When our food runs out

I begin with the old saying, “Out of sight, out of mind.” It is feared there is a crisis in this world far from our sight and therefore out of our mind. I speak of a shortage of food to feed the hungry in this world. More to the point, I speak of the hungry in our own cities and our own neighborhoods.

It is hard to believe there can possibly be a shortage of food in the present or danger of a shortage in the future. We are conditioned to feel that is an abundance of all those things we need to sustain life for us and our children. A question of great consideration: Can’t we go to our major super stores and see row upon row with shelves full of the necessary foods to feed our bodies? Why would we think there is a shortage or danger of shortage of food?

I was born during the days of the Great Depression. News items in print and on TV constantly remind us of the soup lines and times of scarcity of goods and food. It was obvious we did not have the riches of this world at our house. Still, I never remember the time when we were without sufficient food to eat. Living on the farm food was grown and preserved. Vegetables were grown and chickens, cows, and pigs provided the meat, eggs, milk, and butter my grandmother needed to prepare our meals. Incidentally, except for long trips across country late in my Grandmother Foster’s life I cannot remember of her ever going out to eat at a public restaurant or having food ordered and brought into our house. Our meals were cooked and devoured at home three times each day. What a contrast to modern days. Our society likes to “eat out.”

There were shortages during the depression and during World War II. Basics such as sugar were rationed and not so plentiful. Meals were simple. I remember, has challenged my thinking. This article, after identifying several problems, offers practices you and I can apply to our own lives to help with the question “How to feed a growing planet.”

The first practice would be to adjust diet. Without detailing all the scientific discussion, let it be noted that the big suggestion was to eat less meat and more earth-grown food. Soybean was the chief source of discussion.

The second was to increase research. That practice is beyond the capability of most of us ordinary citizens and I will leave it for others to discuss.

It is the last of the suggestions within the capabilities of most of us. We are told to “Reduce Waste.” Listen to this fact: We are told that up to half the world’s harvest disappears “between field and fork.” That fact is one to grab the attention of us all. Factors involved in this reduction of the harvest before it reaches the food tables of humans were noted as “waste, diversion to animal feed, and consumer behavior.” That last one of “consumer behavior” is the one each individual can have a great part in. Years ago, I wrote a column on the meals I ate in the lunch rooms at Red Bud and Calhoun Schools. I never had a bad meal. There were some I liked better than others but most were outstanding and filled ( no pun intended) my needs. Yet, and get this, on the days of some of the best meals I would see the so much food scraped from the plates of students, loaded on trucks and hauled off. It was a shame.

The problems of food prices and shortages might be out of our sight and therefore out of our minds. The problems are real and the day might come that our food supply will run out. Let’s be thankful for what we have.