Soup Kitchen Reflection

I am very thankful for having had the opportunity to serve at the soup kitchen on Wednesday. I have previously handed out non-perishable goods at food pantries, but I had never gotten the chance to serve at a soup kitchen before going with this class. I was amazed at the work that is put into the whole process. With no government funding, I would never have thought a soup kitchen could last, but the community amazingly pulls together to support one another and provide other community members with free meals, five days a week.

One thing that shocked me while I was serving was the number of children going through the line. We previously talked in class about how families with children are most commonly in poverty, but actually seeing how many kids may be living with food insufficiency is a reality check in comparison to just talking about it. What Bev and the other regular volunteers at the soup kitchen do is a wonderful thing, giving their time to help others who otherwise would go hungry. What they do is very inspirational. If I didn’t normally have class between 10 am and 1 pm, I would love to volunteer at the soup kitchen more often. Hopefully in future semesters I will have a free day or two each week to go lend a hand.

There are definitely points of intersection between gender, class, ethnic/cultural background, power, access, and cultural scripts for food-related behavior. In a small town like Meadville, I don’t think all the intersections at play are nearly as obvious as they would be in a big city like Philadelphia, but it is still clear that those all play a role in it. When I noticed the little kids moving through the line, most of them were with a female adult, whom I assumed to be their mother. Through cultural scripts and gender roles, moms are thought of as being the ones who provide nutrition for their children. As I recently learned in another psychology class, the only aggression that competes on the same level as testosterone-based aggression is maternal aggression. Mothers naturally protect their children in every way possible, and a big part of that is ensuring that they are getting the proper nutrients they need. I think that is why so many kids ended up being there. Their mothers make sure that they are able to eat as many substantial meals as possible, so going to the soup kitchen on weekdays is definitely a helpful way to do so.

Another instance from the soup kitchen that relates here is when I asked a man who appeared to be in his early 20’s if he wanted mashed potatoes, he replied saying that he wanted “the works; that’s how we do it in the sticks.” Poverty is very common in rural areas. By saying that he was from the sticks, he meant that he’s from the country, and he wanted the whole meal. This is another example of how cultural scripts are at play in food-related behavior.

Overall, it was so nice to see how grateful every client was who walked through the line. They all smiled back at me and seemed to really appreciate the free meal. I left with a really good feeling that day. I hope that in the near future I will be able to establish a good way to regularly help people in ways that they cannot help themselves.