Hunger Is Not a Disease

Hungry People

When an economy tanks, hungry people find the food pantry.   The tanked economy of 2008 has been referred to many times in the past few days on the news.  References to past broken economies  are made every day.

The situation is very different this time, but for the  hungry people, the situation  is the same.

In 2008, New York got with the program quickly, it seemed. The Hunger Prevention Nutrition Assistance Program people handed down guidelines mandating specific foods for the pantry room.  Produce, whole-grain bread, eggs, dairy products appeared on the shelves.  Crowds and an ever-lengthening hallway line became the norm.

In Woodstock, the pantry attracted several hundred hungry people to its basement room every pantry day.  The line formed outside the door at 1:00 for the 3:00 opening, regardless of the weather.  Hungry people who visited the pantry a week ago and took home groceries, would today be out of food and need more.

Today, in 2020, some pantries are closed.  That puts even more pressure on the pantries that are open.  Food pantry volunteers are not only serving more and more hungry people because of the layoffs of the pandemic.  They are also serving people who shopped at the now-closed pantries.

When people live close to the edge,  they have no reliable cushion.   They’ve lived in a situation where they make choices every day:  food or medicine, food or rent, food or gas.  Now, when the coronavirus strikes, they have no either/or choices.

Food pantry volunteers take precautions.  They take temperatures as volunteers enter the pantry.  Volunteers wash hands repeatedly and  adhere to the six-foot social distancing guidelines.

But the need for food is not imaginary.

Volunteers are realistic.  They can’t kid themselves into believing nothing will happen to them because they feed  hungry people.  They know they’re taking chances.  They also know they are doing a needed job.  For many volunteers, it’s something they need to do.

There are no words for this feeling.

I have a small thank-you gift for you.  All you have to do is email your name and mailing address to me at thurmangreco@gmail.com and I’ll send you, free of charge, with no strings attached, a small book about a food pantry I used to work in – “Miracles”.

Thank you for all you do…not only for volunteering in a food pantry but also for shopping at a food pantry.  Your actions are courageous.  Following your inner moral compass is also courageous.

Please refer this article to your preferred social media network.

Thurman Greco

 

 

Food Pantries are the first line of defense against hunger.

The truth is that food pantries are not perfect.  Not anywhere near perfect, actually.  And, they never will be.  How can they be near perfect when there is often not enough food in the pantry to feed the many people shopping there?

But, they get to be as near to perfection as they do because the people who work in them are often retired, elderly volunteers who really care and have the time to put in extra effort.

And, how can they be perfect when the food is mostly donated food that was on its way to the landfill before some enterprising person snapped it up for the hungry people in the line?

And, the truth is that food pantries, to a certain extent, are neighbors helping neighbors.  This is a wonderful attitude.

The positive energy is exhibited in this sharing wonderful world, indeed.  Without these wonderful people and their generous attitudes, people would be starving in this great nation of ours.  Food pantries are our first line of defense against hunger.

But, often these food pantries which depend to a great extent on the generosity of individuals simply don’t have enough food.  Insufficient is the word used.

Because there is little oversight, there is little control.  So, a person shopping at a pantry may get enough to eat or may not.  The quality of the food has little oversight.  So, the person shopping may be getting food which is all out-of-date, or which is food which cannot be eaten by the person needing the food.

An example of this is the person without teeth.  People without teeth are very restricted in what they can take because they can’t chew many foods.

Another example is the diabetic person who can only eat certain types of food without health problems.

And, all quality issues aside, there may simply be insufficient food in the pantry to feed the number of people shopping even though a pantry is the first line of defense against hunger.

Personally, in the Good Neighbor Food Pantry, I had a morning when I ran out of food.  I simply didn’t have enough food to give to the people.  This was an experience I’ll never forget.

Finally, the Hunger Prevention Nutrition Assistance Program people sent down guidelines requiring that pantries serve a three-day-supply of food for each person in the household.  HPNAP guidelines required that pantries serve fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables.  Pantries were asked to serve whole grain breads and low-fat milk.

This was a wonderful thing which I applauded enthusiastically when I learned about the guideline.  However, it was challenging to the many pantries without freezers and refrigerators.

The truth is that pantries everywhere simply don’t have enough food to meet the demand.

What can we do about this?  For starters, we can realize that pantries are our first line of defense against hunger in this country.

Then, we can follow up this realization with food donations throughout the year.

One can of something every week helps over time.  Find a pantry and give to help those in need.  Do you plant a garden in the summer?  Add a row for your pantry!

Thank you for what you are doing for those in need.

Let’s Celebrate National Farmer’s Week – August 2 to 9

 

 

CucumbersNational Farmers Market Week begins Sunday.  If you can, please take a moment this week to thank  local farmers  for the great food they provide our communities.  Thank them  also for the  support we see  at food pantries everywhere.

They do this as a project of the recently begun Farm Stand concept, the brainchild of Jan Whitman and Ron VanWarmer.  Jan, Ron, and Carrie Jones Ross worked together to create farm stands in pantries throughout the Hudson Valley where the hungry  shop for fresh produce at a price they can afford:  free.

I visited 2 Farm Stands in Kingston, New York, recently.  One is located at People’s Place and the other at Community Action.  What an event Jan, Ron, and Carrie put together!   Excited, happy shoppers choose from:

tomatoes

potatoes

onions

squashes

greens

grapes

oranges

apples.

By focusing on feeding the struggling class, one person at a time, the hungry are being fed and the lives of thousands are touched.  All  Farm Stand food is donated by farmers.  No local merchant is losing a sale by not seeing  customers in a supermarket line because these people don’t have the income to buy any of the food.

The growing Farm Stand concept offers an opportunity to move the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley into the future at breakneck speed.

In addition to the Farm Stand donations, food pantries throughout our area receive hundreds of thousands of pounds of fresh, nutritious, delicious food each year from local farms.  Much of it  is organic.

On the individual pantry front, Migliorelli Farm donates fresh produce weekly to our pantry year round.  Greenleaf Farm Stand donates produce to volunteers who drop by before the pantry opens every Monday.

Prasida and Francine drive the  pantry van to the Regional Food Bank in Latham weekly to pick up fresh produce donated from Hudson Valley Farms.

The Regional Food Bank owns the Patroon Farm which  grows organic vegetables. Their crops all go to the food pantries and soup kitchens throughout our area.

The generosity offered by farmers and local pantry volunteers makes  pantry distribution a reality.  Those who selflessly share their time make our mission a success.  Without the dedication and generosity of our farmers, where would be be?

http://www.ChooseMyPlate.gov

http://www.foodbankofhudsonvalley.org

http://www.regionalfoodbank.new/farm/overview

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Thurman greco