The first good act of the year- giving food

It often happens to me that I cook too much food or my partner is not home all day and does not eat the food I cooked for him that day. Because of this, I often have leftover food that I can put in the freezer and then on a busy day it will be good to take it out when I don’t have enough time to cook food.

But unfortunately not all kinds of food can be frozen. It’s really bad to admit but there are times when some food ends up in the trash. And I am very angry and frustrated about that.

I recently started collecting disposable plastic boxes. Maybe it’s a shame but I didn’t want to give our good food boxes to anyone else because then I would always have to buy new ones and it would cost a lot of money in the long run. So now I have some simple boxes I can put food in and I try to calculate the portions after cooking, so I don’t realize that the food is a lot when it’s no longer edible.

There is a "I give to eat" box in my town. There are such boxes in several cities in the country, and fortunately here as well. Durable food can be put in these boxes and poor people or the homeless can take them out. The rule is that one person can take 3 things out of the box at a time to leave something in it for others. Due to the perishability of cooked food, it may be less recommended to put it in a box, but I think cooked food also has a place there, especially when I think of the homeless. Even if I put a bag of dry pasta or raw rice in the box, a homeless person can’t cook them anywhere. However, they are certainly happy with the cooked food. In the winter, we can put almost anything in the box because they won’t spoil quickly because of the cold. In warmer weather, we need to pay more attention to the perishability of food.

There is only one problem with these "I give you eat" boxes, they will soon be forgotten. When people put out a box in a new city, they will be enthusiastic, want to help others, or just show that they are good people. There is also a call in schools for children not to throw away packaged snacks on the way home, but to put them in the box. This is definitely good because not only can the poor get more food, but children will also learn not to waste food and if we can do help others. City shops can also join the initiative and put the baked goods left over at the end of the day in the box. That baked goods can no longer be sold the next day, but they can still be edible and useful to someone else. Our city’s “I give you eat” box is close to our house and I can see it from the window. Unfortunately, I often see someone walking in, opening, closing, walking on. So the box is often empty. The box is otherwise taken care of by volunteers, who inspect it and clean it at least once a day. In one city (maybe several cities, but I only know about one), the volunteers gave up the fight and closed the box. This was not only because the box was constantly empty, but because someone ended up putting feces in it. There are very evil and disgusting people, but let’s not talk about that now.

So superstition says we need to eat lentils on New Year’s Day to have a lot of money in the new year. That’s why I made sour cream lentils with fried sausage yesterday. My partner doesn't like lentils, Bence didn't want to eat it either, and I'm going to eat it for 3 days, but it won't run out. I put two servings in plastic boxes. I wrapped bread next to it and put 1-1 oranges and a little chocolate next to each serving of food.

I know it’s not much food, but it could have made two people’s days more beautiful and it makes me happy. When we went to the box, I also explained to Bence why we put the food there. He is only three years old, but I think we can teach children at such a young age that it is good to help others and that poverty is not a shame. We can give to others even if we don’t have much either.

My plastic boxes are ready to serve for a good cause and I am determined to handle food more consciously and help others as much as I can. New Year's resolution # 1

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