Some Food for Thought

We shop for groceries on Saturday mornings. I never look upon it as a chore. I have always enjoyed shopping for food, whether at a weekend village market in Sri Lanka, or, as today, at the Canadian Superstore in Coquitlam.

Buying food has always seemed like a worthy investment in living. The sheer variety of what's available nowadays leaves me a little in awe. I am so thankful for the hard work of farmers, distributors, stockboys, and cashiers. One human requires a lot of food even during the short span of one week. Considering the world population is about 7.1 billion, the amount needed annually is unfathomably huge.

We complain about rising prices (and the new trend of noticeably shrinking packaging sizes) but we're still very lucky. We spend a very small percentage on our income on food. There are a number places in the world where people must regularly spend 70% of their income on sustenance. More frighteningly, I read that 35,000 people literally die from hunger each day.

These facts make going to the supermarket a great opportunity to be thankful for the bounty by which we are surrounded.