What did you expect?
That’s the question I kept asking myself last week after a conversation with two volunteers from Harmony Food Pantry in Waterloo. They were a delight, and I’ll say this: The work they do — like the work being done at food pantries everywhere — is incredibly important.
I knew food prices had climbed and housing costs had spun out of control. Even utility costs, a staple of news coverage for the better part of two years, were front of mind heading into the conversation.
And yet, something about what they told me left an otherwise knowledgeable person about the issues at hand feeling like I was hearing it all for the first time.
Five years ago, Harmony served 19 families during the entire month of August. Today, it routinely serves 20 to 30 families each week. Sometimes, that number climbs even higher. We’re not talking about a temporary surge that came and went, or something pantry volunteers expect will subside in a few months.
We’re talking about pure, steady demand that represents the new baseline.
Think about that for a minute. Then consider who those numbers represent. Whatever stereotype is in your mind, as you read this column, throw it away. They’re older residents, small households, working families, and as one of the two volunteers I had the pleasure of talking with told me, your neighbors who were able to get by and take care of their groceries.
Your neighbors, who were getting by OK 6-12 months ago, are seeking out the local pantry to keep food on the table. Why? Because they’ve had to choose: Keep the lights on or buy food. Pay for their medication or buy food. Pay rent or buy food. Make sure their kids are dressed or buy food. Pay for gas to get to work or buy food.
You get the picture.
As the volunteers I spoke with put it, eventually, something had to give. And it has in Waterloo. But, Waterloo isn’t unique, and those decisions in the paragraph above aren’t those of families who failed to budget.
They’re the decisions of families whose budgets no longer work.
For years, the assumption has been that the food insecurity problem is most severe in the south end. And that very well may still be true. But, for a long time the north end saw itself insulated from the most severe of consequences around a lack of transportation and fewer grocery stores.
The volunteers told me many who take advantage of the pantry do so by foot or bicycle. Now, take finances out of the equation. Imagine you have to go to Tops or Walmart. Conveniently located between Seneca Falls and Waterloo, only if you’re heading there by car. Now, imagine it’s a 90 degree day with a dew point in the 70s, or a 15 degree day with snow-covered sidewalks.
Most would consider that to be enough trial and tribulation. Now, imagine you finally get to one of those stores under that circumstance and then, have to decide between a jug of milk, bread, and your prescriptions for the week.
We’re not talking about a pack of filets. We’re talking canned goods, shelf stable foods, hygiene products, and life-saving medicines. Maybe there’s some reading this, who unfortunately have had to, or still do, need to perform those mental gymnastics each week.
But what about what you do with that food after you get it? They shared that an unfortunate side effect of the current housing situation is that renters are paying more homes that are significantly less. In fact, working stoves, ovens, and microwaves aren’t even guaranteed.
Go ahead, sit on that one for a minute.
Some people are coming to the pantry, looking for food that they don’t even have to heat up. Not because they prefer to eat their noodles at room temperature. Because they have no choice.
I say all of this because it’s late-September as I write this column. Fall is here. Soon enough, it’ll be the holidays, and unfortunately winter. Which means a lot of the things I talked about here will be worse. It’ll be colder, more expensive to stay warm, and undoubtedly, given conditions in the Middle East - more expensive to move goods or people from place-to-place.
If you’re thinking about ways to give back - your local food pantry is a great place to start. Whether it’s a physical donation of goods or time, or monetary contribution. Every dollar, every minute, and every item helps. And it’s not just helping some nameless, faceless person in your community.
It’s helping your neighbor. Our neighbors who don’t just deserve to feed their families, but deserve a little dignity along the way, too.
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