Teaching and learning and waste

So this will be a long entry and a little bi-polar. I want to recount a conversation with the Bug and then I want to discuss something from the news. They are in no way related but I don’t want to separate this into two posts.

First The Bug

Bug: Mom what does da da dum mean? (he sings this and his notes get lower and lower)

Me:  Where did you hear that song?

Bug: Mom what does it mean when I’m  lost?

Me:  That we can’t find you? (this is a question because I am confused)

Bug: NO MOM. My v-reader goes da da dum and I’m lost. What does that mean.

LIGHT BULB

ME: Honey it means you didn’t win.

Bug: So I lost?

Me: yes

Bug: But why did I lost?

Me: because some games have people who win and people who lose. The person who does the best wins.

Bug: But what do I do when I lost? (I’ve now given up correcting this to lose because the lesson is more important than his grammar). 

Me: You do two things. You tell the winner good job. And then you try again. You DO NOT get mad or yell. You can be a little sad but you have to tell the winner good job and you have to try again.

Bug: Why do people lost?

Me: Because we can’t be the best at everything. We each are good at different things.

Bug: Like checkers? (No idea where that came from)

Me: Yep, like checkers (went with it anyway).

First I seized a teaching moment. Sometimes I feel like these slip away. I got a choke hold on this one. Second, that night when daddy picked him up from daycare I asked him to give a little pop quiz. What do you do when you lose? Bug passed with flying colors. The verbal portion anyway. We will see what happens when he has to apply it.

The news.

Did you know that from farm to fork, America wastes 40% of its food?

WAIT WHAT??? We have people going hungry in this country and food banks with very low supply so how does that even happen? Well, I will let you read the report (link to follow) to see for yourself but let me say that one of the big surprises was at home the average family of four throws out 25% of their food a year. 

So for my family, we have a weekly budget of about $135 a week in food. If I am throwing away 25% of that food annually I am basically throwing away the equivalent of $1,755 a year. That is more than twice our house payment. The report says this falls in the average range. 

At first I scoffed. There is no way I waste that much. Then I came home and looked in my fridge. I clean out the fridge about once a week (before shopping).  So I cleaned tonight instead of Saturday. I threw out: a cup of left over sloppy joe meat, radishes, carrots, a bag of salad mix (now in liquid form), fresh salsa that had been pushed to the back, half a small container of cottage cheese, a sandwich worth of passé lunch meat and 2 yogurts. All in all about $17 in food. And look at this on a meal basis. Cottage cheese or yogurt, carrots, salad and a sloppy joe is a meal. I estimate I threw out about 3 lunches.

So the study says the problem is simple. In our country food is easily obtained.  We do not value it like other countries do.

As an environmental scientist this bothers me from a sustainability standpoint. Growing food and transporting food is a tax on our resources. Waste has to go somewhere. Waste taxes our land, water and air natural resources. We all know…waste is bad.

From the Buddhist perspective I look from a different angle. When I look at an apple I don’t see just an apple. I see sunlight that traveled millions of miles in 8 minutes. I see water that the Earth has recycles billions of times. I see minerals from soils formed 20,000-30,000 years ago. I see a farmer who worked to grow that apple. Someone who delivered it using fossil fuels. Someone who sells it in a place that uses resources as well. 

The universe is in that apple. Doesn’t that make it worth a bit more than the $1.98/lbs I paid for it?

So the report offers solutions (as good reports should) and one that struck me as easy peasy was using weekly menus. I’ve tried this with great intentions in the past but never stuck to it. I will be trying again. So let me offer up some websites to help out.

Basic family friendly menus (free too)

http://www.makedinnereasy.com/

http://www.hy-vee.com/meal-solutions/weekly-menus/weekly-menu.aspx

http://thisweekfordinner.com/

For the Vegetarian

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes_menus/collections/healthy_vegetarian_recipes

For the Vegan, try my friend’s site also child friendly

http://voyagetoveganism.blogspot.com/

So if you want the news story go here:

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/22/40-of-u-s-food-wasted-report-says/

For the report:

http://www.nrdc.org/food/wasted-food.asp

I just keep going back to that number $1,755 per year. A family vacation. Pay off a bill. Christmas, birthdays, and other gifts for everyone in our family for easily and entire year plus our date nights.

Imagine what a donation that size would buy a food bank.

So I will close with the words of the Dalai Lama: The root of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation of goodness.

Preparing for Forty

Preparing for Forty

I mentioned in a past blog that I just turned 37 and the strife I am experiencing starring 40 in the face. I’ve been thinking quite a bit about that number and what it means to me.

In my entry I basically said I wanted that stability and self actualization that many said I would find in my 30’s but thus far have not. Stability and self actualization are not just going to spring up out of the ground and scream “here I am!”  They must be tended to. And like any garden, you start by plotting out what you want it to look like.

You start with what you want to harvest and plant from there.

My Goals For Forty:

1. Own a business.
2. Re-establish our credit
3. Have a rainy day fund of 2 months living expenses
4. Be a healthy weight and be happy with it
5. Meditate daily

So I’m going to break this down into action steps by visiting each of these more indepth.

1. Own a business. I’m taking steps toward this. I guess you could say I do own a business. But in reality, I want something I could potentially pass on to one of my kids or in the end sell and supplement my retirement. Right now my business would sell for about $850 on craigslist. I want something that wakes me each day and calls me to work. I want something that I take home at night because I want to not because I have to. I want something that makes me happy and fulfilled. I’ve decided I will not get that the traditional way. I’m quiet but apparently my spirit is of the entrepreneur type.

2. Re-establish our credit. We did not escape the economic down turn. My husband has been laid off twice since 2008. The first time we had our first baby at home. The second time we had a two year old and 6 month old. Both times cut deep and we got behind. We had to borrow. Our credit took a huge hit. The way to re-establish is to first pay down. Which is what we are trying to do now. The goal as I see it is to have little to no credit card balances and no more than one car loan. It will take time but this goal is possible in the next three years.

3. Have a rainy day fund of 2 months living expenses. This is just good common practice that we have tried on several occasions and always something has come up (or need torn down).

4. Be a healthy weight and BE HAPPY with it. Before my kids I was in my 130’s. Now I am not about to publish my weight now but I am NOT 135. Thing is when I was 135 I was constantly lamenting about how fat I was instead of enjoying being fit and healthy. Right now all those scores you get during a routine physical are good except for my weight and those will eventually follow. I need to lose not just for the energy but for the health benefits. However, I also need to learn to be happy in this skin.

5. Meditate daily. That one is the easiest and hardest at the same time. I just need to sit down and breathe. How hard can that be?  Seriously try it and find out.

So there it is. My path to forty. The first stepping stones are laid. The first pass with the tiller has happened. The soil is ready to go.  

I plan on doing monthly updates on these goals as one of the blogs each month. They will be tagged under “Preparing for forty”.