Samedi Matin
Posting this morning with the iPad, as the relatively new trackpad in my laptop is doing a St. Vitus’ dance again. So hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to the Genius Bar I go. Fingers crossed there’s still some warranty action as the current one was just installed a few months ago.
The scene above is from our wanderings in Paris in May. Loved this little street in the 6th (I think).
It was interesting to see how my post on Home Ec became in part a discussion of hunger and food shortage in America. This is a real problem, and a systemic one. It isn’t simply a matter of people learning to shop and cook. To help, I’d encourage you to find out what local food banks and programs are active in your area and what their needs are. (One of the food banks we donate to asks for non-perishable items that don’t require cooking, as so many of the people they serve don’t have regular access to a kitchen.) Some organizations may be able to make better use of money than donated goods.
If you work for or know of a good organization in your area helping to alleviate hunger please share in comments.
Bon weekend!
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Good luck with that computer!
As for the organizations working to alleviate hunger, we do have a variety of charities that run soup kitchens, food banks, etc., although I think, so far, the problem where we live is not (yet?) as acute as you’re seeing. It’s, interesting, too, that the problem manifests and is responded to differently in our small-city home pop. (about 80,000, many small farms surrounding area) from what happens in Vancouver where we have our apartment and where the problem is generally part of a complex that includes homelessness, mental health issues, substance abuse, etc.
Much to think about on a Saturday morning.
Hope you have a good weekend (and that your computer is restored to full usefulness quickly!)
Even if it’s just always choosing Yes to donations at Whole Foods cashier stands:). Have a lovely weekend Sue.
The food banks here collect school supplies in August for families who cannot afford them. Like Lisa I give when I buy my groceries at the check out there are vouchers in various denominations and the cost is simply added to the bill. Most people using our food banks are single parents with children and seniors.
There are many soup kitchens in town and I am leaning towards volunteering in one of them this winter.
In Los Angeles, one of the best is Food Forward, which uses an army of volunteers to glean fruit (and veggies) from overburdened LA gardens and distribute it to food banks. Food Forward has also begun to glean from farmers’ markets at the end of the day, when food is apt to be thrown out rather than trucked back to the farms: http://foodforward.org
Just looking at your picture, I would love a little street like that. In San Antonio, we have a great Food Bank and our family participates in many ways to helps it,,,through church, community, and school. Always good to remind others to help out!
Just echoing what Pam@over50feeling40 said, the first resource that comes to mind is church. Virtually every community, however tiny, has a faith-based organization, and these are great for directly donating food, or cash to be use for food. It is astonishing how much is distributed through these organizations, and you have the satisfaction of knowing they are close to the grass roots and acutely tuned in to what is most needed.
Learning to shop and cook is a big part of things (though not everything–as in those who lack kitchen facilities). One of my daughter’s friends is in med school and he worked on a project on that very topic. He’s hoping to run some “how to shop” workshops next year. Should have a big impact.
In our area we are involved as a family with our local food bank through food donations, monetary donations and through volunteer hours. Just today several musician friends gathered for a Cans and Carols in July. The event is always held in December and raises thousands of dollars for the food bank. The need is so great at the food bank they held a mid-year concert today. I hope it was successful, too.
Here in Spain, the main organisation helping to feed people is Caritas, which is a Catholic based charity. What I think is a great idea is the way that they hold free concerts, for example, where people are asked to bring along one kilo of non-perishable foods. Also road races will ask for a bag of food as part of their entry fee. This way they are receiving donations throughout the year.
In the metropolitan Twin Cities, Food Solutiions coordinates efforts of all the community food organizations. My overall favorite though is the efforts of the United States Postal Workers. On the first Saturday in May each year, they pick up food donations that you leave by wherever you get your mail. Last year in the Twin Cities on that one day, they picked up over 25 TONS of food. The postal workers coordinate it themselves. Since we have real winter here in the northland,most of us have a winter stockpile for ourselves, for the days that we are snoweed in. At the end of the winter, I give what remains to the post office, and we all win. I try to give at any opportuniyty that comes along, and they are pretty frequent. I am blessed with the income to buy pretty much whatever whimsical food desire that I have, and it doesn’t hurt me too share it around.
When we last went to Paris, we stayed in the 6th. Hoping to return in the fall if we can just get all of the rest of the family to settle down! It made me quite nostalgic!