Hunger, Gardening and Charity

Welcome to the revolution.

Elizabethtown (213/365)by derrickcollins, flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0)

rev·o·lu·tion

 noun \ˌre-və-ˈlü-shən\

: a sudden, extreme, or complete change in the way people live, work, etc.

: activity or movement designed to effect fundamental changes in the socioeconomic situation

: a fundamental change in the way of thinking about or visualizing something :  a change of paradigm <the Copernican revolution>

What I am talking about here isn't just a movement, it's a revolution and revolutions mean major changes in the very fabric of the status quo.  What do we need to change?  Well, I am glad you asked. We need to change how we address poverty.  We need to change the habit we have of ignoring it, or worse yet, blaming the people who are trapped in its web as if they were naughty children who are just getting their comeuppance.   We need to stop giving money to indifferent charities so that they will "fix" the problem.  Their solutions are band aids and the problems are not going away. The purpose of this revolution is to empower the community to take care of itself and it's own. Makes sense, huh?

Hunger

Hunger by Buridans Esel(CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

At the very core of poverty the monster named Hunger lurks. The first issue that needs addressing in our revolution is an age old dilemma that is growing serious as the worlds population explodes and food scarcity becomes more and more real. The solution is not to encourage big AG to create cheaper foods using GMO's and agrochemicals, but to bring food back under the control of the families who will be eating it. We need to bring food back to the community in a very real way- by planting it.

What I am talking about is more than just community gardens, although I want to work on those as well.  No, what I want to do first is foodscape the entire community.  I want to plant permanent, food bearing trees and small, volunteer tended vegetable gardens along the trails of the Greenspace, around government buildings, in parks and all over the massive amounts of public land our town sports. kentucky has an abundance of fertile land and it's a damn shame that we keep letting ours go to waste!

It's not a new idea, just a good one.

The TEDtalk above was the inspiration for this movement.  I am glad that Pam Warhurst and her friends sat around the table and started this conversation.  It's a good conversation have in our own community empowerment.

It's true here, just as it was in Todmorden, that most of our citizens have no relationship with their food.  It comes in a box and goes in the microwave. It's a major investment and there are many shiny, pretty packages to choose from. Packaged and prepared food is always cheaper and easier than fresh produce and the lack of an intimate relationship means they don't even know what they are missing.

The thing is, making fresh, wholesome produce widely available and free for the taking, will improve the lives and the health of our community.  People who would otherwise not be able to afford fresh produce will not only have access, but they will be able to focus their available funds on other needs.  Also, with improved nutrition comes improved health and  healthy people make a healthy community.

Garden produce: now it all has to be cooked and eaten... by Charles Roffey, flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

The Problem with Charity

Now, don't get me wrong, charity is a beautiful thing- especially real charity.  The problem with charity is that  those in key positions are often confused about what charity is.  Charity doesn't judge; it gives freely without hesitation to those in need.  Now I understand that when you are working with limited  resources,you feel like you should give to the people that are in greater need.

I interviewed with a local charity for a VISTA position. During the interview, the guy explained to me that they have programs to help people get jobs and that they would be more willing to pay the bills of people they helped get employed than someone they have not.

It is easy to fall into the trap of believing that some people deserve our charity more than others.

Trevor is college educated but lost his job due to the recent recession and can't pay his mortgage. Laquisha has never worked at a real job, has an IQ of 80, 6 kids and can't pay her electric bill. One of those people is more employable than the other. It isn't charity to bet on Trevors success.

Charitable Community 

When we plant our trees and our gardens, we'll have volunteers to tend them but no one will police them.  Anyone who wants to pick apples or gather salad greens, can- without anyone standing over them, making sure they don't take more than their share.

How Will We Keep People From Taking all the Food?

Another disagreeable instance I had with a local charity happened last year when a neighbor was looking for a list of food banks.  We did a Google search and came up empty handed.  Every site pointed at Feeding America.  We went to the Feeding America site and at that time they didn't have the "need help? tab.  We contacted  them and asked for a list and received a very discouraging response from the executive director, Gary Miles.  

""we ceased publishing a list either hard copy or online several years ago after finding out that individuals would routinely take the list, visit all the pantries in the area, gather as much food as possible, and regrettably, we would later find the product for sale at either yard sales or flea markets. " 

It seems that policing a few greedy individuals was more important than making the list of pantries available to people in need. My Friend Cynthia Louis worked there and when she heard about the situation, she added the "need help?" tab to the menu.  Now, desperate people can go there and find contact information, contact Feeding America and obtain a name of a charity that supplies food, contact the charity to see how and when and how often they are allowed to get food.  Woe be to any family that needs more than that one pantry can give at a time.

Urban gardeningby Tony and Wayne(CC BY-NC 2.0)

One thing that can always be found hand in hand with poverty is shame. It is difficult enough to swallow your pride, look at a list and then go to the pantry on the given day.It is too shameful for many proud individuals, to make that call or email and explain their situation to stranger in the hopes that they will "refer" them to help.

This revolution will end the need to police food. If you are poor, you won't need to pay for the nuts someone else gathered from the trees downtown. If you are wealthy, you can save yourself the trouble of collecting them yourself by buying them at the local market. Either way, no more fearful guarding of the secret food stashes

there're

I was editing for a client yesterday and I nearly missed it, some industrious, non- native English freelance writer provided me with a gem:   

There're  

I checked and it doesn't seem to be particularly incorrect.  Just... I don't know- wrong! 

As the off writing and grammatical errors of this piece were making my head spin, I was reminded of another incident where a client of my own had assumed that I was a non-native English writer because I used language that he felt was not natural. 

 I was referring to a sexual encounter and I used the term "Placed his body on top of hers."  The client told me that a native English writer would say something akin to, "He climbed on top." 

Again, both were technically correct. The English language is so finicky that you can easily be correct and still leave your readers shaking their heads at your chosen word usage.

Theresa DeMario starts a personal blog, why?

I mean, why not?