Eat Your Vegetables, There Are Starving Children in Africa!

No, I am not suggesting that you scrape the veggies off your children's plates and mail them to Africa. We in the western world are insanely wasteful, but while a philosophical movement called the "freegan" lifestyle (aka urban foraging, previously known as dumpster diving) sounds very environmentally friendly, it is really not a practical solution for getting our wasted food into the stomachs of the world's starving people without the risk of making them sick.

There is a way to make a large scale difference on a small scale budget, and a volunteer organization in Ontario, Canada has found that way.

They call themselves Christian Gleaners. The name comes from the Bible verse Leviticus 19:9 which reads: "When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien."

The Christian Gleaners collect surplus vegetables from farmers in southern Ontario and take them to a facility where volunteers sort, wash, cut, dry, and package the vegetables as a soup mix. They partner with organizations that are already working in places where people are starving. The soup mix is lightweight to keep transportation costs minimal. Once it reaches its destination, aid workers only have to add hot water to provide a healthy, nourishing meal.

Brian Lise was working in Romania when a shipment of CG soup mix came in. The children were being served lunch in shifts. He noticed a small boy who always came in with the first shift, eat his soup quickly, and then return home. His sister would come for the second shift. The aid workers asked the boy why he and his sister did not come together, and he said, "It is cold outside. I have to go home so that my sister can wear my shoes when she comes to eat."

Shelley Stone, manager of Ontario Christian Gleaners, told reporter Magdelene John of 100 Huntley Street that only 34 out of every 100 people in the world have enough to eat. This is a staggering statistic to those of us who have so much to eat that we are spending billions on weight loss solutions.

Most Canadians have no idea how much food is wasted here. We have lived with such abundance for so long that we have become finicky shoppers. We will pick up an apple, notice a bump or a bruise, and put it back to pick out a perfect apple.

Because of our high standards, only about 60% of the produce grown on market gardens makes it to the store shelves. In "You pick" style berry farms, an estimated 70% of the produce is wasted.

Looks are everything in a produce market. Cauliflower that is not white enough, red peppers with green spots, green peppers with red spots, or cabbages that are too big or too small are rejected by retailers. Most of this rejected produce will be transported back to the farm dumped back on the fields, and tilled back into the soil.

Organizations such as Christian gleaners collect this usable product and give the farmers tax receipts for the fair market value. The produce is not wasted, and the starving children in Africa and elsewhere get to share some of our Canadian abundance.