As happy as I was to take that food home with me, I was also a little bit sad thinking that someone with low income that qualifies for the food shelf goods would not use it. I suspect it's because the food items that I picked up today all had to be cooked. I wonder how much food shelf items like that are just dumped into the trash because people don't know how to cook? It's a shame. In any case, I am thankful that they dropped it off at the Thrift Store for someone else to take.
The decline of shop and home econ classes in much of America has directly led to a huge decline of people's ability to do for themselves and their families. Instead, we now rely on far more expensive specialists for even relatively simple tasks.
I know that everyone is feeling the pinch of rising food prices, but eating out less often, understanding how to shop wisely and then cook your own food is one clear answer. It also has the additional benefit of often being healthier.
Action item: Please do the best you can to teach these skills to your children.
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Sometimes, I think folks that are eligible to receive food shelf packages should be required to attend some kind of cooking classes to earn their eligibility to get that free food. I just believe that if they knew how to cook at home, that the canned and dry food they get in their packages would have a lot more value to them and that would be better for their families.
Dear Wife is a great cook, and she does the majority of making meals for us at home. But the past year, I attended some Senior Citizen cooking classes that we had once a month. I had fun learning how to cook stuff. Often times, I was the only male in the class. But that did not bother me. I learned a lot.
One thing our cooking instructors always talked about was how to make the best use of your money and buying healthy food that was affordable. Dear Wife and I seldom eat out, because we just prefer to cook our own food, which I like better than restaurant food, but also because you can save so much money that can be used elsewhere.
Well, I served in the Navy in my younger days, and I visited many third world countries on my ship. The sight of the local natives diving into the dumpsters on our pier side trash bins just to get a half-eaten doughnut or maybe some scrambled eggs is burned into my memory forever. I know what poverty and hunger looks like, and it was not a pretty sight.
