Volunteering at a soup kitchen is always a humbling
experience. I used to volunteer back home with my family and synagogue, serving
over 70,000 meals this past year. This simple act of serving guests at the soup
kitchen provides an opportunity to treat people with the dignity they deserve
and to give thanks for the gifts we have. It’s also a great reminder that
no matter how down some of us may get during the semester, there are always people
worse off. Plus, volunteering is a great way to relieve the stresses of school
and do a good deed at the same time! During my time on Wednesday I didn’t see
any major differences between the soup kitchen back home and the soup kitchen here
in Meadville other than: the guests in Meadville wore more camouflage attire,
and there were less families present than I had anticipated. I remember we
discussed in class how families with young children were at greater risk for
food insecurity than senior citizens living alone. Similarly, when it comes to
power and cultural scripts, single mothers are often disrespected in our
society. Often times these women work multiple jobs to support their children,
and have little time to prepare a meal themselves or even shop for ingredients.
At the soup kitchen, the children were always seen with an older woman I presumed
to be their mother. Again, as we talked about in class, Fitchen mentions that
food insecurity is not just a biological issue but also a psychological one.
Not being able to provide food for your family on your own has serious mental
health consequences like depression. While everyone was respectful and said
thank you after we served them their food, it was clear that the majority of
our guests were not the happiest campers.
Friday, November 6, 2015
Thursday, November 5, 2015
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.
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Soup Kitchen
Working at the soup kitchen really, really humbled me. It’s
a great reminder that while times can be hard and students can struggle, at
times, with availability and quality at Brooks and McKinley’s – that others
have it worse. It also puts a face to the numbers in our readings, a friendly,
normal face that you might see on the street or out and about and not think anything
of. The stigma of soup kitchens and food insecurity is one of shame in the
modern day United States and it’s really too bad because we’re all just trying
to do our best and at the soup kitchen it didn’t matter what side you were on
or what was being served everyone was just trying to do what was best for them
to keep going. It starts you thinking about how others think and live and it
brings you back to center, I think.
I didn’t notice any major trends in who was coming into the
kitchen either, except that many mothers came in with children alone. This made
me think that they were the primary food provider and that this was probably a
major meal for them and their kids each day. Olson corroborates that many women
of low socioeconomic status that have children are overweight and are more
prone to certain health risks. It seemed like many of the soup kitchen clients
had families, probably worked and struggled in our food insecure society. Supermarkets
aren’t solely to blame for this of course but they make some things inaccessible
and confuse people. As for access, even Nestle – a white, comfortable woman
talks about how it was difficult for her to pick out which blueberries were
cheapest in Ithaca at her supermarket.
As far as power and cultural scripts go food insecure people
had a lot of the same demographic – women and children are often slighted. This
seemed to be that many of the women were single mothers trying to support
several children on one, two or sometimes more jobs. This lead to them not
having much time at all to be home to cook healthy meals or go to the store to
get ingredients or even have enough income at the end of the day to feed their
families. This is what drives people to soup kitchens and EFAP’s (emergency
food assistance program?) oftentimes due to their not really having much more
of an option. This could also have something to do with the fact that men make
more on the dollar still and are more often hired for a position – when similar
qualities are presented.
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
A New Perspective
I volunteer at the soup kitchen pretty regularly, joining the clean-up crew from noon to one on Tuesdays and picking up and dropping of compost buckets at the beginning and end of the week. Cooking and serving, however, gave me very different insights into the soup kitchen, its clients, and its director.
For the past year, I have been hesitant about eating the food at the soup kitchen when I volunteer. For one thing, I am a vegetarian, and the main course almost always has meat in it. But I also fear the quality, the added chemicals, the added salts and sugars looming within. Cooking there, seeing the packages, gave an interesting perspective, confirming some of my fears while dispelling others. I was pleasantly surprised by some of the nutritional value of the "broccoli slaw" we prepared (lots of fiber) which I might have assumed to be nutritionless iceberg lettuce had I not known what it was. At the same time, though, the sauce we put on the slaw was disgustingly fattening, though made it more edible looking. The peaches were soaked in sugar, but the milk had no growth hormones. The biscuits were surprisingly tasty. The beef stew came out of the can.
I have also wondered endlessly about where the food at the soup kitchen comes from. Yesterday, I learned that Bev sources that food from Valesky's because she wants to buy from a local store, asserting that she won't give money to big CEOs at places like Tops, Giant Eagle, or Walmart. Bev, whom I haven't gotten to speak to much in the rush of soup kitchen craziness, became a different person in my eyes this week. While I have often unfairly attributed the problems I see at the soup kitchen to Bv and others not thinking to change routines that have been in place for ages. But what makes me think that Bev hasn't changed things? I haven't been around to see the changes take place. And Bev, with her comment about Valesky's, is certainly thinking about justice beyond simply getting food into people's mouths. Additionally, I overheard Bev complaining about the cabinets in the kitchen, wanting a nicer space, but that she has a difficult time getting grants because she operates out of a church. Maybe if she got more grants, she would be able to improve the quality of the food that she serves.
Or maybe not. Cooking well for that many people takes some time, some knowledge, some planning, and a good work space. With different volunteers coming in and out every day, sometimes in unpredictable numbers, could Bev properly prep people to come in to cook a meal that wasn't from a can? How would she even store the food? Is there even a way for her to be serving fresh vegetables?
I think that the answer might be "yes," but only with a lot of work, persistence, and difficulty. I think that there might be ways, but not easy ways. Right now, Bev has a tight system. It gets food out on the table and into hungry mouths. But are there small things that could be done differently? Like real juice instead of punch? Could Bev afford a change like that?
The uneasinesses I have had about the soup kitchen are more complicated than I have been willing to admit. I have liked to think of Bev as stuck in her ways, that that is why the soup kitchen cannot serve in the most ideal way. It is a bit of comfort that gave me hope for easy change. But the change is not going to be easy, and I have not been giving Bev the credit she deserves.
The other interesting part of the soup kitchen was getting to be in the serving line, something I've done very little of. This gave me the chance to see and interact with some of the clients who frequent the soup kitchen. As noted in the Fitchen article, many of the hungry clients were also overweight, including many of the children I saw. One disheartening thing to recognize was that the soup kitchen could very well be playing into that, what with the broccoli slaw soaked in fattening sauce, the peaches with extra sugar, dessert at lunch (is that really a thing?), heavy beef stew, and biscuits that looked so bleached white that there was probably no fiber in them. The people who come to the soup kitchen regularly are essentially eating out for at least one meal, five days a week. Almost any restaurant you go to that frequently would make you gain weight, so it's not just a problem with the soup kitchen, but it does not make it better to know that the great service being provided might also contribute to the poor health of the patrons. Additionally, as described in the Heflin article, people may be more likely to engage in binging behavior when they have been deprived of food, and the soup kitchen, with plenty to eat and no limit on coming back for seconds, could certainly enable that behavior, though this is certainly not the fault of the soup kitchen.
The food offered also made me think of the Kingsolver book, in a section written by her daughter. Camille describes in this section how she hated asparagus as a child but came to love it. She attributes that development to the fact that she had the opportunity to eat fresh asparagus. Had she been eating vegetables from the grocery store, flavorless from traveling thousands of miles or sitting in a can becoming mush, she may never have learned to like them. Personally, the green beens at the soup kitchen disgust me. Under the right circumstances, I will eat green beans, but not under the "canned" circumstance. What will these less-than-appetizing vegetables mean for the future eating habits of children who frequent the soup kitchen?
There were also many women at the soup kitchen, several with children. Most of these women probably work low-paying jobs. Maybe they cannot afford food because they have to pay enormous daycare expenses, begging the question, "Why isn't childcare free?" Some may be underpaid because of their gender. Inequitable distribution of resources may leave women, particularly those with children, at greater risk for experiencing hunger. And then those children end up at the soup kitchen, ready to have their experience of food determined for them with little choice over what they consume and becoming accustomed to cake and cookies at lunchtime.
For the past year, I have been hesitant about eating the food at the soup kitchen when I volunteer. For one thing, I am a vegetarian, and the main course almost always has meat in it. But I also fear the quality, the added chemicals, the added salts and sugars looming within. Cooking there, seeing the packages, gave an interesting perspective, confirming some of my fears while dispelling others. I was pleasantly surprised by some of the nutritional value of the "broccoli slaw" we prepared (lots of fiber) which I might have assumed to be nutritionless iceberg lettuce had I not known what it was. At the same time, though, the sauce we put on the slaw was disgustingly fattening, though made it more edible looking. The peaches were soaked in sugar, but the milk had no growth hormones. The biscuits were surprisingly tasty. The beef stew came out of the can.
I have also wondered endlessly about where the food at the soup kitchen comes from. Yesterday, I learned that Bev sources that food from Valesky's because she wants to buy from a local store, asserting that she won't give money to big CEOs at places like Tops, Giant Eagle, or Walmart. Bev, whom I haven't gotten to speak to much in the rush of soup kitchen craziness, became a different person in my eyes this week. While I have often unfairly attributed the problems I see at the soup kitchen to Bv and others not thinking to change routines that have been in place for ages. But what makes me think that Bev hasn't changed things? I haven't been around to see the changes take place. And Bev, with her comment about Valesky's, is certainly thinking about justice beyond simply getting food into people's mouths. Additionally, I overheard Bev complaining about the cabinets in the kitchen, wanting a nicer space, but that she has a difficult time getting grants because she operates out of a church. Maybe if she got more grants, she would be able to improve the quality of the food that she serves.
Or maybe not. Cooking well for that many people takes some time, some knowledge, some planning, and a good work space. With different volunteers coming in and out every day, sometimes in unpredictable numbers, could Bev properly prep people to come in to cook a meal that wasn't from a can? How would she even store the food? Is there even a way for her to be serving fresh vegetables?
I think that the answer might be "yes," but only with a lot of work, persistence, and difficulty. I think that there might be ways, but not easy ways. Right now, Bev has a tight system. It gets food out on the table and into hungry mouths. But are there small things that could be done differently? Like real juice instead of punch? Could Bev afford a change like that?
The uneasinesses I have had about the soup kitchen are more complicated than I have been willing to admit. I have liked to think of Bev as stuck in her ways, that that is why the soup kitchen cannot serve in the most ideal way. It is a bit of comfort that gave me hope for easy change. But the change is not going to be easy, and I have not been giving Bev the credit she deserves.
The other interesting part of the soup kitchen was getting to be in the serving line, something I've done very little of. This gave me the chance to see and interact with some of the clients who frequent the soup kitchen. As noted in the Fitchen article, many of the hungry clients were also overweight, including many of the children I saw. One disheartening thing to recognize was that the soup kitchen could very well be playing into that, what with the broccoli slaw soaked in fattening sauce, the peaches with extra sugar, dessert at lunch (is that really a thing?), heavy beef stew, and biscuits that looked so bleached white that there was probably no fiber in them. The people who come to the soup kitchen regularly are essentially eating out for at least one meal, five days a week. Almost any restaurant you go to that frequently would make you gain weight, so it's not just a problem with the soup kitchen, but it does not make it better to know that the great service being provided might also contribute to the poor health of the patrons. Additionally, as described in the Heflin article, people may be more likely to engage in binging behavior when they have been deprived of food, and the soup kitchen, with plenty to eat and no limit on coming back for seconds, could certainly enable that behavior, though this is certainly not the fault of the soup kitchen.
The food offered also made me think of the Kingsolver book, in a section written by her daughter. Camille describes in this section how she hated asparagus as a child but came to love it. She attributes that development to the fact that she had the opportunity to eat fresh asparagus. Had she been eating vegetables from the grocery store, flavorless from traveling thousands of miles or sitting in a can becoming mush, she may never have learned to like them. Personally, the green beens at the soup kitchen disgust me. Under the right circumstances, I will eat green beans, but not under the "canned" circumstance. What will these less-than-appetizing vegetables mean for the future eating habits of children who frequent the soup kitchen?
There were also many women at the soup kitchen, several with children. Most of these women probably work low-paying jobs. Maybe they cannot afford food because they have to pay enormous daycare expenses, begging the question, "Why isn't childcare free?" Some may be underpaid because of their gender. Inequitable distribution of resources may leave women, particularly those with children, at greater risk for experiencing hunger. And then those children end up at the soup kitchen, ready to have their experience of food determined for them with little choice over what they consume and becoming accustomed to cake and cookies at lunchtime.
Soup Kitchen
The
experience of helping out at the soup kitchen was a very interesting one. For
the most part of the time that I was there I was serving food to the people
coming in. At one point it was quite busy and more and more people came in to
get their meal. By the end, we counted 95 people who received meals from the
soup kitchen. We probably served most of these people in a span of 20 minutes.
I didn’t really know what to expect, but that seems like a pretty good number
to me.
I thought that the system was very efficient
and good in terms of quality. The food looked really good and healthy and in
the end people could get as much as they wanted. I think that many places outside
the US could use a system as good and efficient as this one. The problem there,
I suppose, is that it takes a hefty amount of money to have a place like this operating.
While I was serving, I observed the
people coming in and out of the kitchen. While observing them, I thought about
what Fitchen said about hunger not just being a biological problem but a
psychological problem as well. Not being able to provide food for yourself
could make you look at yourself within society in a very unfavorable way. This
could obviously take a very big toll on emotional health. Maybe there were other reasons for this, but many of those who showed up for meals looked to be in low spirits.
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Cost of groceries
By the way, according to various on-line sources, the average American family spends about $6760/year on food (that's bout $563/month or $130/week). That's considered to be low for a family of four (two adults, two kids under 5) and would be more like $150/week if the kids were older. USDA considers "moderate" cost for a family of four to be about $206/week (younger kids) to $246/week.
So you can see that your estimates were on the low side and nobody's grocery list was out of the ordinary, even the pricier ones. And even so, at minimum wage, a family would be hard pressed to come up with the money for the frugal plan.
For more information, see: http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/USDAFoodPlansCostofFood/reports
Dinner courtesy of HelloFresh
Very similar to Blue Apron. Possibly the directions were a little clearer although they too assumed a little knowledge of cooking. Everything was good quality and tasty. We agreed that services like these seem geared to busy professionals who have more money than time but find cooking at home more relaxing than eating out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)