SOMETHING BOTHERS ME. Anyone who’s familiar with me and my blog knows one thing for sure. Greg is a guy who loves to cook. He loves to shop for farm to table
ingredients, meet local farmers while doing so and share his love for food with an audience. But his passion is about lots more than that. He’s also very concerned about violence in America. He’s astounded on an almost daily basis at what he sees on TV. Rioting in Ferguson about the Micheal Brown shooting. The same thing in Baltimore after that nut case prosecutor Marilyn Mosley stirred up the troops. The TV reports just keep coming. The problem gets more and more severe with each passing day!
WHAT’S THE LINK BETWEEN FOOD AND RIOTING? I thought you’d never ask. But since you did, I’m ready to tell you what I perceive is the link and how I want to use my love of cooking to help calm things in America. It’s not gun control that will solve the problem. It’s not new legislation, crafted by insensitive politicians who don’t really “get it.” We’re already suffering the effects of too much legislation. No, in my view when we address the problem of hunger in America some of the problems reported every day on national TV will just go away. And it won’t take a penny of taxpayer dollars to accomplish this.
HERE’S HOW ATTACKING HUNGER WILL REDUCE RIOTING AND UNREST. 1 in 7 Americans struggles to get enough to eat. In fact, hunger or food insecurity exists in virtually every community in the United States. Think of that! After dinner tonight, imagine that within 5 miles of you as you’re having dessert there are neighbors who didn’t have dinner, much less dessert. They will go to bed hungry and suffer the consequence. So will the rest of us. Because when people are hungry, when they don’t even know when to expect their next meal or how their children will get enough to eat to stay healthy, we’ve got problems. Throw in some extreme summer weather conditions, lots of pent up resentment and anger at those who do eat and you’ve got a perfect storm of discontent brewing! It’s so relatively easy to push that storm out to sea, to watch how things improve. We can all participate. Let’s make it happen.
Purchase this book. Read it. Give it to your neighbor.
WHAT WE CAN DO. Together we can solve hunger but it will require an active partnership between individuals like us, charities, the private sector and to a limited extent the government. Acting together in such a partnership is the only way we’ll end hunger in America. Just like food banks, existing federal hunger-relief programs help people in need put food on the table so they can get back on their feet. These programs offer a direct lifeline to millions of children, seniors and families suffering with hunger. So volunteer to lend a hand at your local food bank. Don’t wait until you see a drop-off box for canned goods destined for the homeless. Ask permission from the manager at your local supermarket to let you place one in the store. Placement on the canned foods aisle is a good idea, because folks inclined to participate will be conveniently located when they spot the box. Plant a vegetable garden and eat your own food, rather than spending money at the store and wasting that little spot in the corner of your yard where you can build a garden. It’s not hard to grow vegetables. Get the book: All New Square Foot Gardening and learn how to do it. Once you’ve constructed your garden, give the book to a friend so he’ll know how to build one at his place. Come up with your own ideas. Discuss the topic at your church. Many food banks operate out of churches. Maybe you can have one at your place of worship, too. Working together, we can achieve a hunger-free America. And not be bothered by all the reports of civil unrest we see on TV every night!
TIME’S RUNNING OUT TO SEND ME A BIRTHDAY CARD. It’s easy to send me a card and if you do it today I’ll receive it in time to open it at my birthday dinner. You’ll be taking the first step to get with the program, to fight hunger in America. What does this request have to do with fighting hunger in America? I’m going to tell you at my birthday party, when we’re having dessert. Trust me. And tune in on the morning after the party to watch video clips and view photos of what happened last night. How you made a contribution to the cause. And that will put a smile on your face and on the guy down the street who was hungry before you mailed me the card.
I’ll continue my story next time.
Please help me in my effort to reduce hunger and food insecurity in America. Leave a comment on how your helping, what you think of my efforts or even if you want me to contact you so we can collaborate. Godspeed.
This is pretty much what I’ve been doing since retiring 10 years ago. You have surely read Michael Pollan’s “Omnivore’s Dilemma” which addresses the state of food in America today. A newer book and a great read is “The Third Plate” by Dan Barber. Dan is one of the foremost chefs in the country today and he makes the argument that it is up to chefs working with plant breeders to create dishes using the best local ingredients. Not as elegantly written as Pollan’s book, but an interesting read. It may pique your interest in visiting Stone Barns in upstate New York some time in your travels.
Hi Diane…
I enjoyed catching-up by phone recently and hearing all the reasons I should have attended our last SMHS reunion! I’ll not miss another. Chris M. has apparently suggested a party in Lacy Park as early as next year. That would be a switch from the usual hotel-type-venue. I kind of like the idea!
Did you read recently that Starbucks will now donate unused food items to charity every day? When I asked yesterday at a local store, the barista didn’t know about the program. She directed me to the manager, who confirmed that Starbucks is, in fact, donating. She also told me that the Publix markets, all around the country but certainly not in San Diego, give their discard produce every day to local zoos. Pretty neat, although I no longer approve of zoos, unless primarily for research.