Are You Gonna Eat That?

I'm sorry that I haven't been writing much lately. I actually have several posts in the works, but I haven't had time finish them. I'm hoping to get to them this week. But I have to get this one off my chest right now.

So, it's Christmas time (or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or whatever your particular faith/ethnic group celebrates). And we're all supposed to remember our fellow human beings with kindness, forgiveness, and charity, right? I really love this season, and I firmly believe this is true. I wish it were true all the year long, but at least it's culturally sanctioned to be considerate during the holiday season. As imperfect as it is, sometime is better than never, I think. Anyway, the city I live in is fairly affluent and extremely liberal, so there are literally dozens of charitable societies and events reminding us of the less fortunate during this festive time of year. They beg for everything from money to food to clothing. And I can honestly say that the citizens of the city respond with enthusiasm, which makes me proud to be one of them.

But there is also a horrific paradox here that I just do not understand. Many of you, not living in citrus states, may not realize that it's also the time of year that many fruits come into season. Everywhere I look, there are pomegranates, persimmons, lemons, grapefruits, and lots and lots of oranges hanging luscious and ripe in trees all over the city. They are splendorously beautiful for a few weeks... and then, they are shoved into the gutter, ruined and squished beyond all recognition.

This happens because people here plant these fruit trees as ornamental trees. And not just individuals. There are entire orange groves surrounding city-owned buildings. But no one actually eats the fruit. It's just decoration... until it rots and putrefies on people's front lawns and city sidewalks. Then, lawncare workers pile it up on the side of the road to be carried off by the city's waste disposal service. Yeah, that's right; it's considered waste. Waste! It makes me want to scream, "That's food, you @$$!"

I am not a wealthy man. In fact, Darling Wife and I are just now getting over an extremely tight fiscal period. So I can tell you with some authority that fresh fruits and vegetables are one of the first things to go when you are economizing at the grocery store. They are just too expensive. Pasta, hotdogs, and most processed foods are much cheaper, if less tasty and nutritious. And here are these people with literally hundreds of dollars worth of citrusy goodness rotting in their front yards. Do you have any idea what these "wastes" would mean to the poor and starving... or to anyone who recognizes their value as more than ornamental?

I ask myself, "Why don't these people donate those wonderful, cheery orange globes of joy to the many, many agencies that gather food for the area's homeless? Or even just put them in a box marked "free" at the curb?" I'd certainly grab one or two. But I'm not about to go into someone's yard and pull one off a tree, even though I know that failing to do so means a truly magnificent blessing of God, nature, and California will end up wasted and unappreciated. (They can't even be composted because of the seeds and acidity.)

Am I the only one who sees the irony of spending $50 at a charity dinner that is really worth about $10 in order to provide money to feed others while squandering something that would cost no one anything and would provide tremendously better nutrition and enjoyment than the $0.50 can of cream of mushroom soup that you donated to "Feed the Families"? I think I will write a letter to the editor of my city newspaper and ask, "Hey, are you gonna eat that?"