Comments on: Now this is just stupid

By: The Big Seester

The Big Seester — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:09:52 +0000

You know, a better way to have handled this (assuming that they really NEEDED to fly to Japan, where a special site was built, far away from ~gasp~ protesters and all the rest of the carbon T-Rex print) would have been to challenge the chefs to come up with nice food within a budget, and using basic foodstuffs that most people eat day in and day out.

It’s easy to create great food when you have an unlimited budget - try doing it with little money (relatively speaking) and using cornmeal, or oats, or manioc.

Just a thought.

TBS

By: The Big Seester

The Big Seester — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:06:25 +0000

I have looked for 2 days and cannot find the source, but I remember reading an account - 2 people were attending the same conference, and decided to eat lunch together. There was rather a nice buffet laid out, and the one guy went through the line and got what he wanted. When they sat down, he looked at the other person’s plate (I cannot remember, but I want to say it was a woman, who was either a Quaker or a Mennonite) and realized this other person only had a bowl of soup, a slice of bread, some cheese and an apple. He asked if she was dieting, and she explained that she was eating simply (by comparison to the other attendees) in solidarity with the hungry of the world, and that, even as she was limiting her food, she was still eating better than the poor were.

The whole story was told in a very non-judgemental way (I mean, it wasn’t “You pig - look how you’re eating! Don’t you know children are starving in India?”) and it really affected me.

I wish I could find the reference. I have looked through the More with Less Cookbook and Living More with Less (Mennonite) as well as Freedom of Simplicity and Quaker Book of Wisdom (Quaker) and it doesn’t appear to be in any of them. I’m fairly sure that this wasn’t a Catholic story (Dorothy Day or Mother Teresa), but anyway, the point remains the same.

There are 2 ways to view wealth and poverty - one builds bridges and one builds guillotines. The leaders of the G-8 ought to think about that a little more. There’s not one of them that couldn’t stand to drop 5 pounds.

AND, the Japanese are all about Metabo these days - the government just passed all these laws about obesity!

Plus there’s the whole carbon footprint thing, and not using the terrific technology we have at our fingertips to have a teleconference.

It’s just wrong on so many levels. I’m not saying people should never enjoy themselves, but you don’t have to eat that much rich food in order to do it.

TBS

By: Foxfier

Foxfier — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:45:33 +0000

The irony is rather blinding, isn’t it?

Kasia– bet that the folks at the retreat enjoyed the food more than these folks did.

Dang, and here I was feeling bad about eating so much at the Indian Buffet.

By: Jaibee

Jaibee — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:41:43 +0000

Yum! I want a Capuchin dinner!

By: Kasia

Kasia — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:27:46 +0000

Amen, Jaibee.

I keep thinking about the retreat our clergy went on at the Capuchin Retreat House. Know what lunch was? Bread, cheese, fruit, veggies, and nuts. When the Capuchins say “a simple lunch”, that’s exactly what they mean. To drink, I think they had choice of water or lemonade.

I’m not saying the world leaders have to eat bread and cheese for the summit, or fast (though it would certainly be instructive if they did!); but the contrast is just too painfully striking.

By: Jaibee

Jaibee — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:15:21 +0000

More appropriate would be a day of fasting…. (And prayer….)

By: The Canuck

The Canuck — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:37:49 +0000

My issue isn’t so much with the 8-course dinner (I’ve got issues, but it’s not the focus of my irritation) but with the nearly HALF A BILLION dollars spent on the conference. I agree that holding a ‘virtual’ conference would have been a much more responsible thing to do.