I am not a great fan of takeaway foods or ordering food online or from cloud kitchens. For that matter, I maintain a respectable distance from junk food. Once in a while, indulgence is okay if it is unavoidable.
But it is a different story with the younger generation and among young working couples. For want of time amid busy work schedules under different time zones, or because of the tedious effort of cooking, they opt for food deliveries. Understandable, no doubt. But the pleasure of cooking and eating at home, at least on weekends, is immeasurable. When children too lend a helping hand to their parents in the kitchen and eat together on weekends, that makes a perfect family picture.
Message on a meal box
But that is another story. The other day I visited my son’s residence and I saw empty packaging from the food they ordered the previous night. Nothing wrong with that either. But what I found amusing was the message on the ‘Box8 Desi Meals’ box: ‘Climate change is real. Don’t believe Trump. RECYCLE.’
That was a nice way to hit back at the US President on the climate issue, even while he has been busy slapping trade tariffs on India with the enthusiasm of a customs officer at international airports. Trump’s climate wisdom, after all, is legendary. He believes the whole thing is a Chinese hoax and was probably invented in Wuhan.
America the polluter
The irony is rich. The United States is the biggest climate offender, leaving behind a carbon footprint so large it could be seen from the Hubble telescope. Yet its President dismisses rising seas and melting glaciers with the same ease with which he signs executive orders – usually on Twitter at three in the morning.
Here in India, even a meal delivery service has a sharper sense of responsibility. While Box8 urges its customers to recycle, the White House urges Americans to keep drilling, keep fracking, and keep pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Perhaps one day, climate scientists should put their research not in scientific journals but on pizza boxes. That way, Trump might finally read them right before tossing the box into a landfill.
Junk food, junk policy
Meanwhile, the world is treated to Trump’s buffet of policies that combine the worst of junk food and junk economics. Extra tariffs here, extra emissions there, and a generous topping of denial. All served with the obligatory ketchup of ‘America First’, which leaves the rest of the world to mop up the mess.
The day is not far when rising seas will swallow Miami, hurricanes will treat Florida like a batting pitch, and heatwaves will roast the Midwest like a well-done steak. Trump will still call it ‘fake news’, provided the Wi-Fi in the bunker is working.
If Trump still calls climate change a hoax, let us just say the icebergs are melting faster than his approval ratings.
