by Sue Ann Teo

Created on: October 24, 2009

Since young, I was educated of the moral of wasting. Food equates to wealth, as my parents had taught us. Hence, in the family there is no such thing as not having the leftover from lunch to dinner. We even had to make sure that we finished the leftover rice before we consume the freshly cooked ones. To throw away the foods has been considered a 'crime' which would be severely punished.

Now, as I entered the contemporary world, blending with the current society, foods on my plate has become lucrative. But to be contemporary, I have to learn a few concepts about food. So far, my lessons have covered the following few concepts. Please review.

First of all, having to be able to pay so much for the luxurious foods, I supposed leftover is ridiculous! It is simply make no sense eat that food again, even though the food was only touched by a bite or two. Most importantly one should only eat what is agreeable not too salty, not too sweet, and certainly no annoying foods. Even though it meant that the animal on the plate were sacrificed or the hard works had been done for to get food ended up on the plate. I can and should remain oblivious about the wastage.

To play the game of the contemporary society norms, once again I supposed it is only right for me to be modest, by not 'cleaning' the plate of food in front of me, especially those vegetables that is on the corner of the plate, those are for decoration, not eating, they are food, but not meant to be eaten. In fact, I have to get used to the sights of piles of food been throwing away, to request for take away the leftovers is humiliating.

On top of all, I have learn that our wastage have nothing to do with the hungry animals constantly looking for food. In fact, it is only right to be indifferent to the sight of hungry animals scrutinizing every corner for any hint of food existence. The idea of sharing the unwanted foods with them is ridiculous and inviting unwanted troubles.

I often found myself asking:

1. So what if the animals were mostly tortured, before they were killed, cleaned, chopped, cooked and ended up on our plates? If the taste buds are not happy with it, it should be left, because to earn the money spent on whatever on the plate is greater than any living lives, as long as they are not our own.

2. So what if those stray dogs or cats are dying of hunger? They are not our responsibilities as long as they are not our own.

3. So what if trees have to be chopped down to grow the edible plantations as long as we get to choose whatever nutrition that we want, or maybe not? No matter what the farmers are doing as long as the responsibilities are not our own.

I doubt that I have learnt of the concepts of wastage, but having to pick up the above, I ended up feeling so ashamed of myself for allowing such 'contemporary' thinking wash over me. I have adopted the ignorance and learn to insult the foods, which include the animals' lives. I have forgotten about the teachings of appreciating the foods that finally ended up on my plate.

How can I ever be able to amend my wrong?

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