Most news is "news" because it's bad news so, during this holiday season, it's heartwarming to read stories like this one -- about a non-profit group that saves leftover food from NYC restaurants and supermarkets and literally delivers it to homeless shelters and food kitchens.
At first, when I read this story, my cynicism was activated: oh great, another story of a tech start-up that's "doing good" by scraping literal crumbs off the table for the poor, yet another example of our weak social safety net being substituted by a well-intentioned but inadequately resourced charity, yet glaring another example of our broader societal failure to take care of the least amongst us.
The failures of our collective societal action remains but, as I kept reading this story, my cynicism gave way to admiration. There really is a lot of food waste everywhere, it's basically an unavoidable problem, so the fact that these people are transforming leftovers into literal meals for the destitute -- and doing it with great speed and efficiency -- is an amazing thing.
If only we could get this kind of ingenuity into our government, and if only our society and policies were this generous, our country and our world would be a better place. At least here in NYC we're giving it an admirable try, one saved meal at a time.
The name of the organization is Rescuing Leftover Cuisine and here's a talk the founder gave at Google earlier this year.
The name of the organization is Rescuing Leftover Cuisine and here's a talk the founder gave at Google earlier this year.
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