As originally published in the April 12 issue of The Mountain-Ear newspaper.

Serene Karplus, Nederland.

We don’t live in the past, but the adage “those who don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it” bears consideration. As we watch dictators at home and abroad monitor our posts and track our political opinions for some undefined future need, we begin the cycle of acceptance and powerlessness that made entire nations complicit with the murders of millions of intelligent, talented, loving people. When we shrug and say we don’t know how to stop it, we set ourselves up to stand by in fear as “they” haul away friends and neighbors to unknown destinies.

Please do not assume that this can’t happen in our big melting pot “land of the free”. Honest, hardworking Germans who didn’t hate anybody didn’t realize what was happening around them 80 years ago, either. We can’t turn back the clock and bring back entire families that were wiped out, but we can remember what happened, what shifted slowly in the decade prior, what were the warning signs that ordinary folks ignored.

Thursday, April 12, is National Holocaust Remembrance Day. Today, my 92-year-old father and I travel to Regis University in

Denver to present again his story, his experience of Germany prior to his departure at age 13 on the Kindertransport. This volunteer rescue effort, for a 6-month period between Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass) and the day World War II began, saved 10,000 children. As they stepped on trains, young children, some carrying their toddler siblings, waved good-bye to their parents, many forever, as they escaped their increasingly dangerous homelands and headed for the foreign land of England.

Some were welcomed into the arms of strangers, others were abused as child slave labor. They were often the only member of their family who survived.

My father’s story is an upbeat one, relating conditions at the time, but celebrating the lives and success stories of those who made it through those harrowing times. His wish for all is that they deeply feel gratitude for all the good in life, for the opportunity to be here, for children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. His simple greeting daily to strangers on the street is a broad smile with a sparkle in his eyes: “Enjoy!”

Food Waste Awareness

America could completely fill the Rose Bowl Stadium with our food waste every single day, claims Jonathan Bloom in his book “America’s Wasteland”. Some estimate that the average American throws out 300lbs of food each year - or over 38 million tons, over 200 billion dollars, and enough food to feed 190 million adults - while 1/6th (or some estimate 1/8th) of our population goes hungry.

Food waste awareness is not just about trying to save the average American family of four the $1,600 they lose to food waste, it’s about preventing such loss, redistributing unused food, and conserving the planet’s resources.

We use 21-25% of our fresh water resources to growing food, half of which is thrown away (estimates range from 30-60%). The “away” where we throw it is typically landfills, generating 4.4 billion tons of carbon dioxide so that our food waste alone contributes more to global warming than most other countries’ entire pollution equation.

Some of us remember parents telling us to finish the food on our plates because kids in Africa are starving, but we knew we were unlikely to send our plate scrapings to them. We can, however, remember that just because food here is cheap (partially due to governmental subsidies of corn, wheat, milk, and soybeans), doesn’t mean it is worthless.

One of the ways consumers can reduce waste is to buy and consume only what we need and to allow for Nature’s “imperfects,” so growers and grocers don’t have to pitch slightly blemished or misshapen fruit due to our culture of unrealistic cosmetic standards.

While families at home waste 43% of food, another 40% is wasted by the “consumer-facing industries” such as supermarkets and restaurants. The rest is lost at farms and manufacturers. A report a few years ago indicated that France had forbidden markets to throw away food; they must compost it or donate before it expires and Germany was revising expiration dates that cause people to discard still-good food.

We can learn more from organizations online, such as Food Forward or Feeding America. Volunteers in Boulder County have stepped up to host a Food Waste Awareness Week April 16-22, 2018. Sign up now at www.bouldercounty.org/food-waste to receive waste reduction tips, food reuse recipes from area chefs and other food waste messages. They have reached out to us on the west side of the county to include us. Join us as we view the free showing of “Just Eat It” on Monday, April 16, 6:30 p.m. at Nederland Community Center’s Backdoor Theatre.

All ages of adults are welcome at all events, attended mostly by folks over age 50. Sign up for all meals and events at 303-258-0799 or Meetup.com/Mountain-MidLife-Social-Group or by email at NederlandAreaSeniors@gmail.com. Meals are served at the

Nederland Community Center. Please call two days ahead for lunch reservations (more for dinners and breakfasts if possible). Missed the deadline? Call anyway. Costs listed show first the over-age-60 requested anonymous contribution, then the under-age-60 price.