Food, let’s face it, the majority of us have as much as we want, the type we want, and when we want it. Yesterday for lunch I had chicken fingers and French fries. Granted, by no means is this a healthy lunch. On a normal day it may taste good, but even when good, it would not be considered good for you, but then again, this post isn’t about eating healthy, it is about eating what you have in front of you.
The chicken fingers were dried out, nearly consisting of chicken jerky covered in a fried breading. The French fries were barely cook, by that, they were no longer frozen, slightly warm, but by no means could they be considered French fries. I had ordered the meal (such as it was) through take out at a local business cafeteria, so taking the meal back would have been more inconvenient than it was worth.
Today for breakfast I decided to open up one of my food storage cans, it was a 10 grain pancake mix that you could also make biscuits from. I opted for the biscuits. As soon as I opened the can, I didn’t care for the smell. I mixed up the mix, popped them in the oven. 12 minutes later, I had 10 grain biscuits. Edible, but not something I would purchase again, and still as I right this I wonder how I am going to get through that #10 can of mix.
For both meals I thought “yuk, this is awful, just through it out”. Then I got to thinking how spoiled I was. I expected, when I purchase food or even make my own food, it should taste good, it should give me enjoyment to eat it…but, what if we were in hard times? What if the SHTF and this was the only food I had to eat. If I can’t eat it now, just because I am spoiled and want to enjoy what I eat, what makes me think all of a sudden, if times were tough I would be able to eat it then? So I ate both the chicken fingers & fries as well as the 10 grain biscuits. I ate them telling myself that the purpose of eating is to live, to sustain life, it is not to enjoy the food. I told myself that “perhaps someday I may consider this to have been a really good meal” and to be honest, it really wasn’t all that bad.
For the most part, we are all living high on the hog. We want for very little, especially when it comes to food. We are a nation that throws out more food that many nations have to eat. We are spoiled, plain and simple, spoil. We eat not to sustain life, we eat because we “think” we are hungry and we eat because we like the taste. Sometimes we eat just to feed our feelings, you know, comfort food. We seldom eat solely to sustain life.
The human body doesn’t need much food to sustain life, we could, if need be, go without food for three weeks. Instead, the majority of us eat at least three meals a day and then complain about it when it isn’t exactly how we thought it would taste. We has a nation eat too much and throw out what we don’t finish or don’t like. We waste food, and there may come a time, possible in the not so distance future when we just may not have all we want when we want it. It just may be a good idea to get used to doing what our parents taught us, clean our plate, regardless if we like it or not.
Have you added up the amount of money you spend a year on food? On average, depending on the size of your family, it could be between $5000 to $9000 a year, and that is just from grocery shopping, it doesn’t count eating out. What would happen if you were unable to purchase food when you wanted food? Have you ever considered that? What if, there was a trucking strike and the “just in time” delivery to the grocery store, didn’t make it in time?
That’s right, many people don’t realize just how thin a string everything is running on. Grocery store stock is timed perfectly, so the store’s doesn’t waste money by having extra stock in the back room. Those days are long gone from when you could ask the store manager “can you check in the back to see if you have any more of ABC item?” This happened to me just last week during my grocery shopping, I wanted to purchase some Ben & Jerry’s That’s My Jam Core ice cream. The shelf was empty. The store manager was walking by and I ask if she had any more in the back and she said she would go check. Now I already knew the answer, because I know stores don’t keep “extra stock” but, I was just hoping. She comes back and says, “no, I’m sorry we are all out”, then she scans the tag on the shelf and reads her reader, saying, “we are expecting a delivery of this tomorrow.” At that point I said, “Well, I guess your just in time delivery, wasn’t in time”, she laughed and said, “no, and it isn’t the first time either.”
In addition I read on Modern Survival Blog, that some people have been noticing thinning or empty shelves at their local grocery, and honestly, I have noticed that as well, even more than the ice cream. I have noticed empty shelves for Gatorade, aspirin, frozen fruit, instant rice just to name a few. Sure the truck arrives the next day, but what if it didn’t? Did you know that if there was a panic or disaster that store shelves could be wiped out in a matter of hours, not days, but hours. I have witnessed this first has when a hurricane is approaching, I have seen shelves of water, bread and batteries emptied in a matter of hours.
So should we get used to eating what we have in front of us now, whether we like it or not, as long as it is not spoiled, we should get used to eating to live, and not living to eat. It will be a lot easier to eat what you have in front of you now, than when you are in a disaster type situation and are already stressed about other things. That way you will be used to looking a food for what it is, an item to sustain life, not as a from of enjoyment.
We are spoiled, we really don’t know what it is like to be hungry, and I am sure when you are hungry it will be a lot easier to eat whatever is in front of you, but why not trained yourself now to do that? Not only will it be a good lesson to learn, it just may save you some money as well.
27 Oct 2014
0 CommentsLearning To Eat To Live Not Living To Eat
The chicken fingers were dried out, nearly consisting of chicken jerky covered in a fried breading. The French fries were barely cook, by that, they were no longer frozen, slightly warm, but by no means could they be considered French fries. I had ordered the meal (such as it was) through take out at a local business cafeteria, so taking the meal back would have been more inconvenient than it was worth.
Today for breakfast I decided to open up one of my food storage cans, it was a 10 grain pancake mix that you could also make biscuits from. I opted for the biscuits. As soon as I opened the can, I didn’t care for the smell. I mixed up the mix, popped them in the oven. 12 minutes later, I had 10 grain biscuits. Edible, but not something I would purchase again, and still as I right this I wonder how I am going to get through that #10 can of mix.
For both meals I thought “yuk, this is awful, just through it out”. Then I got to thinking how spoiled I was. I expected, when I purchase food or even make my own food, it should taste good, it should give me enjoyment to eat it…but, what if we were in hard times? What if the SHTF and this was the only food I had to eat. If I can’t eat it now, just because I am spoiled and want to enjoy what I eat, what makes me think all of a sudden, if times were tough I would be able to eat it then? So I ate both the chicken fingers & fries as well as the 10 grain biscuits. I ate them telling myself that the purpose of eating is to live, to sustain life, it is not to enjoy the food. I told myself that “perhaps someday I may consider this to have been a really good meal” and to be honest, it really wasn’t all that bad.
For the most part, we are all living high on the hog. We want for very little, especially when it comes to food. We are a nation that throws out more food that many nations have to eat. We are spoiled, plain and simple, spoil. We eat not to sustain life, we eat because we “think” we are hungry and we eat because we like the taste. Sometimes we eat just to feed our feelings, you know, comfort food. We seldom eat solely to sustain life.
The human body doesn’t need much food to sustain life, we could, if need be, go without food for three weeks. Instead, the majority of us eat at least three meals a day and then complain about it when it isn’t exactly how we thought it would taste. We has a nation eat too much and throw out what we don’t finish or don’t like. We waste food, and there may come a time, possible in the not so distance future when we just may not have all we want when we want it. It just may be a good idea to get used to doing what our parents taught us, clean our plate, regardless if we like it or not.
Have you added up the amount of money you spend a year on food? On average, depending on the size of your family, it could be between $5000 to $9000 a year, and that is just from grocery shopping, it doesn’t count eating out. What would happen if you were unable to purchase food when you wanted food? Have you ever considered that? What if, there was a trucking strike and the “just in time” delivery to the grocery store, didn’t make it in time?
That’s right, many people don’t realize just how thin a string everything is running on. Grocery store stock is timed perfectly, so the store’s doesn’t waste money by having extra stock in the back room. Those days are long gone from when you could ask the store manager “can you check in the back to see if you have any more of ABC item?” This happened to me just last week during my grocery shopping, I wanted to purchase some Ben & Jerry’s That’s My Jam Core ice cream. The shelf was empty. The store manager was walking by and I ask if she had any more in the back and she said she would go check. Now I already knew the answer, because I know stores don’t keep “extra stock” but, I was just hoping. She comes back and says, “no, I’m sorry we are all out”, then she scans the tag on the shelf and reads her reader, saying, “we are expecting a delivery of this tomorrow.” At that point I said, “Well, I guess your just in time delivery, wasn’t in time”, she laughed and said, “no, and it isn’t the first time either.”
In addition I read on Modern Survival Blog, that some people have been noticing thinning or empty shelves at their local grocery, and honestly, I have noticed that as well, even more than the ice cream. I have noticed empty shelves for Gatorade, aspirin, frozen fruit, instant rice just to name a few. Sure the truck arrives the next day, but what if it didn’t? Did you know that if there was a panic or disaster that store shelves could be wiped out in a matter of hours, not days, but hours. I have witnessed this first has when a hurricane is approaching, I have seen shelves of water, bread and batteries emptied in a matter of hours.
So should we get used to eating what we have in front of us now, whether we like it or not, as long as it is not spoiled, we should get used to eating to live, and not living to eat. It will be a lot easier to eat what you have in front of you now, than when you are in a disaster type situation and are already stressed about other things. That way you will be used to looking a food for what it is, an item to sustain life, not as a from of enjoyment.
We are spoiled, we really don’t know what it is like to be hungry, and I am sure when you are hungry it will be a lot easier to eat whatever is in front of you, but why not trained yourself now to do that? Not only will it be a good lesson to learn, it just may save you some money as well.