Why I'm Thankful For Rotting Food
Have you ever heard that food from McDonald’s doesn’t rot or mold?
Well, it turns out, that’s not entirely true.
However, the list of ingredients leave something to be desired. Beyond the fact that the buns alone are made of an assortment of questionable ingredients (from enriched flour to ammonium chloride), fast-food and quick-service restaurants are generally not known for being healthy. Even the seemingly healthy options may not be all that healthy. Regardless, most people are aware of this. From the headlines stating that fast-food is unhealthy to popular documentaries like Food, Inc. that make a compelling case for full-blown veganism, these facts are usually buried under a healthy heap of cognitive dissonance; people usually eat fast-food because it’s quick, cheap and generally tastes decent. I know I’m certainly guilty of it.
However, I try not to forget how much I love rotting fruit.
Yes, that’s correct. To be clear, I don’t eat rotting fruit. That would be gross. However, when I open my fruit and vegetable drawer in my refrigerator and see that something has gone bad, I don’t immediately get mad. Most people, understandably, are frustrated. They spent money on this food and now it’s gone bad. It’s seemingly a waste of money and a waste of food. This is a problem for many Americans, and it’s a growing issue given how much food is wasted every single day in America and around the world.
However, I would argue that rotting food is good. Sure, it’s frustrating when you spent $5 on a container of strawberries only to see them rotting in your fridge two days later. However, rotting food is also good because it’s a small, straight-forward reminder that real food rots. This berry, this single berry that was grown at length and picked by hand in a field in Mexico, and then packed and shipped north and placed on a shelf at a local grocery store, is nothing short of a kind of miracle. Sure, the science of agriculture is pretty straight-forward and it’s not at all miraculous. But the fact that this food exists, that we have the luck to be here on this planet for up to 100 years to enjoy these little plants, is a beautiful thing.
Real food rots. Fake food does not. You’ll notice that the bag of Doritos you left open in the cabinet and then forgot about for 9 months is still quite edible. The chips are stale and unappealing, but you don’t find any rot or mold or even much evidence or decomposition on them. Strawberries? There wouldn’t even be much of a sign of them existing if you left them in a cabinet for 9 months. Even better, these fruits and vegetables that have gone bad can be added to a decomposition bin or pile and later used to grow MORE fruits and vegetables. That’s so exciting to me, to be a part of this cycle of growth and life and death.
No doubt, rotting fruits and vegetables are annoying when you’ve thought about chowing down on some fresh grapes all day only to find them rotting when you get home. Surely the energy and water it took to grow and then transport and house those berries are wasted if they’re not eaten. But it’s not all bad.
Rotting food is a reminder that everything alive today with one day be rotting, and it’s a necessary and beautiful part of empowering the next generation to grow and live.
“Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food.”
-Hippocrates