the beans & rice idea

ross and i went out of town this weekend, down to kemah, tx where we are getting married. we met with our wedding lady and the baker and the florist and the candlestick maker. just kidding, we didnt meet with the candlestick maker. after our busy day friday, we at at ninfas mexican restaurant. i guess we were thinking about it because we ate out a lot this weekend, but it seems rather disgusting if you dwell on the amount of food wasted at restaurants. at mexican restaurants its seems there's the obligatory rice and beans on the side of the meal, not to mention the whole bucket of tortillas. this is not a bad idea except that your meal has so much other food that one could not possibly need also the rice, beans, and 4 extra tortillas! it seems sad that a large portion of the world actually lives on just the sides....rice & beans. therefore, i'd like to see what it'd look like for american restaurants to stop serving the sides. take that food saved and $1 per entree and give it to a distribution agency to get that food to africa or other places battling malnourishment. i haven't done any calculations, but just in texas alone, i'm thinking....thats a lot of rice & beans that are otherwise thrown away!