Opinion: After the dinner, what?

Monday night my husband and I joined 200-some other people at the Wake Forest Renaissance Centre for the 2020 State of the Town Address & Dinner starring Mayor Vivian Jones, who delivered a thoughtful, thought-provoking speech.

She started by harking back 100 years to the 1920s when women finally got the vote, there was new mass production and labor-saving appliances. “The more I looked at the 1920s, the more I realized we have come full circle. We are certainly in a time now of unprecedented social change.”  She went on to talk about the upcoming changes worldwide, nationwide and right here in Wake Forest, then to boast a little about the new senior center, the Joyner Park Community Center and the aquatic center. Jones urged people to be kind to each other and, finally, she talked about volunteering. “You vote in elections once a year but when you volunteer you vote every day about the kind of community you want to live in.”

The tables were beautiful with tall floral arrangements by Wake Forest Florist. The Heritage High School Jazz Ensemble played, all the visiting dignitaries were introduced, Cannon Catering served the meal with chicken, pork, green beans, pasta and desserts. Our salads were already at the tables when we arrived.

Then it was time to pack up and leave, and we discovered that all the plates, utensils and food scraps were going into the trash. Everything. Bags and bags of garbage. What a shame, someone at our table said. We are trying to cut down on waste and look at this.

It was a sobering look at waste. I am sure the health department requires – and should – that food left on the serving tables after the guests and then the catering staff are fed is thrown out. I understand that.

But why, at our own Renaissance Centre – think about the meaning of renaissance – do we still have plastic throw-away plates, forks, spoons and knives? The town is considering not spending taxpayer money on plastic bottles of water for events and substituting water stations with recyclable paper cups.

Serviceable plates and utensils are reused every day at every restaurant in town – used, washed and sanitized and reused. Why not require that caterers who provide the food at Renaissance Centre must use reusable plates and utensils?

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