Hello from Canada. Your story is an eye-opener and certainly deserves it's place here on Steemit. You've earned a follower and I look forward to hearing more.
Continue to be honest, your story will never be harmful to yourself... it only harms the dishonest. The dishonest deserve a wake up call. Thank you for sharing.
Is it really true Canada is one of the best and peaceful countries in the world? I have heard many people giving positive remake about Canada.. Just curious to know what your take is on that :)
Canada is my home. As with any place, it is far from perfect, but I can look around and see why so many around the world hear positive things about this land.
In general, yes, very peaceful. There are still many of the inherent dangers that occur when masses of people are grouped together. We still have things like crime and poverty. Some levels of poverty should be unimaginable in a place known to be generous and forgiving, yet they exist.
On the surface, Canada is beautiful. It's a great place to explore. Prosperity is most certainly available to those who work hard. Generally safe for most children to enjoy certain freedoms of their own.
The winter, it's hard to promote -40 C. The summers certainly make up for it though. Canadians like to make the best of their leisure time. Many I know like to travel on vacation. Many work hard just to enjoy free time... and yes, we are free. (Depending on who you ask.)
Thanks for your honesty and taking time to reply me...... Ghana, if you ask me, is also a very peaceful country with lot of expatriates and tourists visiting almost everyday.. They generally enjoy our tourist sites and the low cost of living.... But we are far from "developed country" with about about 24.2 percent of measuring some 6.4 million cannot afford to spend 1 USD on food a day. The people below the poverty line were about 7 million in 2005 which means that we are a promising country.
Food here, along with many other "developed" countries is abundant.
For many years I worked for one of the largest retailers in the world. If one egg out of a carton of twelve eggs breaks, the entire carton of eggs goes in the garbage. If a can falls off of the shelf and becomes dented, it goes in the garbage. All meat is labelled with an expiry date. To prevent anyone ever buying expired meat products, the packages are pulled from the shelves two weeks before the stamp dictates the food will be spoiled, and thrown in the garbage. If a fresh fruit or vegetable has blemishes or deformities, garbage. Breads and similar products a treated much like meat. Pulled early from the shelves, nothing wrong with it, garbage.
I worked in one store that did this, all stores do this. There are thousands upon thousands of stores. Entire herds of cattle are thrown in the garbage. Entire fields of wheat and thrown in the garbage.
The companies who do this, do not do it to protect their customers from getting sick. They do it to prevent financial losses caused by lawsuits. The people in general are not this wasteful. Most don't even know what truly happens to nearly one third of all food.
Would starving people eat it? I think we both know the answer to that.
Would they still eat it if they were told it is "garbage"?
This is what bothers me the most about living here. Many people choose to stay blind to it. Many people will not buy an apple if it doesn't look as good as all of the apples next to it. It's superficial nonsense. That sort of mindset causes starvation in other places. As they are being fussy, people die. If you tried to explain this to them, they would ignore you.
Really? this is actually happening??" ..."If one egg out of a carton of twelve eggs breaks, the entire carton of eggs goes in the garbage. If a can falls off of the shelf and becomes dented, it goes in the garbage."
As you rightfully put it this can be a source of meal for people here including myself. not only that, people can establish a BIG time business with this "garbage" products....
The major businesses here in Ghana is second hand clothing and these are rejected clothing from developed countries. Majority of them are from the garbage dumps and are shipped to this place for sell. WE even prefer them to original clothing because they are both affordable and for some reasons, some are very durable.
Not only clothing but used bicycles, machines, car tires and rims and anything u can think of is a big business here. The majority can't afford new things so if they can get an alternative that is less expensive and can do the same work, why not, they settle for it. If I may ask, would shipping these "garbage" eggs and other "garbage" yet good products cause the companies in terms of lawsuits? Am seeing a great opportunity in this. Seriously.... other people could also make a living out of it.
You would have to take on massive corporations and first somehow convince them shipping their "garbage" over great distances to feed the hungry is worthwhile practice.
Things like meat products that have been on display would have to be frozen. Bread as well. Canned goods that have defects in the container can spoil sooner than a pristine can.
By the time this food does get to the mouths it should be in, it could become incredibly costly. If you did manage to find a way to get this "garbage" food to the needy, you will have changed the world.
It's very true though, unfortunately. I'm sure there are many resources out there that can help provide evidence. It's nearly one third of all food, and it goes in the garbage. I feel everyone on this planet deserves to know this.
I do not have these answers, Jibrill. Corporate food wastage is widespread. Contacting people in charge of places like Walmart and getting straight answers would be about as easy as calling up the Prime Minister of Canada for small talk. The society here is a slave to the regulations put in place in regards to food safety. It is beyond my capacity. I cannot even tell you where to begin but I suppose creating awareness would be the first step. The blame can't be fully placed on any one person or one company. Taking something like this on is a huge undertaking.
If these people put a label on something and if this label dictates when something will spoil, they don't have the mental capacity to see beyond the label. They could lose their job if they start applying common sense to their day to day activities. It's hard to bend those kind of people. There's no easy answer, I do not even know where to begin. How can I, or you, or anyone convince an entire culture that there's nothing wrong with buying 11 eggs even though the carton says 12. There are people in this world with entitlement issues. If their carton says 12 eggs but there are only 11 eggs inside when they get home, they will feel like someone has stolen something from them. They will feel mislead. They will pout and call the store. The store will make a rule. The rule will be void of rational thought process. All will follow the rules. This is unfortunately part of the reality of the situation as well.
I don't really know what to say. I can't tell you for certain where to begin.
I'm just thinking. where do I start from, who do I talk to, and will they listen to me? I am ready to try but I will need some guidance as to where to start from.
Please can I rely on you for this?...... without your guidance, I may not be able to start anything.
wow! thanks for writing these kind remarks.... I really appreciate them :)