How We Celebrate Earth Day Here in Texas

I was up at Spring Creek Elementary School yesterday when the principal made an announcment over the loud speaker that Thursday was Earth Day and consequently the cafeteria would be serving cold food.  I was in the library but I could hear the collective groan of all of the kids.  Were they groaning that it was Earth Day or that there would be cold food?  The cafeteria's lunch offering on Earth Day would be cold deli sandwiches.  Okay, the last time I checked, the bread had to be baked somewhere, sometime. If the purpose is to focus on saving energy by not cooking food, does it matter if the food was cooked a few days before?  The deli meat for the sandwiches also had to be cooked, then refrigerated.  It all had to be transported to the school.  Then the items had to be refrigerated once they arrived at the school.  This all takes energy.  Does refraining from reheating already cooked food qualify as an effort for Earth Day?

If you really want to tune yourself into the earth try planting a garden and feeding your family something freshly grown every day.  I know it is early spring, so to follow my own advice I am going to have to harvest some of my herbs.  Tacos with really fresh cilantro.  Now, that is my idea of an Earth Day menu.  Or, if you are really a purist, you could just open the back door and let the kids graze on the fresh spring grass. Just kidding.

Joe made the announcement this morning that he was not going to buy lunch today.  He says this everyday.  He then asked if I could bring him a fast food lunch.  He asks that everyday.  The answer is always the same, " Joe, you really don't need fast food.  That is contrary to your goal of not getting fatter."  So he packed some lunchmeat, crackers, fruit, and cheese in his lunch.  According to the standard set by the RISD Child Nutrition Department, we celebrate Earth Day everyday and we didn't even know it.