Our children are addicted to junk food. Such is its appeal that even the old are equally attracted to it. Obviously it has low nutritional value. Parents keep asking their children to not make this a habit – but how many parents succeed? Children seldom realize how privileged they are in being able to consume this food every now and then.

Now consider another scenario: Garbage cans outside houses, garbage cans at public places and garbage dumps outside cities have some frequent visitors. These visitors are poor children who look for bits and pieces of left-over food in garbage, collect it in bags and then go back home to eat it. This is “junk food” for them – i.e. food obtained from junk and garbage. So heart rending is this sight that one can seldom withhold one’s tears.

On the one hand is junk food that our children eat and on the other junk food which some other children eat. Both are eating junk food in their own ways.

Let us try to acquaint our children with this second type of junk food as well – to make them realize how thankful to God they should be. In the blink of an eye, they can be off to buy junk food of their choice. Yet have they ever thought of the junk food their contemporaries may be eating from garbage cans?

Maybe this can make them share their food with them and also make them cut down this habit by realizing the plight of their brothers.