Recently I have been giving some thought - more than usual - to food. Perhaps this occurs because food, including the lack of sufficient food in parts of the world, is the recent topic of our Charleston area study group's bi-weekly discussion.
My thoughts, however, are more local in nature than the world-wide supply and demand. In recent weeks I have been to different places where food is being offered at reduced prices and in ways to attract more business. In an upscale downtown restaurant, sampler meals were offered. For $30, $40 or $60 you could sample one or more items off the appetizer, entrée and desert menus, along with some rolls and non-alcoholic beverage. A second place, a family style restaurant, offers prime rib for $9.95 on special nights of the week. The third venue offered two meals for the the price of one on three nights early in the week.
Another observation has to do with how much food is served, eaten and wasted. From the discussion group readings it is clear that people in many parts of the world do not have enough to eat either because it is not available or they cannot afford it. Recently in a restaurant the waiter asked if we wanted bread. I said "yes" and simultaneously my companion said "no." So he waiter brought four rolls to the table. I ate one and at the end of the meal asked what would happen to the three remaining in the bread basket. They would be thrown out, he said, unless you take them home. I took them home and ate two of them at breakfast the following morning.
In the dining room of the nursing facility where my wife lives the amount of food that is not eaten and goes into the disposal is troubling to me. The food is basic, well prepared and in most cases palatable. (I eat an occasional sample meal there to stay abreast of my wife's care.) Similar events can be observed in the dining room at the retirement community where I live. In restaurants I am often amazed at the amount of food carried away from tables. It appears to me that Americans waste a tremendous amount of food.
At the same time I understand restaurants serve large portions to attract customers, drum up new and repeat business and stay solvent. Skimpy portions mean dissatisfied customers who are not likely to return. What is about us that we will leave food on our plate and have it thrown in the garbage rather than settle up front for a smaller serving?
Perhaps your own experiences are similar. Perhaps not. Food is a subject too often taken for granted in America because we have so much of it. Should we look at it differently? I would like to hear your views.
E-mail me at arch@archibald99.com or comment on this blog.
