Growing up on a
farm I have a sense of what feeding the world means. I have seen the labor that
goes into planting, growing, and harvesting the raw products but usually don't get
see the aftermath of processing, packaging and selling. Last week I had a
chance to work at the Second Harvest Mobile Food Pantry for the first time.
Always on the list,
but never getting crossed-off, I have had images of what working at a food
pantry would be like. Consider me naive, but I couldn't help the Hollywood-embraced
images of a diverse, unclean group of people flashed in my head as I rode in
the van to Second Harvest.
After setting out
the donated items, a steady stream of people worked their way through the
blustery rain and biting cold. As the people packed their soggy cardboard boxes
and carts and as I restocked the supply of potatoes and onions I couldn't help
but take a moment to think about how much I overlook food.
Even being emerged
in agriculture I don't always take time to think about how fortunate I am to
have a steady food supply available to me. Americans only spend 10 percent of
their income annually on food. That is quite remarkable considering other
countries' percentages.
While I pondered my
food gratitude I watched a woman decline the organic milk she was offered. At
the same time a man rummaged through the potato bin in search of the red ones
because he didn't care for the regular baking ones. After we finished the
volunteers who had been on the other side of the bus said the ham and salami
were the meat variety that "no one seemed to want".
I enjoyed
volunteering at the Food Pantry. I really do like helping people who need it.
It fascinated me though that even in a Food Pantry line there were choices for
what kind of food people could choose to eat. I guess in a way it’s ironic. A
good problem to have in the U.S.; choices in your food no matter your income.
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