Think about your last visit to the grocery story and then ponder this data point: About one-third of the food produced and packaged for human consumption is lost or wasted, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
That equals 1.3 billion tons a year, worth nearly $680 billion. Given that 10 percent of people in the world are chronically undernourished, this figure represents more a disastrous misallocation of need and want.
Supermarket changes in Europe are working to reduce this waste. See: The World Wastes Tons of Food. A Grocery ‘Happy Hour’ Is One Answer.
Learn what you can do about saving food and feeding the hungry by joining us for our Fall Equinox celebration, Abundant Harvest: Reconciliation with the earth through planet friendly agriculture
The program, which will end with a simple meal, will be led by Rick Burnette, who has more than three decades of experience in sustainable agriculture. Rick and his wife Ellen founded Cultivate Abundance in Immokalee, Florida, , a non-profit organization that works with agricultural workers to promote food solidarity.
Pictured above is Luis, an Immokalee Soccer School and Academy volunteer, harvesting lettuce from the Misión Peniel container garden demonstration.
On Sept. 22, Rick will help us explore ways to produce food that sustains people and the planet and ways that we can be in solidarity with those who do not have the food they need. The day includes a guided meditation walk of the Renewal Center’s Reconciliation Labyrinth and a chance to work in the garden.
During November, we celebrate those who have gone before us, our ancestors upon whose shoulders we stand. We celebrate the Feast of All Saints, All Souls Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving Day. We remember their positive influence on our lives.
An Assembling God’s Puzzle video
By Fr. Garry Richmeier, C.PP.S.
Using threats, shame and guilt to gain another’s cooperation is expedient but ineffective over the long-run. On the other hand, inviting someone to join us in a common work or goal, respects the other, is more constructive and more often results in substantive and long-lasting change.