Waste Not, Want Not

My Engage post for the week:

Seven years ago, my family and I went to Africa for the first time, spending most of our hours with the Maasai in Kenya. At the end of a lovely day together, they killed a goat in our honor. One minute a cute little guy was roped to a post, and the next thing we knew, they had slit its neck.For the first time in her life our daughter, then twelve years old, realized that “pork” is meat from a pig, “beef” is meat from a cow, and calling something “chicken” means it is just that—literally, the corpse of a chicken. For the next nine months, she was a vegetarian. (I think we can credit bacon with her conversation back to being a carnivore.)Something that amazed me that night was that not one part of that animal went to waste. The greatest delicacy, in the eyes of the Maasai warriors, was the kidneys. The young men got those. The animal's fur, its teeth, its bones—everything had a purpose. Even the eyeballs went to feed the dogs that waited patiently for their treasure. No. Waste.I think of that evening sometimes when I discover my lettuce has spoiled before I’ve finished using it. Or a tomato in my fridge grows mold, having been sliced but re-stored as a post-grill leftover. We used to have a joke in our house that a refrigerator is “the transition storage space from which food goes from fresh to spoiled before it can be discarded.” Some joke. It’s not so funny any more.I should know better than to waste. Back when my father was in robust health, he would go into the fields in Oregon’s fertile Willamette Valley where picking machines had left behind some squat, sweet, yellow onions—those mild-flavored beauties with parchment-like skins. The picking machine worked in circles, so it missed the corners of the field. And having grown up during the Great Depression, Dad considered it a sin to let perfectly good produce rot. He was an engineer with a decent retirement, but even into his early nineties, he was hauling off day-old bread from his supermarket and delivering it to his local food pantry. He even recruited a retired, high-ranking military officer to help him carry the crates of bread, cakes, and donuts to feed the poor.According to National Geographic, every year about 2.9 trillion tons of food—about 1/3 of all the food produced on the planet—never gets consumed. Fruits and veggies spoil. Stuff gets bruised. People leave leftovers in the fridge. Restaurants throw out unused slabs of butter, uneaten rolls, and the remains of too-large portions in massive dumpsters. Indeed, Americans toss out 30 to 40 percent of our food, while 800 million people suffer from hunger.Have you ever noticed that after our Lord fed a hungry crowd, and “they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, ‘Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted’” (John 6:12). That’s kind of a timeless principle, don’t you think? Good stewardship.As it turns out, one person can actually make a difference. So here are some suggestions:

• Buy ugly veggies. Lots get passed over because they look funky. But they’re perfectly good nutritionally. The potato that looks like it has Mickey Mouse’s ears—same food value as a perfect oval. Same with the carrot that has two heads or the oblong kiwi fruit and the malformed tomato. Your supermarket might not even carry these. So head to the farmer’s market.

• To make your French toast, croutons, and filler for meatloaf use day-old or even week-old bread. You’ll never notice the taste difference.

• Turn down that side dish or roll with butter that comes with your order—the parts you know you won’t eat.

• Take home uneaten food from restaurants in to-go boxes.

• Freeze leftovers.

• Make a special effort to avoid wasting food such as meat that requires lots of water in the farm-to-table process.

• Make menus and use one of the many apps available for telling you what you have in the fridge with a clock ticking on it.

• Keep a container in the freezer for adding leftover veggies. When it gets full, make vegetable soup or vegetable-beef soup in the crockpot.

• Watch a documentary about food waste.

• Share your own ideas in the comments section below. We're in this together.

Sanctity of Life Sunday

Today is the day the Christian community sets aside to contemplate the sanctity of human life and what we can do to defend the powerless whose human dignity is being violated. The conversation includes beginning-of-life issues such as abortion (including gendercide), embryonic stem cell research, and in vitro fertilization. It includes nuclear bombs, use of arms, active euthanasia, war, the disposability of girls in China, and widows who are expected to commit suicide upon the deaths of their husbands. 

Moving beyond sanctity of life itself, we also consider that"human dignity" is grounded in Genesis 1. That has ramificationsfor...

Sex trafficking

Refusal of hydrating tubes

Human slavery

Rape culture

POW standards

Immigration policy

Homelessness

Hunger

Poverty

Proverbs 31:8–9 (NET)

Open your mouth on behalf of those unable to speak,

for the legal rights of all the dying.

Open your mouth, judge in righteousness,

and plead the cause of the poor and needy. 

Typhoon Survivor: "Tell My Family I'm Alive"

Street scene in destroyed Tacloban. "I've never seen such a violentforce that destroyed everything in its path. It's really large scale. It'simmense," said Aaron Aspi, WV Philippines Emergency CommunicationsSpecialist.  Photo by Mai Zamora.

LEYTE, PHILIPPINES (ANS) -- Survivors ofTyphoon Haiyan are sharing their desperate need for food and medicine afterlosing everything in the storm.

According to a story by Britain's Sky News, one woman, eight months pregnant, described through tears how her 11 family members vanished in the storm—which devastated parts of the Philippines—including two daughters.

"I can't think right now. I am overwhelmed," she said.

Erika Mae Karakot, a survivor on Leyte island, said "Please tellmy family I'm alive. We need water and medicine because a lot of the people weare with are wounded. Some are suffering from diarrhoea and dehydration due toshortage of food and water."

Sky News reported another woman said, "I have no house, I have noclothes. I don't know how I will restart my life. I am so confused. I don'tknow what happened to us. We are appealing for help. Whoever has a good heart,I appeal to you." Aid agencies have warned that many of the 480,000people whose homes have been destroyed by the bludgeoning force of the cycloneface a desperate battle to survive.

"Everything is gone. Our house is like a skeleton and we arerunning out of food and wate r. We are looking for food everywhere," saidJenny Chu, a medical student in Leyte.

The birth of a baby girl amid the devastation of the typhoon hasprovided a rare moment of joy for survivors.

Sky News said Bea Joy Sagales was born at the airport in Tacloban, thecity where officials fear at least 10,000 people have perished. Her motherEmily Ortega, 21, was in a shelter when the storm flooded the city. Sheclung to a post to survive and managed to reach the relative safety of theairport, where a military doctor assisted with the birth. Cheers broke outin the terminal when it became clear the birth—described as "nearmiraculous" by officials—had been a success.

In Tacloban, survivors have been scavenging for food and looting shopsin order to stay alive, witnesses say.

"Tacloban is totally destroyed. Some people are losing theirminds from hunger or from losing their families," high school teacherAndrew Pomeda, 36, said as he warned of the increasing desperation ofsurvivors.

"People are becoming violent. They are looting businessestablishments, the malls, just to find food, rice and milk. I am afraid thatin one week, people will be killing from hunger."

Sky News said witnesses described how survivors are forming long linesat aid stations, waiting desperately for handouts of rice and water.

Some sit and stare, covering their faces with rags to keep out thesmell of the dead. Lieutenant Colonel Fermin Carangan, of the Philippine Air Force, saidhe and 41 officers were sheltering in their airport office when "suddenlythe sea water and the waves destroyed the walls and I saw my men being swept bywaters one by one."

He was swept away from the building and clung to a coconut tree with aseven-year-old boy.

Carangan added, "In the next five hours we were in the seabuffeted by wind and strong rain. I kept on talking to the boy and giving him apep talk because the boy was telling me he was tired and he wanted to sleep."

He finally saw land and swam with the boy to a beach strewn with deadbodies. Sky News reported Carangan said, "I think the boy saved my lifebecause I found strength so that he can survive."

Assistance

Reporting a story for Presbyterian News Service (PNS), Jerry L. VanMarter said Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is consulting with its ecumenicalpartners on how best to begin relief efforts.

Communications were out throughout the weekend in the Philippines andimmediate relief efforts are being hampered by the sheer extent of thedestruction.

Local sources and international news agencies report severedestruction with damaged roads and buildings, downed power lines andtelecommunications and flooded villages.

PNS said damage to airports and roads is severely limiting access tothe hardest-hit areas. A report from the United Nations Office for theCoordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) states that roundtrip travel on theonly cleared road which connects the airport to the Tacloban currently takesabout six hours.

PNS said the initialresponse will include the provision of non-food items, material resources,drinking water, emergency shelter kits and cash-for-work programs.

World Food Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow people across the world from 150 countries will celebrate World Food Day, and the National Association of Evangelicals is asking its members to join by sharing a meal with family and friends and discussing poverty issues.

“In America, we have been blessed with abundance. Most of us worry more about eating too much than whether we will have anything to eat at all,” NAE President Leith Anderson said. “But every day, nearly one billion of God’s children around the world face hunger and starvation as a result of failing crops, loss of farmland, and extreme poverty.”

The NAE created several resources for participating members including a discussion guide, a placemat, bulletin inserts, a children’s lesson and videos that could be shown at church or before a meal. The materials are available at www.nae.net/worldfoodday.

World Food Day was established by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s Member Countries at the Organization’s 20th General Conference in November 1945. Its primary purpose is to raise awareness of the issues behind poverty and hunger.

“World Food Day is a chance to reflect on what God has given and prayerfully consider how to address the underlying causes of food scarcity around the world. We hope many evangelicals will set aside a meal on October 16 for this purpose,” Anderson said.

World Food Day

Today is World Food Day. I encourage you to make a contribution to and/or volunteer hours for your favorite charity that is reaching the hungry.

Staying Informed about the Unpleasant

Medical Teams Northwest describes East Africa as having "the worst drought in 60 years." Now that's saying something. CARE describes it as a "food and refugee crisis."

Right now more than 10 million people are suffering from terrible food shortages. That number is so high it numbs us. Let's take it down to one: One father walked with his son for eight days, during which time the son died of starvation. The dad buried his child in a shallow grave and walked on.

Hunger drives more than 1,000 people per day to flood into already-overcrowded refugee camps. Those who can find food are usually severely malnourished. The cause of it all: Drought combined with ongoing conflict in South Somalia and Eastern Ethiopia.

You can read more and donate to Medical Teams NW here.

You can donate to CARE here.

Update 7/20: The UN has officially declared the situation in Somalia as "famine." Medical Teams NW has their first famine-relief team scheduled to depart this Saturday.

An Offering of Letters

Every year I require my Journalism class to write a letter to the editor. Any editor.

But this year I had them do something different.

After hearing a representative from Bread for the World talk about how they needed people to write letters more than they needed donations, I gave students the option of writing to their representative about hunger. Eleven of twelve went for this alternative assignment.

You and I could donate ten cans to a food bank. Or we could write a legislator asking for tax incentives for grocery stores and restaurants that-- instead of donating--throw out tons of food. Literally. Giving cans is good. But helping secure incentives has the potential to make a huge difference. (Maybe you have a group you could do this with, too.)

Last night my students turned in their letters. Only instead of "handing them in," we passed a basket and each person placed his or her letter inside as an offering.

Here's a sampling of the kinds of stuff they wrote:

 . My mother struggled to put food on the table. She worked several jobs to ensure we never went to bed hungry. Yet, through the programs available to her, she was able to go back to school, finish her degree, and get a well-paying job.

 . I grew up in a rural town of 1,600 people. A crumbling cotton mill stands in the center of town reminding the people of its past and accurately reflecting the present. In school, I was one of the privileged kids who didn't have to worry about whether I would have more than the one meal a day provided in the small cafeteria. Too many others did.

. I work with residents of the local homeless shelter and each week I see people move in who cannot make ends meet because their income pushes them below the poverty line. No family should have to choose between housing and groceries. We need to do more.

I wonder if they realize they could change the world?

You Making a Diff, Part II

What can one person do to fight worldwide hunger?

A lot. A whole lot.

. Pray. And give thanks that your needs are met.

. Every home or group can sponsor at least one child in the developing world. My friend Celestin was such a child, supported on $6/month by a poor widow. Today he is Dr. Musukera, called in to help governments such as Sudan in bringing reconciliation among warring peoples. Pretty good investment, I'd say. Compassion International. World Vision. Food for the Hungry. Sponsorship organizations abound. Find your favorite and commit. Write and love on your child regularly.

. Support projects like my hubby's. He's helping the hungry and displaced return home following civil unrest in Kenya. It costs $580 to build a single-family dwelling. He has reservations to return to Kenya in June, and so far he has enough funds raised to build ten homes. Maybe your Sunday School class, Little League group, Scout troop, or rooftop karaoke group would like to build someone a home?

Donate to your local food bank—that’s a help, too. Food banks are straining to meet the demand. My dad picks up day-old bread from the grocery store and takes it where it’s needed.

Another way, a major way, is to write a letter or call your representative. This is a biggie. As the Gates Foundation’s spokesperson once noted, most of us are willing to give our time and our money, but we don’t give our voices. And voice is key.

Think about it… Food banks get most of their donations not from you or me but from food-processing companies. And those companies donate because they get tax breaks. Tax breaks happen because somebody asks for them.

Farmers can eke out more produce per acre when scientists find ways to grow cheaper, drought-resistant food. Incentives for research to create such foods come from government incentives to improve the agricultural infrastructure.

Consider gathering your family or group to write an offering of letters. View a sample here.

Or call. The same link provides instructions on what to say. You don’t have to be up on legislation to use your voice. Just tell your representatives hunger matters to you. Wednesday is a key day this week.

You can make more of a difference than you might think. Seriously.

We Can Beat Hunger

When Dr. David Miner read a copy of Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, it rocked his world. In fact it rocked it so hard that today he’s the board chairman of Bread for the World. Their mission is “to work with churches, leaders and families in overcoming all forms of human poverty by living in healthy relationship with God and His creation.”

I heard him speak in Indianapolis, and amazingly I walked away with hope. You and I can make a difference. Seriously.

Citing Jesus’ example of feeding the hungry, as well as emphasizing the unfairness of our obesity vs. international hunger, Dr. Miner sees a vital link between faith and advocacy. His biggest message: This problem is solvable in our time.

What? How can that be when we consider the bleak picture:

. 1.1 billion people live on less than $1/day.
. 853 million people are chronically hungry due to extreme poverty.
. Sixteen thousand kids died today from hunger and related causes.
. Sixteen thousand children in Indianapolis alone went without dinner the night I heard Dr. Miner talk. He said a lot of American kids go hungry all weekend until they can return to school, where they get free lunches.
. The worldwide economic crisis has doubled food prices. Pensioners in our own country now frequent food pantries. Small-business owners file bankruptcy, lose their homes and cars, and head for the closest Gospel Mission. (A woman I met in September coordinates such a mission in Pennsylvania, and she said the face of today’s homeless person is no longer a toothless, stubble-faced man. It’s a family of four.)
. And that’s just in America. In a Mongolian economic downturn, people lose their camels and tents.
. Famers who go out of business lose their balanced diets, and the resulting malnutrition places them at greater risk for disease.
. In recent history twenty countries have seen food riots. Crime, prostitution, and disease rates are up as a result.

Okay, that's the bad news. What's the good news?

. There’s still enough food to go around. People today go hungry because they have no money, not because supplies run out.
. Pretty much everybody agrees hunger is bad. Food and water are at the bottom of Maslow’s Hierarchy. So the issue unites people across religious and political lines.
. Though 2.5 billion people live on less than $2/day, at the $2 point, most calorie problems are solved. (In India 80% of the population are still below $2/day. If they continue to make progress, we’ll see a huge demand for more food. This is why demand is likely to double in the next few years.)
. At $2-10/day, people eat more fruit, dairy, and vegetables. (At $10/day you and I are paying more for packaging and convenience than for food itself.)
. We’ve made dramatic progress. Thirty years ago thirty-two thousand kids died daily.
. China in particular has made huge strides in reducing dramatically the number of people going hungry.

So what can one person do? A lot. Stay tuned.

In the News...

Did you catch this? The House passed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2007 by a vote of 420-3. The Senate will tackle its version soon. A quiet bipartisan effort toward passage and reconciliation of language between the two versions continues. The bill will prohibit discrimination on the basis of genetic info with respect to health insurance and employment. So let's say they find you have "the Alzheimer's gene." Under this bill, a potential employer can't refuse to hire you because of a disease you will "develop." Or your insurer can't deny you coverage for a pre-existing yet still-to-develop genetic condition. You mean they can discriminate now? Yes, and they do. The bill's a good thing.

Also, in February, Virginia became the first state to approve a resolution acknowledging "the maltreatment and exploitation of Native Americans and the immoral institution of slavery." In May, Maryland became the second state to approve a resolution apologizing for its role in slavery and the discrimation associated with it. (If you're interested in knowing more, go to http://www.nativeres.org/.)

Did you see the NY Times article this morning about The Founding Immigrants. Worth chewing on.

And in case you wondered as I have if the bodies of the two missing climbers on Mt. Hood have been found, correspondence with the family of Kelly James (the climber who was found) included this: "The other two climbers' families still have no closure. It may be September before the teams can search the crevices of Mt. Hood for their bodies. Please remember their loved ones."

The latest issue of Kindred Spirit, the magazine of Dallas Seminary, which I edit, is now out. This one focuses on hunger in its many forms. And yes, that's my godson on the cover, and no, I actually didn't plan it that way!