Here I sit in the Union, watching lunchtime swirl around me. Foccaccias are eaten, chicken tenders consumed, and what appears to be several metric tons of soda pours down the throats of happy college students. And then they throw away food: uneaten, unwanted food. This happens every day in RJ and Letch as well, where people take a serving of everything, have a few bites of each, and throw away the rest.
It's a tragedy to watch. We, in our enlightened times, throw away precious nutrients, calories and flavors into a black trash bag that is quickly filled and replaced by one just like it. I can only assume that it is because the people who do the throwing away have never starved (which is not to say that I have) and have no idea the value of the food that they so unceremoniously dump, either because they are full or don't quite like it.
The deeper tragedy is the research published by the United Nations and independent sources that point to our capacity to feed everybody on Earth. It seems staggering, unbelievable even, that every one of the 6.5 billion people on this tiny blue planet could be fed by our current rate of production. But according to the prevailing research, it's more than possible.
However, since this isn't happening, there must be another way to negate the effects of starvation. My proposition is simple: take less to eat, and eat what you take. For example, say that it's my usual wont to take three apples at dinner, and for some reason I only eat about a third of each. Obviously, I'd get the same nourishment from one apple, so I should only take one. Hypothetically, if everybody does this, economics says that with less demand and greater supply (read as "people eating less"), prices will fall, at least allowing the people who may be too poor to buy food now to conceivably purchase the nourishment they need.
Obviously, it would take dedication on a grand scale for this to happen. It is my belief, however, that if a dedication is made to this measure, perhaps other measures will follow as well. I have recently attempted to reduce the amount of food I eat, which has in turn made me consider the people who get far less than I do, and as consequence I've been looking into charitable organizations that aid the poor and starving.
In short, I urge you, the students of Geneseo, to consider how you can aid the less fortunate among us to obtain what is one of the fundamental requirements for life.
Aaron Davis is a freshman English major who thinks America, by and large, could stand to lose a few pounds anyway.