How many of us have thrown away a perfectly edible sandwich because we didn't like the taste? Half a drink perhaps. Now how many of us are constantly bombarded with the thought that we may not eat tonight. That we may not be able to feed our children, our families. No, not in the American middle and upper classes, and although in many third world countries' children go to bed hungry, and others die of starvation, we take our "super sized" meals for granted and buy food with the intention of only eating the "bits we like". We are never satisfied. We buy more and we use only bits and pieces, like Thomas Fuller once said- "Willful waste brings woeful want."

About 15,000,000,000 children die every year from hunger. Roughly 104,921 tons of food was wasted in America just today. World hunger is not an unknown topic throughout the world, as a matter of fact people throw it into daily conversation and it is broadcasted throughout the media regularly. So how come nobody seems to be taking it to heart? How can we continue to waste so much in America knowing that people are dying across the globe due to starvation? How do we sleep peacefully at night? Is it because the American population doesn't care? Or maybe it's because we don't feel like wasting a half-eaten sandwich  is that big of a deal. Maybe it's because we are so complacent and caught up in our own lives that we forget that there are about 6,840,507,003 other people on the planet that matter just as much as we do.

Coming from the Philippines and having family there without even a flush able toilet can open your' eyes to the problems of the world. So can watching the news. But it doesn't matter how much we know about the world's problems if we refuse to take action. Even if that action is as simple as   trying not to waste so much food. I know a girl, and for decency's sake I will not name her, who buys a snack mix from our school snack bar regularly and throws the pretzel and cheese cracker parts on the ground. When I asked her why she did that she blatantly remarked that "they are disgusting and I don't want anyone to eat them." Now perhaps I am being too sensitive, but in my mind I saw a child that I had seen in the Philippines, so small and skinny I could see her bones through her dress. I am fairly convinced that this child and many like her would have eaten those "disgusting" crackers and pretzels right off the floor that she had thrown it upon.  

When I see people throwing away perfectly good food because they "didn't like the taste" I get a sudden impulsive urge to yell at them about how some of my family in the Philippines, cannot even afford a working toilet let alone dinner for most nights. And how while they go home and eat whenever they want, super sizing their meals, and throwing away pretzels, a person dies of starvation. Things like this don't just get better over night. They require time, effort, and people to not only believe in the effort but to contribute to it. Be thankful for what you have. Be proud, and care about those who do not have what you have. No matter your' problems, no matter your' pain, most of you at least know when you will have your' next meal.