Know the back of your fridge like the back of your mind
Keep in touch with the contents of cupboard
For it seems many people are widely resigned
To food wastage lately discovered
It’s not just a pack of fresh bread gone to waste
Though a small simple thing it may seem
Like poison in water may not have a taste
It still finds its way down the stream
There’s a bigger incredulous picture at stake
And if lucky you might sense your role
In the power you wield by being awake
And aware of waste’s energy toll
Now the sugar has travelled from China to Seoul
Then was packaged in Delhi to boot
And the butter flew in from New Zealand and earnt
Several thousand more air miles en route
And the flour was trucked across desert plains
To land in your crumpets and pie
Where you promptly forgot that Small Purchase you got
And it sat in the kitchen to die
And with each little waste that no one did taste
a part of me shrivels inside
this distortion of food versus need does allude
to a glutton of comfort prescribed
It seems so distorted to hear news reported
Of famine and people deprived
When finding that tupperware fare has been thwarted
And growth of black mold has arrived
It is not that I judge, I don’t aim to offend
Though it’s hard to let go every time
All habits can change with the will to amend
And avoid what I see as a crime
Oh harsh! You might say; Helen with your assumption
But how does change come lest with action?
Consumption without simple care finds resumption
And all blame is placed on distraction
I call out to those who have all that they need
To remember first food you possess
And if finding a great deal of wastage may need
To address the neglect of excess
peace
xx