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So fat they're dripping
It would hardly be an exaggeration to describe them as fat. In fact, it might be an understatement. The four of them lined up along the side of the swimming baths, their ample bodies clad in lycra, stretched almost to breaking point, like Sumu wrestlers about to pounce. I feared that if they all jumped into the water at once the resultant tsunami would sweep into the adjoining beginners' pool and carry away the mothers and toddlers who were playing there.
The sad thing was that these were no matrons, grown large upon a diet of fish and chips and too much pasta, washed down with yards of ale, but young girls who seemed to have overindulged in pan fried pizzas with a double helping of topping. It brought to mind a conversation with a lady who had entertained a group of American youths for a week. They had piled their plates so high that she ran out of food after three days and had to completely restock her larder.
A week away from home proved to me how difficult it is to eat out frugally. Everything in the shops seemed to consist largely of lard and onions, and the soup most commonly available was that proprietary brand that looks like a pint of blood and tastes like a bag of sugar. Short of buying a small cabbage and eating it raw, there was nothing which would not increase the waist-line by several inches per mouthful.
This year our farming industry has been hit by a plague of almost biblical proportions yet we still manage to import enough food to satisfy our craving for lashings of everything. As Harvest Thanksgiving time approaches, perhaps we, as Christians, should look at the Old Testament instructions in Mosaic Law about sharing our bounty with the poor and the destitute. We already try to give our harvest gifts to those who really have need of them and there are plenty of those. The rising tide of economic migrants shows that there is a desperate need for food in the world beyond the boundaries of our own cushioned existence. There are those within our own parish, let alone abroad, who have inadequate diets but the number of people in Scarborough seen stuffing their faces in public with a calorie laden stodge demonstrates that they are far from our minds.
God bless you all, Fr Allan.
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