Why then is there severe criticism of food banks from within the system as well as from others working in the field of social justice? The key word here is emergency. The system is intended to help people in emergencies and it does that very well. The problem is that the system is being strained by having to feed many millions who are not in an emergency, but rather in a long-term economic crisis. Food pantries and soup kitchens feed millions of working poor people who do not make a living wage and cannot support their families. They also support millions more who are about to lose their homes or who cannot afford medical care or their heating bills.
There are about 37 million Americans who are officially poor by government standards. There are another 55 million to 60 million Americans who earn between $20,000 and $40,000, called the “near poor,” who are not eligible for most aid. But they are poor. They live from week to week and go to food pantries when their families are hungry. They need different kinds of help that go beyond a meal.
The answer is not simply building bigger food banks and finding more food at a time when businesses are donating less. The answer is on several levels that food bankers and their affiliates are beginning to address:
SELF-RELIANCE
The root of hunger is poverty. The root of poverty is powerlessness. The solution to poverty is to empower people. Food banks and their affiliates are doing that more than ever. They connect people to services in their community that can help them get a job, permanent housing, healthcare, childcare, transportation, counseling and more. Many food banks now have job training programs in the food industry or transportation and mentoring programs. The emergency food system today is for many the first step on the road to self-reliance but it must take people further and faster. How?
CONNECTIONS
Food pantries and soup kitchens are now often the connection to a whole array of government programs like Food Stamps, child nutrition programs, Earned Income Tax Credits, heating assistance and federal housing programs. There are still emergency food providers who say, “That's not my job. I'm too busy getting people food.” Gradually, that attitude is changing. Servers are realizing that they must connect their guests to government programs and local poverty programs that can get to the root causes of poverty.
ADVOCACY
In the past, food bankers were reluctant to advocate for federal hunger programs. That is no longer true and America's Second Harvest, the association for food banks in the United States, has become a major force in the battle for long-needed improvements in Food Stamps and other federal programs. Emergency food workers and volunteers are the sleeping giant in the hunger movement. The giant is awakening.
GOOD FOOD FOR ALL
An often-heard criticism of food banks is that much of the food is not high in nutritional value. That too is changing. Many food banks today have community gardens, farmers markets, community supported agriculture (CSA), farm to school programs and state supported programs that pay family farmers to supply fresh local food-to-food banks and their affiliates. This is a growing partnership between food banks, community food advocates and farmers to provide good food for all, especially the poor.
America's emergency food system is a dynamic system that is promoting self-reliance and good food for all, and is a leading advocate for improved local, state and federal hunger and poverty programs. All of us who care about the obscenity of hunger in America need to support the courageous and visionary food bank leaders who are changing the face of food banking.
Bill Ayres is executive director of World Hunger Year (WHY). Founded in 1975, WHY is a leader in the fight against hunger and poverty in the United States and around the world. www.worldhungeryear.org.
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