Blog Action Day

Today is Blog action day. What does that mean? It means that Bloggers around the world will be taking time away from their regular posts to write about a common topic, this year food, to have a disscussion about something important to us. To open lines of commnication surrounding certain topics. Today we talk about food, we can talk about famine, childhood obesity, food in the schools, whatever the issue, so long as it's important to us.

Tim and I have enjoyed cooking together as a couple since we first began dating, we would pick out a menu, make a list and head down to the St. Lawrence market on Front street and buy fresh ingredients to create the meal of our choice. We have tried many things ranging from ravioli to beef wellington and many things in between. The ravioli was a dismal failure and took so much time that by the end of the experience we were so tired we couldn't even talk, not a fantastic dating experience but ultimately a fun way to learn more about each other.

We also enjoy watching shows like Hell's Kitchen, Master Chef and more recently Kitchen Nightmares on Netflix. Quickly becoming our favorite chef is of course Gordon Ramsey. He is straight forward, simple, and honest. Watching him is always good for a laugh and some fun. He's crude, he's rude but he tells it how it is.

As I watched an episode recently of Kitchen nightmares I was stunned by how some people use and waste food, one restaurant for example was making food for hundreds and then throwing out 60% of it. Total waste. The sad fact is that people on the whole waste food, the bounty we have is taken for granted and we are throwing food in the bin faster than we can eat it. We buy fresh produce and then we toss it when it turns before we can eat it. I admit to being guilty of this.

This past month Tim and I have been on a mission to eat all the food without needing to waste it. Some days it requires some creative cooking, and some days it means eating something we don't necessarily feel like eating; the result however is a keener awareness of what we are eating, what we are buying and in the end it is not only keeping us accountable but it's allowing us to save money that we can use for a better purpose (like a date day with the boys).

I would like to challenge you. Look in  your cupboards and fridge, use up what you  have there before heading out to the shops for more food. Think of the hungry in our country, and in countries around the world and be thankful for that full fridge and show your thankfulness by eating it instead of tossing it in a week.