Will Work For Fruit
One of the things I love most about New York are all the bizarre and interesting things you can see in one day. I've been to a lot of places in the world and I can safely say that New York City pretty much wins the prize for most highly concentrated area for the unusual.
I was on the N train last night heading into Manhattan. A tanned man got on at the Queensborough stop and propped himself against the door in front of me. He looked like he had just broken out of prison. He was dirty, especially his hands. He also had a faded tattoo of a rose on his hand and a really intense looking scar that ran down the entire length of his forearm. Yet, by far, the most interesting thing about this man was the fact that he was using those beat-up, dirty hands to work on a Rubik's Cube, of which he solved right before my very eyes! I almost applauded him, but stopped myself before I could make a scene. He didn't even seem proud of himself when he solved what I consider the most frustrating mind-bender in the world. He just sort of had this look on his face like 'yep, another cube solved.'
...but the fun didn't stop there. As I was walking down 23rd Street, I noticed a homeless man leaning up against one of the buildings with a typical 'I am homeless, give me money' sign. Usually they have a Styrofoam coffee cup or something to catch all the loose change that I am sure gets thrown their way, but this guy had an empty can of Pirouette Wafers. This got me thinking about the cost of food today. Obviously, if you are homeless and begging for money, you don't have a lot to spend on food. We live in a country where fresh fruits and vegetables, by far, cost much more than than a bag of potato chips, cookies, or any chain fast food restaurant (check out this interesting article in Newsweek). This really bothers me!
So there I was starring at this homeless man, thinking about what I would do if I were him. How could I adhere to a Raw Food lifestyle if I were homeless and didn't have the financial means to back up my diet? Granted, there are ways to cut the inflated cost of fruits and vegetables by growing your own herbs or maintaining a vegetable garden, but this too can be tricky when your only space to grow these things is a fire-escape.
You would probably find me begging for apples at the farmers market, running after a collard green that had fallen out of someone's Whole Foods bag, or holding a sign up which reads "Will Work for Fruit!"
I was on the N train last night heading into Manhattan. A tanned man got on at the Queensborough stop and propped himself against the door in front of me. He looked like he had just broken out of prison. He was dirty, especially his hands. He also had a faded tattoo of a rose on his hand and a really intense looking scar that ran down the entire length of his forearm. Yet, by far, the most interesting thing about this man was the fact that he was using those beat-up, dirty hands to work on a Rubik's Cube, of which he solved right before my very eyes! I almost applauded him, but stopped myself before I could make a scene. He didn't even seem proud of himself when he solved what I consider the most frustrating mind-bender in the world. He just sort of had this look on his face like 'yep, another cube solved.'
...but the fun didn't stop there. As I was walking down 23rd Street, I noticed a homeless man leaning up against one of the buildings with a typical 'I am homeless, give me money' sign. Usually they have a Styrofoam coffee cup or something to catch all the loose change that I am sure gets thrown their way, but this guy had an empty can of Pirouette Wafers. This got me thinking about the cost of food today. Obviously, if you are homeless and begging for money, you don't have a lot to spend on food. We live in a country where fresh fruits and vegetables, by far, cost much more than than a bag of potato chips, cookies, or any chain fast food restaurant (check out this interesting article in Newsweek). This really bothers me!
So there I was starring at this homeless man, thinking about what I would do if I were him. How could I adhere to a Raw Food lifestyle if I were homeless and didn't have the financial means to back up my diet? Granted, there are ways to cut the inflated cost of fruits and vegetables by growing your own herbs or maintaining a vegetable garden, but this too can be tricky when your only space to grow these things is a fire-escape.
You would probably find me begging for apples at the farmers market, running after a collard green that had fallen out of someone's Whole Foods bag, or holding a sign up which reads "Will Work for Fruit!"
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