Say ‘Just Enough’ in 2010

In the aftermath of the holidays and a refrigerator full to the brim with leftovers, I remember a disturbing fact: 1 billion people in the world are hungry while we in America discard – throw away – 40 percent of our food a day (I heard that the estimate is about 1200 calories per person per day). Do the math. If we – 325 million strong – stopped wasting food – we could feed perhaps 130 million people with what we already discard!

Remember when no one wore seat belts and littering was commonplace in America?

I do. It was the way of the world when I was a child. We would throw paper or garbage out the car window as if it was nothing at all. That was the norm of behavior until an awareness campaign changed our mindset. “Buckle up for safety buckle up”….and soon we all wore seatbelts. The Litter Bug came on the scene and soon we stopped littering and then began recycling.

Perhaps we can launch an awareness campaign to Stop Wasting Food….a JUST ENOUGH campaign for restaurants to serve smaller portions, for diners to request ‘just enough’.

I am guilty of wasting food – each week I clean out our frig and still find I throw food away – albeit with a twinge of guilt. But it has my attention and I’m finding that I do it less and less. When we are in a restaurant our family does a lot of ’splitting’ meals and we are never leaving hungry. And, food is rarely left on the plates.

My parents used to say ‘eat your food and join the clean plate club’. We all need to become its members today.

Let’s turn our attention to our own food consumption and remember, Less is More.

Reduce your food intake – at home and at restaurants – eat enough to be full but don’t overeat and overconsume: eat Just Enough.

Clean your plate. Use your leftovers up so nothing is thrown away.

We can likely solve the hunger problem globally if we attend to our own behaviors locally.

What an easy New Years Resolution to make……eating Just Enough.

Happy 2010 – the year of ‘just enough’.