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Research has shown that giving stimulates "feel good" chemicals in the brain.  I consider this to be like the giver receiving more than he/she gave so by all means give a lot and let yourself feel the reward you'll receive.

Where I live we have an organized group that collects food products once a week from grocery stores. These are items about to expire or be thrown away such as produce that will become too ripe within the next few days, etc.  The stores guarantee their freshness for 48 hours after they donate the food stuffs.

These are taken to a local church that has donated space for people to come to get food.  There is a limit of 2 bags of food per family.  There is no registration, papers to fill out, income guidelines, etc.  Anyone that wants/needs food is welcome.  No questions asked.

This is run strictly by volunteers and has helped many people to have fresh vegetables for their meals.

PM me if anyone is interested in learning about how to start something like this in their community.  There are many other sources for fresh foods such as excess garden produce and restaurants. 

In my opinion there is no good reason for anyone to be hungry or not have good healthy food to eat.

Thanks for posting Gweexldax!   

Kathy

being raised in a poor family I understand the need. It never felt good to have to go and pick up food from the food bank or the look from others when I went to school in old used clothing. Clildhood ego is a funny thing. I gladly excepted the stale bread, over ripe fruit, canned good that were out dated and unwanted by others. Now as an adult and no longer living in that situation, I give, mostly to the Salvation Army who came more than once to my aid. There were years when the only gift I receaved at Christmas was the one gift that they gave to me. When I go to the store I see the fruit and veg that is sold it always amazes me. Its mostly unripend and gased or dyed to look the "right" way. So we buy it. When you go to a third world country the fruit is full colored and ripe. To us here with our consume, consume, mentality and it has to be perfect ideas, we waste the best. So at least the most needy of us are getting fed. There is nothing wrong with ripe or bruised fruit or veg. At some point, not that far in the future, we will be happy to have any of it. Food having a higher and higher demand for it is only going to get more expensive and harder to find. Its time again for everone to dig deep into their pockets and come up with a few bucks to help those who need it. Of course its necessary all the time and not just at Christmas. I have a points card that I collect points on for shopping at a ...brb... grocery store. You know... you can use the points to get a free gift for yourself or a free turkey. This year that free turkey is going to the food bank. I hope there will be other here who, if they have the means, to do the same thing. I know we all get tired of the hand thats always out for something but if you got, why not give.
Just a thought.( and a wish)
Joe  

Lights of Love wrote on Oct 25^th, 2007 at 7:42pm:


Kathy, i more than understand the above.  I worked in the produce section of a grocery store.   In that case, sometimes we sold food which i thought we probably shouldn't, at least not for the prices being charged.  Food, especially vegetables quickly lose their vitamin and vitality values when even slightly old.   See, i'm not just concerned with people's bellies being full, but also hopefully we could work more towards universal good health which is a major issue in the U.S. and in also in many other developed countries which have 'plenty'.   

  The entire food system in this country needs a major overhaul, and more locally produced, small farm foods encouraged.   This is why i buy almost completely organically, and whenever i can, i try to buy more more local and/or small farm produced stuff. 

  I've also done volunteer work involving food and so again, i'm more than aware of what goes on. 

  What struck me about the above, is a larger/broader spiritual issue that i've been pondering about a lot lately...   How so many, even those of us inclined to service, good works, etc. like the group you mentioned in the above, well we give of self, but only so much.   I mean, if we truly cared about others as much as self, wouldn't we go the extra steps beyond distributing food that most in our country wouldn't eat (i'm not saying that this wasteful attitude is right either), to actually providing the same quality of food that we ourselves enjoy, perhaps even super fresh, organic, etc. type foods?  Yeah, i know these cost more, but isn't every human worth it?

  Maybe i am too much of an idealist, but there is a part of me, which knows that to reach full attunement to Source reality, you have to live completely for others like Yeshua did, and i've been struggling with that concept lately since i work so much lately and seem to have so little time to myself for "leisure".   Part of me resents this busyness and having "less time for myself" than i'm used to having, and yet another part of me knows that complete service is the true and only way to lasting happiness.   I ask myself, could i be like Yeshua and give it all up and totally lose self in service with NO thought of material compensation?   It's almost a scary thought because it makes the ego quiver, and sometimes i just don't want to think about it, because of the conflict of what i am doing as compared to what i know i could be, or should be doing.   

  So, my reply wasn't as narrow at it may have seemed to you, nor as 'faultfinding' or ignorant as you may have thought.   It just reminded me of my own issues, because i see the same in others, and in society at large to various degrees.   Very few of us, so very few are willing to go it ALL THE WAY, and i oft wonder about why that is.   It seems like most of us or maybe even the huge majority, just give a little here and there (like in the song The Rebel Jesus by Jackson Browne).  I mean, look at the person that Monroe met in the account in Ultimate Journey, the some 1800 year old "He/She" who worked many, many jobs in their physical linear time and said they do so because they liked people.... 
Anyways, as i said earlier, i think it is a good thing that you all doing and inspires me to get back into that kind of stuff again.   I sometimes do extra, unpaid work for my current job (i do in home support with children and adults who have mental and physical issues), and while i sometimes complain i have no time to myself, in truth there is much more i could be doing for others if the little self wasn't so strong so consistently.    I oft think i spend too much unnecessary and ultimately fruitless/meaningless time on the I-net, either reading about things or writing.  Sure, i may read and write about spiritual issues..and maybe occasionally it is helpful for somebody, but i have a nagging thought/feeling in the back of my mind that there are betters ways to spend my "leisure" time.

hawkeye wrote on Oct 26^th, 2007 at 3:43pm:


Hi Joe, i will try to explain better.  We could go REALLY indepth into all this, but i will try to keep it brief.   The moment a living plant, or what not, gets plucked from the ground, it's vitality, its life force starts to dissipate.  This is seen partially in its enzymatic content both decreasing yet conversely becoming more active, but its mostly a nonphysical energy thing. 

  Particularly the healthiest vegetables, those really easy to digest, to assimilate the nutrients, and which have decent amounts of nutrients to begin, such as Romain lettuce for example start to lose their food values quickly.  Ideally, for maximum health, these should be eaten within the first two days of being picked.    By the time it starts to wilt, both life force and vitamin wise, it's practically worthless though of course it is still better than eating processed and completely dead foods, such as the average american almost entirely subsists off of.  Some, harder veggies don't lose their vitamin etc. content as quickly, but conversely these tend to be harder to digest to begin with such as carrots or broccoli, and so for maximum health benefit these need to be either lightly cooked, or juiced.  Cooking of course, tends to decrease the life force energy of a food, though in some cases makes the vitamins and minerals easier to assimilate.

  Fruit is a little different, it needs a certain amount of ripening (active enzymic conversion) for it to be well digested and assimilated in the human body, but even these should not be eaten over ripe for maximum health.   Actually the best fruit is that which is vine or tree ripened, and you rarely find this in any food store--even organic/natural health food stores.  Some claim vine ripened tomatoes, but that usually means that they have a part of vine attached to it when plucked unripe--not the same thing as letting it ripen completely on the completely alive vine.  Truly vine ripened foods will contain much more life force, more vitamin and mineral contents, etc.  There are so many layers to health and diet, that i would have to write at least 3 fairly long books to go completely into it. 
But generally speaking, the fresher the better.   The more live foods one consumes, the more alive the body-physical will be, its like attracts and begets like principle in operation.   

  As Rosie's guides so well oultined in her book Cosmic Journeys, those who are of a more dead and slow vibrating consciousness, will be attracted in an outer manner to that which both facilitates and also is dead and more slow vibrating in nature, in their foods (particularly large quantities of the denser meats like pork and beef), relationships, etc.  Those who are vibrantly alive and fast vibrating within, tend to be attracted to alive and fast vibrating foods, etc. on the outside.    Get fast enough vibrating and loving enough within, and you won't even need food anymore like "He/She" in Bob's book Ultimate Journey.   
  It is also better and more healthy to eat foods grown locally, beyond the obvious reasons of shipping time considerations, less pollution for the earth, etc.   This is because this harmonizes the body-physical vibrations, with the vibrations of its immediate environ.   


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  I agree that percentage of organically labeled foods, are not all that organic, and probably not much better than some conventionally labeled foods.   Its pretty relative, and a case by case issue.   

  However, there have been enough studies into pesticide residue levels, as found in both foods and in HUMANS, between organic labeled and conventionally labeled foods, to show that there IS a significant difference on average.    One study i read about, took urine samples from various children, some children whose family ate mostly healthy and organic foods, and others in family's with more typical diets.    The former showed a much lower pesticide residue in their urine.    As mentioned, generally when randomly tested, the same type of foods, but the organic versions usually showed less levels of pesticide and other nasty stuff. 

  Other tests show that on average, organic foods tend to have a slightly higher ratio and variety of mineral content.   I'm curious as to whether or not you buy organic because of your above assertions?

  So, while some organic isn't much better than conventional, it's still usually BETTER, and in this world we oft have to go with the lesser of destructive influences.    The best organic stuff, is usually locally produced by small farms run by people who really care about the environment and people's health.   And beyond that, the best and healthiest foods are produced by those farmers with faster vibrating and more positive inner energies, for everything potentially influences everything else.   A farmer who oft enjoys a good belly laugh, jokes or smiles often, and is kind to others will do more for his crop than the one who pays out tons of money for tons of crap, but who has a sour attitude towards life and others. 

  Oh, i've been "sold" alright, just not by any of the earthy, distorted vibrations.

My grandfather had an organic garden. He never used poisons, because he loved his children, and animals. He used compost for fertilizer, and picked the insects from the plants BY HAND, and fed them to his chickens. They produced manure, and that was allowed to dry up, mixed with straw, and kitchen refuse (grandmothers veggie peelings, eggshells, etc). He added leaves, and some wood ash. His compost was legendary in the neighborhood. He grew sunflowers that reached 13 feet, and bent from the weight of the seed laden flower. We had raspberries, strawberries, potatoes, tomatoes, corn, green beans, carrots, etc.  If he ever had an aphid infestation, he blasted the critters with some diluted soap and ice water. I will gladly pay xtra for veggies without chemicals. Why line the pockets of Corporate Chemists ? They have never had one of grandpop's red rasberries. But I have, and they won't get my cash.

  Thank you for sharing that about your Grandfather, Gweexldax, he sounds like a man who was really intune with nature and nature forces.   We all eventually will have to go back to such ways as that in the not so far future, if we want to survive and prosper in this plane.