Do not waste food.

I was having lunch this afternoon and suddenly thought of this Chinese poem that was taught to me by my mother when I was a child.

锄禾日当午，[chu2 he2 ri4 dang1 wu3]
汗滴禾下土，[han4 di1 he2 xia4 tu3]
谁知盘中餐，[she(u)i2 zhi1 pan2 zhong1 can1]
粒粒皆辛苦。 [li4 li4 jie1 xin1 ku3]

I tried my very best to translate the poem directly. Please pardon my poor English translation:

Planting grains using hoe in the mid-day heat,
Perspiration dripping into the earth beneath,
Who would know the grains on their plates,
Every single grain comes with hard work.

The above is a poem by Tang Dynasty poet, Li Shen (李绅).  

The poem describes the hardship experienced by farmers during the process of growing grains. But the people who are eating the cooked rice on their dining plates may not know the hardship that farmers had gone through before the grains are harvested, cooked and served to them. And thus, do not appreciate the cooked rice on their plates.

Image credit: www.yesgood.com.tw

I would like to take this opportunity to urge everyone not to waste food. Parents, please teach your child/children not to waste food unnecessarily. Food does not come easily and there are many countries that are suffering from famine as I typed out this post. Please remember that every grain of rice on your plate does not come easy.

Please help to inculcate this virtue to your offspring(s) and make sure it gets passed down.




Tags: food wastage, do not waste food, tang dynasty poet li shen, famine