Our Daily Bread

By: Jeremy Harvey

This week I had the pleasure of volunteering again at a local soup kitchen, "Our Daily Bread". This was something that was very familiar to me because every summer I take kids from my youth group to the soup kitchen and let them get the chance to volunteer and help those less fortunate than them. I love going up there, Chef Liz as you can see in the photo, is such a nice lady but can be a disciplinary person if needed. She makes sure the kitchen is run smoothly and mistakes are kept to a minimum. The kitchen gets donations daily from various people and organizations. I have seen things from left over chicken and vegetables from organizations such as Chicken Express and Chik-fil-a among other widely known names, to local gardens of individuals or church gardens. All the donations are kept in the refrigerator and freezer if they need to be. Both the refrigerator and freezer are very large and have to be organized and restocked all the time -- not the best job, but somebody has to do it. There is a lot of food that gets donated, as you can see by photos below. These two pictures show only half of the refrigerator and freezer. But with out the donations, I don't know how the kitchen could serve as many people as it does. I volunteered at the beginning of the month

so there was not as many people there because people had just gotten paid and were not in as much need for assistance. Even with that in mind, there were still approximately 150 people there needing help. I normally volunteer during the summer and the type and number of people who visit the kitchen during those months changes considerably. The kitchen feeds as many as 250 people each day during the summer, many of which are children because they are out of school. Many of the children who come to the kitchen are obese. The reasoning behind this fact is discussed by Garcia and Pollan in the readings from class. Particularly, Garica describes how children become plump during the summer months because they are deprived of healthy meals that they normally receive from the school cafeteria. Further, they are forced to eat cheaper food which is typically less healthy and, many times, simply eat junk food from a convenience store. Garcia states that in "a 2007 study of grocery prices found 1,000 calories of junk food, like pastries and soda, cost on average 10 times less than a 1,000 calories of nutritious foods, like fruits and vegetables." In other words, it is cheaper for a person to fill up on junk food than healthy food and at such prices, farmers cannot compete. Garcia's statements are confirmed by Pollan's study of Drewnowski's hypothetical dollar. Drewnowski was instructed to purchase as many calories as possible with his hypothetical dollar. He found that purchasing highly processed foods allowed him to accumulate the most calories for the least amount of money. For example, he could purchase 1,200 calories worth of cookies and potato chips for a dollar and only 250 calories of carrots. He could buy 875 calories of soda and only 170 calories of orange juice with his hypothetical dollar.

Chef Liz has done her job for so long that she is usually able to judge how much food needs to be prepared so that everyone who comes to the kitchen can have a meal. Many times, Chef Liz makes enough food so that participants can have seconds or even take food home. There have been times, though, that the kitchen ran out of the food they had prepared for the day and had to improvise by making sandwiches so the people wouldn't go hungry. She definitely does her part to help combat hunger in Denton County, Texas. According to the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), 12.6 million households are food insecure, including 22.7 million adults and 12.4 million children. "Food insecurity is an official government term that means lack of access and resources to enough food for an active, healthy lifestyle." Liz has gotten to know a lot of the people, their tendencies, what they are allergic to, and what they like the best. She makes a good meal each day that consists of a main course and usually a couple sides dishes such as fruit salad and bread or something along those lines. Then she also has cakes and pies that are donated from the supermarkets like Wal-mart and Kroger, which allows the participants there to have choice without added stress on Liz.

She also offers tea, water and juice for the people to drink. Chef Liz gives the people lots of variety and really cares for these people. She makes sure that we cut up everything pretty small because she knows there are people with teeth problems that can't chew the bigger pieces and she wants to make sure that the food can be enjoyed by everybody. She does receive a lot of donations that are fresh, such as fruits and vegetables, which she is very thankful for because these donations enable her to prepare healthier meals. Chef Liz is very selective with fresh produce and will not use anything that is ruined or doesn't look like something she would eat. She wants only

the best for these people, even if it is only something as small as a meal. She hopes that her kindness and effort will brighten their day and the food she prepares to stop their hunger pains. As I stated before, the kitchen receives a tremendous amount of donations from many different sources which enables Liz to make variety of food so people don't have to eat the same things over and over. She has a fantastic menu and the food is great. In addition to preparing a noon meal, Liz will package up canned goods for people to take with them so that they will be able to eat that night. The kitchen also receives donated pastries every morning and Liz makes sure that these are distributed to those participants who come in early. Volunteering at the soup kitchen isn't always enjoyable though. I don't always get the chance to serve the meal and interact with all the people. Sometimes I have to help wash dishes, which can be fun, but it is not a satisfying as being able to help the people who come in for a meal, shake their hand, or offer a few kind words of encouragement. While washing dishes, I am able to talk to the people in the back that volunteer on a daily basis and see what they like and why they do this daily. As a Christian, it is very rewarding to see so many people giving up their time to volunteer and do something good for others, even if some of the people that are being helped are not grateful. As much as you would hate to believe it, there are people that come into the kitchen that don't say thank you or even smile at you. Now even though I don't live in their shoes, I would still like to think that people getting help would at least smile at you when you are serving them, but sadly there are some people that don't. Soup kitchens like this one play a big part in society because many people these days don't have the money to buy food or prepare

a meal and need places like this where they can go and receive a hot meal with out having to worry about judgement or money. Sadly, though, not everyone who goes to the kitchen are truly in need. There are students and people with smart phones and laptops. I am not saying it is right or wrong and the kitchen doesn't turn them away. In my opinion, we as a society need to embrace the concept of acceptance as a way of life and not be so judgmental. The kitchen is a place where you can go no matter your race, age, gender or social stature. Chef Liz and the volunteers are there to serve everyone.