I love Kraft Dinner. I know it’s gross and unhealthy, but it reminds me of home. Yesterday, John and I shared a pack of Kraft Dinner, but it had been expired for 3 months, and so the cheese packet didn’t taste quite right. I know it was kind of someone to send us Kraft Dinner, but I was quite disappointed that they went to all the trouble, just for it to be expired. I know we have an adage about beggars can’t be choosers. I know that we live in a land where many people are hungry, and so we should just be thankful for any kind of food – expired or not. But it still left me with an uneasy feeling.
At Christmas our territory received tonnes and tonnes of food from another territory, and it was gladly and gratefully accepted. It was all expired, and infested with cockroaches. But we wrote a wonderful thank you letter, and I’m sure the donors felt happy. We’ve also received a shipment of used computers that are slow and don’t work that well and have parts missing. It’s nice, but is it?
When we’re wealthy, we’re lucky because we get to make decisions about what charity we will bestow on others. But doesn’t it seem unfair that we get to choose what others deserve (namely whatever we have no use for anymore?) I used to never give change to homeless people on the street because I thought, “they might use it for alcohol or cigarettes.” But why should I decide what they will spend their money on? Why should I deem cigarettes much more unworthy than a coffee or a donut?
Having said all of this, someone recently gave us a box of expired food, and I in turn gave it to someone else. But I wondered if it was right. I can understand why some people abhor the word charity. It seems to mean giving whatever you don’t want to those you think are so poor that they should still appreciate you and make you feel good for doing it. Whereas love is about giving our best, right?
3 comments:
Maybe you're just out of practice with the KD...or maybe it was one of the inputs (Milk or Marg)you got locally. Don't think the stuff ever really expires.
Andrea Regent.
Mmmm....Kraft Dinner. Shamefully addicted to that stuff myself. Nobody in Canada understands why, but those of us outside of the country seem bonded by that experience somehow.
Good challenge on charity, Rochelle. Well-intentioned, but often inappropriately directed. I think what's most needed is particiption in life with suffering people to add perspective to good intentions. It's a blessing to see you demonstrate how to do that.
Ricardo
We just made a box of expired kraft dinner and let me tell you it was not pleasant. We had already made a box that was fine and decided to make another one. It was the second one that was expired so it wasn't our cooking that caused the problem. We checked the dates on both of the boxes and sure enough the first one was well before the expiration date but the second one had expired a week ago. I didn't realise the stuff even expired, but the smell of the expired one was enough to turn us off the product completely.
Try to remember to check your dates. It's not always a big deal but expired food can make you very sick in some cases.
I do agree, people giving expired food is a bit underhanded. Where I am, people typically buy extra food when their shopping to donate. Perhaps it takes more time than we think for that food to be distributed. They suggest non-perishables and KD is assumed to be one of those infinite shelflife foods. I'll definitely be leaning towards 2+ year expiration dates the next time I donate anything.
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