There’s a lot of food insecurity in our country currently. With the government shut down dragging on and federal workers not getting paid as well as federal programs being shut down, many people are having to make difficult choices between food and other necessities. Even if they can buy food, they may not be able to afford balanced meals.
When I grew up, food was plentiful. One or both of my parents always had a good job, and they could afford to buy a variety of food for our family. Since my mom planted a garden every year and loved to cook, we had wonderful meals. We had lots of fresh vegetables in the summer months, and the garden vegetables she canned or froze were eaten the rest of the year.
Mom loved to feed people her nutritious meals and she always made extra. If someone stopped by anywhere close to dinner time, she would invite them to eat with us and set another plate or two. I know where she learned to do this. Whenever we would visit my grandma (my mom’s mom) she would greet us with hugs and then the first thing she would ask is, “Are you hungry?”
Nobody went hungry around my mom or my grandma, and I think I inherited the feeding people genes from them!
I hate the idea that people, especially children, don’t have enough to eat. I took several boxes full of food to a local food pantry this week. They give out many bags of food every Wednesday morning. I arrived just before 11:00 and the line of cars snaked through the parking lot. I asked the volunteer who helped me unload my donation if it had been that busy all morning. He shook his head and said, “We are seeing a lot more need right now.”
On social media, I’ve been seeing that other people are donating food and/or money to their local food pantries too. Some are giving to big food pantries like I did and others are putting food items in the little free pantries that are like the Little Free Libraries but have food instead of books. What a great concept!
People are doing good. They are helping in whatever ways they are able. And you can too! If you are interested in donating to your local food pantry, just do an internet search for food pantries near me.