As one food pantry worker put it, “nobody goes to food pantries because they want to.” But I am grateful to have found such a nice one because I can tell you many harrowing stories about the other ones.
For those who don’t know, let me tell you how my journey went. When I first received food stamps I did not realize how inadequate they would be to the cause of feeding a single individual (let alone an individual with dietary restrictions). To subsidize this, I quickly began researching food pantries, feeling confident because I lived in an area of high need that there would be many resources available. What I realized though was that food pantry funding is as unequal as public school funding—areas with more money have higher taxes and therefore better schools. Turns out, in a rich suburb near me, the food pantries will take your order and deliver to your door to help keep your anonymity! Yes, there is even privilege inherent in poverty because even though I lived less than a mile away from a suburban food pantry, I was ineligible because I was in the wrong zip code.
When looking for resources, your options all come down to your zip code. My first food pantry was at a church and while they were kind, let you choose your items from a list, and come up to twice a month, they would withhold the food distribution until after the prayer service and the waits were usually over two hours long, so I moved on. The next pantry could be visited every two months, did not care what your dietary restrictions were, and required you to fill out a form and explain what you would do to change your circumstances (note to self: work on “fixing” my disability). There was another that would give food once a month, but there was no shelf stable food and the vegetables were either on the verge of, or actively rotten, and the donated baked goods that were in a similar state. (If people wonder why companies don’t donate their food, it’s because by the time it gets picked up, brought to the pantry, put in rotation and handed to people, it’s completely inedible).
After lots of tears being shed in this process, I found a food pantry that I am grateful for every time I open my pantry. The Community Food Cupboard even cares about ensuring they ask about and offer allergy friendly food. That said, these unsung heroes deserve more accolades than they receive. For the last year, they have often spoken about how stressed they are and exhausted because their numbers of individual clients has increased nearly double (naturally without an equivalent level of funding). But this last little story is so tragic and beautiful, and exemplifies why these workers and volunteers are heroes.
Most food pantries in my area receive their supplies from FoodLink, which has a centralized ordering system. That was down for the month of June as they updated their system and performed an inventory. So, during my last visit, I was told that they were at the bare bottom of availability of food. So much so, that someone’s lunchmeat had been handed off by mistake, because there was no other protein to offer. Hopefully, whoever ended up with that salami really enjoyed it. But it is a true testament to how hard times can be.
So the next time you’re having lunch, consider what would happen if someone pilfered your luncheon meats.
