Soup Kitchen Reflection

The experience at the soup kitchen was, as usual, a rewarding one.  I had been there before but it was just a reminder that each time you go there it is a unique experience with different people and more to learn and more to appreciate.  I am always so thoroughly impressed with the job Bev does and how it stays up and running with just the volunteering of time and resources by people in the community.  It is truly and wonderful thing.

Trying to draw on trends was pretty tough for me because it seemed like there was a wide variety of people that came in this time.  The demographics that I noticed were elderly men, women with a child or two, and young men.  These were the groups that noticed most often but there was a mix.  It aligns with what we have read about gender influences in the poverty stricken population.  Mothers are usually the food providers, so whatever the situation with the males in the family, the mother is trying to make sure her children are fed adequately.  There was also a wide range of weights/body types that came in ranging from overweight to perhaps a bit underweight.  I took note of this to draw on the Olson article.  It made me question/curious about two things:  1. Wondering what the older people coming in had experienced in their younger life (were they hungry growing up? was their family also in poverty as a child?) and 2. How many of the people that come in are binge-eating meaning is that their only meal of the day and are they eating a lot at that time?  I wondered these things because Olson's article sheds light on a lot of examples of people who were hungry as children very afraid, almost to the point of phobia, of not having adequate food stocked in the home and associate food with many emotional factors like security and comfort.  In addition, binge eating is brought up and an example shows that if one is forced to binge eat due to low food security in early years, it could lead to habits of binge eating later even if the person is food secure.  This could be triggered by emotional factors and could even lead to obesity. 

All these things in mind, every person's situation is unique and different at the soup kitchen.  While trends have been found in populations that are food insecure, it is such a case by case basis.  It is important to call on casual factors thought in order to understand and help reduce food insecurity.  

Helping at the soup kitchen is always a joy and humbling and I am humbled by the people that come in to get food to feed themselves and their families.