch yourself complaining and wasting: there are children starving in Africa: DON’T WASTE, GIVE, and APPRECIATE what you have. I’ll be thinking of this and my many other blessings tonight as I enjoy a super-sized fish fillet.
amen!:)