ANDREA BURGENER: Waste not, want not — what coronavirus must teach us
In a world where people are starving, we need to educate ourselves about the failures of our food systems
As the hunger of millions becomes ever more apparent, those of us for whom a food crisis means going without tahini or mozzarella are getting a well-deserved reality check. Whether stinking rich or just lucky enough to have food on the table for every day, most of us have started to think properly about our relationship to food, and within that, waste.
None of this is news. But the question is, will this simply make us try harder in our small domestic ways to save food “on principle”? While using the stale slices of bread for French toast rather than binning them is a better plan, it’s hardly a radical act deserving of a halo, it’s simply what everyone used to do. That we even have to discuss how to use up scraps or leftovers, rather than being taught these things as surely as we’re shown how to cut a slice of bread, speaks volumes. Ironic, given the fetishising of food and cooking during the last decades...
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