I am the John D. Rockefeller of the Caf. Or at least, that’s how I feel as the new month begins.

I now have copious amounts of money left to spend on groceries that I don’t want and definitely don’t need.

As I fly through the days leading up to the end of the month, I am left with so much extra money in my account that I  waste at least half of what I buy.

While I trudge through the lines of swarming, hungry students, I dread the impending feast in which I am forced to participate.

I look around at the poor, starving students surrounding me — who inevitably have used up their monthly budgets — and I wish I could help them. Even when I do offer to buy them food, it’s never enough.

This is why the Caf is like the world.

In the United States alone, 20 pounds of food per person is thrown away every day. That is 40 percent of the food we produce. Considering that close to 15 percent of the people in the United States don’t know where their next meal might come from, the amount of food being wasted is alarming.

If every one of us who has extra money to spend at the end of the month would give to those who have negative balances, then the Caf would function much better. It is the same situation with the United States, as well as the world.

Having worked in a restaurant, it is disgusting to realize how much edible food is thrown into the garbage for no good reason.

If a banana is bruised, if a whole bag of apples is deemed bad because one is rotten, if a carton of eggs is unsellable from one broken egg, if a loaf of bread is thrown away because it is more than a day old, if a cold salad is labeled as spoiled after three days in the fridge, or if a whole, untouched meal at a restaurant is emptied into a dumpster, all of this food is wasted. It could have been saved to feed somebody who hasn’t eaten in days.

Wasting so much food seems to be a huge consequence for a matter as small as keeping business, delivering competitive products, and making money.

But if people are willing to throw away food in the interest of good business, then why do restaurants, grocery stores, and bakeries throw out so much of their product? Even after all the time, energy, and funds to make it? Isn’t that also a waste?

It makes a person wonder how much money they are spending on food that will just become trash.

Obviously, the issues of food waste and world hunger can’t be solved as easily as they can be picked apart. But the problems of excess money and excess food at the end of the month  at Gustavus can be. Something as simple as a food bank would suffice.

Or, if you find yourself out of luck, without a cent to your name or  meal account, and hungry, then hit me up.

Nov. 30 is approaching quickly, and I am John D. Rockefeller, after all.