Thanksgiving Thoughts

This week I've been thinking a lot about food, more so than usual if that's even possible. Naturally, Thanksgiving has been the focus of much of that thinking. What to make, what ingredients to get, when and how to make it, what ingredients I forgot the first time I went to the store, the usual. Then came the feast. Turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberries supplied by my mom, while I made sweet potato casserole, corn pudding, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie. Both of us got so busy cooking and chatting that we forgot the mashed potatoes! Everyone agreed they weren't necessary with the bounty before us. It was a lovely day in which we were all well fed in good company, for which I am thankful.

I've also been thinking though about those without food this week, again more so than usual. My school has a food shelf for the students, and our family commits to weekly donations. Each week I clip coupons and scan the circulars for deals, then use the savings to purchase a bag of groceries and toiletries. This is a very, very small effort on our part to begin addressing hunger in our own community, but one that is a lesson for our boys. They help pick out items as I explain the need, and then see me leave for work each Monday with our offering.

I've been thinking about the abundance in my life. I've never used a food shelf for the purposed of feeding my family. My experience with these organizations are as a donater, supporter, or volunteer. I've always felt full when I've wanted to feel full. That is not the experience of my children though, who have their own unique histories with eating and hunger, ones that have shaped our family. These experiences have molded them in ways that we haven't even fully begun to realize. And so we think about food.

I've been thinking about what it might feel like to be on the other side of the shelf. This year my son's school won a grant from Target for a media center makeover. Part of this grant included Target providing groceries to every family in the school, once a month, to promote healthy eating. This week I went to my first distribution and even with the knowledge that this was a gift, it was a very humbling experience. It was very organized, with volunteers shuffling us quickly through the line. I held out my bags at each station to the smiling volunteers who offered milk, potatoes, pasta, meat and more, confirming I only had one child in the school, which determined how much I received. I could decline items if I chose, but I took one of everything they offered, not wanting to seem ungrateful, though there were some I wasn't sure I would use. I said thank you after each product I received, and though several volunteers offered to help me take my bags to the car, I declined, even though the bags were heavy. I left feeling a little overwhelmed by it all. And thinking.

I've been thinking about the process of feeding those in need.  I As I was driving to pick up the food, I was listening to NPR's Talk of the Nation. I kid you not, the host discussed a recent editorial, "It's Time to Can Food Drives" in the Albany Times Union. The author wrote about the ineffectiveness of food drives because  "For the same amount of money spent on buying cans for a food drive, donors can feed 20 times more families by providing cash, not cans." This is absolutely true. I've volunteered at food shelves to know that the best support they can receive is financial. Some callers expressed this same sentiment, and some callers argued for the value of donating actual food. The needs of those were fully affirmed by the guest on the program as valid. She just wanted to let people know that sometimes cultural, medical or even logistical issues prevent people from eating the food that is given to them. If you've never eaten sauerkraut, then getting a can of it may not be the most practical meal.

So this is my food for thought (sorry, it had to be said). I don't have any answers for how to address the challenge of feeding those who are hungry, but I can start at home and think and ACT locally and then globally.  I can challenge the few people who read this blog to do the same, and share that challenge with a few others. And I can put my children into their warm beds with full bellies with not only a prayer of Thanksgiving, but a prayer that I may always be of service to others.