Lake Neuron

I have a FoodSaver vacuum packaging system; I like it and probably ought to use it more often than I do.

Anyway, I was goofing off this morning and noticed an infomercial about the newest model of FoodSaver. I started to watch it to see if they had any new ideas or tips for how to use the device. Anyway, in the course of things they gave the following statistic: the average family of four throws away $50 worth of food per month. I don’t know the source of this information (and it is from an infomercial, so you probably have to take it with a grain of salt) but I don’t think it’s far wrong. That was one of the reasons I bought my FoodSaver to begin with; after my 2004 Kenya trip, I was convicted about how often I would cook up a big batch of something, intending to get many meals out of it, and then end up throwing some of it away because of freezer burn or refrigerator funk.

During our in-country training for that 2004 trip, we went to Steers, a fast-food restaurant in Nairobi. We were happy to be munching on American-style food. At the end of the meal, however, Grace Mbithi ended up going around and taking everyone’s leftover french fries so that she could share them with the orphans who live at the church. I think the whole team was humbled by that, and it was part of opening our eyes to the poverty in Kenya.

And I still throw some food away that I shouldn’t, either because I never got around to vacuum-packaging it or because it turned out badly and I just don’t want to eat it.

I spent the money for a genuine FoodSaver after reading bad reviews of the cheaper Black & Decker system online. However, I think I am going to try out the new Wal-Mart store brand bag material, which costs less than the official FoodSaver bags.