RichardHarlos.com

Have you ever eaten food out of your house and NOT finished it all?

That’s happened to me. Sometimes I’m in a rush and just don’t have the time. Sometimes I just get full (it’s the “eyes are bigger than my stomach syndrome” — LOL!). And sometimes I just don’t care for the way something tastes or was prepared.

No matter what the reason, though, I’ve always done the same thing with the food that I didn’t finish eating: I’ve thrown it away.

I recently learned about an organization whose mission is to help feed hungry people by asking you and me to make a simple change in the way we dispose of our unfinished food: replate it!

No, that’s not a typo. “Replate” is a new word this organization coined to describe the act of putting uneaten food someplace other than IN the trash.

For trashcans with ‘hoods,’ it means putting the food ON TOP of the can instead of INSIDE it, like this:

Everyone has concerns about this practice: aesthetics, sanitation, malice, etc. The site, which is quite concise, addresses these concerns in a no-nonsense manner.

I know some of you may be thinking, “Hungry homeless people? F*ck ‘em; not my problem” and you have every right to take that perspective if you must. While I freely admit to believing that some homeless people may have brought their situation upon themselves, I’ve also known a few homeless people who just got down on their luck and slipped through the cracks.

Ever thought about how difficult it can be to find a job when you have no address? No phone? No ‘dress’ clothes? Unless you’ve tried to recover from that level of being ‘down on your luck’ I’d ask you to withhold your criticism for a spell. They may not all be innocent victims but I believe the reverse is also true: they’re not all lazy, leeching bums.

So then, if this is an issue that resonates with you, here’s a way for you to ease someone’s hunger by doing nothing more than putting your leftover food ON TOP of a garbage can instead of INSIDE it, i.e., replate it!

If you’ve read this far, thank you for your open-minded compassion. Your comments are welcome and appreciated.