Not far from where I live there is a school. I take my dog for walks around the school quite often. There is a nice patch of grass there and many trees. There is also, on the days that school is in session, free lunch food thrown all over the grass, the sidewalks, under the trees. It is a shameful waste of the food.
Around the corner from the school there is a city garbage can. It is often full of the plastic bags of these school lunches along with dog poop and other dirty and smelly things. Yet I have not only seen homeless people reaching through the openings to snatch the thrown away food but I have seen SENIOR CITIZENS getting food out of there.
When I first noticed this was happening, I asked myself WHY? Were the students badly brought up? What lousy parents they must have! Did they take lunches with no intention of eating the food? I asked workman, gardners, and employees of the school who all said they KNEW this was happening and that they thought it was terrible too. But what? A teacher cannot teach students it is wrong since the students do not have parents who can teach them it is wrong?
"I used to volunteer for a local food bank," I said, "And I can tell you that there were mostly seniors in line every week. Why not have the kids donate the food to a food bank or take it to one of the rehabs in town?"
Although I have enough to eat, I did pick up some of the food off the sidewalk and take it home. The food is wrapped in cellophane except for fruit like apples, bananas, and oranges. There is often yogurt or frozen desert or fruit juice in a small container. There are nuts, crackers, and cookies. There are sticks of turkey. Small burgers. There is pizza, and various burritos and calzones with that same cheese and tomato sauce type mixture. Sometimes there are bags of carrots or celery or salad.
If I went into my local chain corner store and bought the like, I would probably pay at least $15 - maybe $20 retail for a typical bag of school food.
Since I could tell that what I picked up had very recently been thrown down and was still cold and sanitary, I decided to give this food a try. I reasoned that maybe the students just don't like the taste. Maybe it is too salty or not spiced. I found nothing obviously wrong with the food. The only other thing I could imagine might be happening is that the students are bored with the selection.
Still, as I read more and more horror stories coming out of Ukraine. Not just hundreds of dogs starved and without water left in shelters that died, but also people in basements and subways and hide-aways without enough food and water - starving, I could not find it in my mind to understand or my heart to forgive these students - or their parents. They have it too good. They don't know. They don't care!
Let their parents feed them then!
Now the school is on break and it looks like workmen have gone around the area and cleaned up any evidence of the food throw-away.
I so hope that by the time the school reopens my comments will have been received and someone there will put an end to this waste.
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