About once a week I come home to find a bag of food scraps waiting for me. Sometimes I know who left it, other times I am left to guess. My heart does a little jig, because it means seven chickens and a shy turkey will cluster around my feet pecking at the overripe tomatoes, apple peelings and wilted spinach.
I watched a
TED Talk
about food waste. It is a tragedy that perfectly good potatoes are discarded because they are the wrong size for a restaurant, or the crusts of bread are tossed because they are not pretty. In a world where many people are concerned about world hunger, it is hard to reconcile the enormous volumes of uneaten food. While grocery stores and restaurants are clandestine about what ends up in the dumpster all it takes is a peek around back to see the mountains of useable nutrition.
When my daughter worked in retail she used to beg the management to let her take loaves that would end up in the landfill and give them to food banks. It was a hassle but she kept doing it. Maybe it was her way of bringing sanity back into the wacky food chain. She understood that no matter how full your belly is today, it will be empty again tomorrow.
Nourishment in a marriage can look like sweet words, or a slobbery kiss, or a fresh bagel at your partner's elbow. Just last night John brought me a burrito, hot and melty. I thanked him. Twice. He smiled.
It is a hassle to keep feeding your partner. But when we let those kind words expire on our tongue, or the gestures of thoughtfulness languish as good ideas that never made it to daylight, hearts go hungry.
