Finish your food!

"Make sure you finish what is on your plate!" Every child around the world has heard this too many times from his mother. Apparently, we do not always listen.

Singapore schools have just started a campaign to ensure that school children do not waste food. They have to eat everything on their plate, which more or less forces children to take only what they can eat. More importantly, it teaches children not to waste food. Children are learning. They realise that not all children have enough to eat, so don't waste anything.

My mother always told me to eat up every grain of rice on my plate because each grain represents the sweat of a farmer somewhere. A book on life in China in the 1940s talks about a lady who eats up every grain of food on her plate because she experienced the hardship of farming in her younger days. She cannot bear to see anything being thrown away.

Food wastage in China is very real. "Operation Empty Plate" started to try to curb this bad habit. Is it working? I do not know. Only time will tell if cultural traits can be changed over a generation.

I have heard this statement many times:

There is enough food to feed everyone around the world, but why are some places having so much while others are starving?

Regardless of whether you are starving or in abundance, the point remains the same: do not waste food. My late grandmother used to say that wasting food is a sin. I don't know about that, but I agree that food should not be wasted. Eat what I can. Eat enough. Do not overeat. Everything in moderation. That's my philosophy in eating.

Culture takes generations to build. Culture will take generations to change. It begins with me.

Have fun learning a new culture!

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