Left Overs

The summer after I graduated from PT school I worked in the kitchen at a church camp for kids in Wisconsin. It was a funny time in my life. I had a chunk of time before I moved to Camden, NJ and I needed to study for the board exam. I found it hard to study without any structure in my life. My good friend Jason Arndt, a seasoned camper, got me the last available job for the season...kitchen helper. I soon found out the kitchen is the place where they send the kids who aren't mature enough to be counselors. At 24 years old, I threw off the average age a bit. But it created a nice rhythm of life. I would sleep on a mattress on Jason's cabin floor, wake up at 6am, cut fruit and vegetables until 3pm, exercise and then study a couple hours after dinner. I actually enjoyed the work and my co-workers, but I had a hard time with how much food we threw away every day. There was always a fear of not making enough food and there was backlash from the staff if we ran out of something. As a result, if we had 400 campers, we would make enough french toast for 600...and we always threw away a third of the food. I would try to say a little prayer of repentance as I emptied the good food into a garbage bag. My man Thich Nhat Hanh says, "sometimes you have to throw things in the landfill...but at least be mindful that you're doing it."

I read a statistic that in the United States on average 27% of the food available for consumption ends up in the landfill. We live in a time where food is cheap and disposable. NPH doesn't have the same variety of food as most US homes, but they sure waste a lot less. During meals, everyone lines up and receives one serving from a big pot of food. Sometimes there is food left over and kids can take from the excess if they want (as you see these little scavengers doing above). By the time the meal ends the pot is empty as you see in the other picture. If kids can't eat everything from their plate, usually someone else will claim it...one of the benefits of having a big "family". Whatever remains ends up in a bucket for the pigs. I consider this an exercise in living well.