national food day

last week i kept seeing all these posts on facebook about national food day.  in case you are wondering, it was yesterday.  i had no idea that we had such a day.  i also had no idea what national food day was supposed to be about.  considering that there the federal government has been linked to supporting monsanto, i was pretty certain that i didn't want to participated in anything dealing with food and the government.  but that's just me.

but i must say, i did think about it quite a bit over the course of the day yesterday.  i kept meaning to look it up but never got around to it as i was on the go for the better part of the day.  i had my guess as to what it was probably all about, and then i had my hopes for what i wanted it to be all about. 

food is sort of something i am passionate about.  that is a two part statement.  first, i love me some good eats.  i am a huge supporter of  eating real food that is absent of pesticides, preservatives, and all the other junk that tends to try to creep its way into items we call "food".  don't get me wrong- i am not always the best decision maker when it comes to food.  i love a good old in-and-out burger from time to time, complete with an order of fries.  but on a daily basis, i try to give my family a home cooked meal that is fresh, balanced and not pre-packaged.  i watch way too much food network, have more recipes bookmarked from epicurious than i can count, and am on always on the hunt for the newest sustainable and organic restaurant openings in the bay area.

the second part of the statement above refers to my passion for all people to have food.  i find it disturbing that there are so many people around the world that don't have food.  when you look into the average american's pantry, it's hard to believe that is true.  but just outside our front doors there are an abundance of people- real live people with beating hearts- who don't have something to put on the table for their family.  while you and i are struggling with what to take out of the freezer or which take-out option is best, there are tons of people out there with a different struggle.  they are less concerned with whether or not food is "real" and more concerned with having some.  we can talk about the people in africa or the people china facing this issue on a daily basis.  and we should be concerned about those people.  however, i think that sometimes we talk about the people that live far away as a distraction method to avoid the fact that we have the same problem in our very own back yards.  you can go to any main st. (yes- even in the 94566) and find people who don't have food.  we don't like to think about that.  it makes us uncomfortable as we scrape our plates into our disposals and flip the switch.  it sort of collides with grocery day when we toss those containers of spoiled leftovers that have been taking up real estate in our refrigerators.  somehow, when it's in our own back yard, we are eye to eye with a problem.  we get to choose.  do we do something about the problem or just pretend it doesn't exist?  ick.  and as grocery bills get higher and higher each month, we tend to want to avoid the problem even more.  because suddenly, our middle class pocket books are starting to hurt a bit too.  this food issue that once was someone else's problem is starting to encroach on my property line, so to speak.

and so for food day, i made a decision. not knowing what in the blazes food day was supposed to be about, for us it was going to be about appreciating the food that we have.  it was going to be a day where we changed our behavior and stopped being piggies with leftover containers that end up getting tossed in the trash.  it was going to be a day where we turned from wasting food to a family that appreciates the food on our table.   while it would certainly be a far cry from saving the world, we were going to have an "everything but the kitchen sink" dinner.  i rescued leftovers from their inevitable fate in the city compost pile and gave them to my family. 

it was shocking to see what i turned up in the spirit of trying to teach my family to have a "least of these" mentality.  we had prosciutto stuffed dates with blue cheese, pulled pork, grilled tri-tip, edamame, smashed potatoes with pancetta and gorganzola...  not so much a dinner for paupers, eh?  but sadly, it opened my eyes. 

i'm not sure what i am going to do about it, but it triggered a need within me.  somehow, i need to show my kids a world that their suburban eyes rarely see.  i need to show them how to step outside of themselves.  i need to give them experiences where they help those who don't have enough.  i need to get them eye to eye with hunger. 

this was such a part of my life before kids, but it has somehow faded into the background of my daily life.  for fear of their safety (as if all hungry people are knife wielding villains) i have kept them protected from this reality that exists right in my back yard. 

so stay tuned.  i see something on the horizon for our little family.  i don't know what it looks like right now, but i do know that something must be done.

posts like this scare me a little bit because it sort of forces me out of my cozy little bubble.  but i think they are good.  they hold me accountable and keep a record of my passion.  now, it's up to me to put my money where my mouth is.