Students and Food Stability

  In pre-pandemic days, I would go to Publix, our local grocery store, at 5:30 a.m. every Monday.  They would give me the carts of baked goods with pull dates that would send them to the garbage if I didn't take them away.  I would spend the first hour of Monday mornings at work unloading the car and putting out day old bread for students and staff to take.  Throughout the week, I would put out plates of treats for students and staff to enjoy.  Usually, I got enough day old treats for the whole week, and despite the pull date, they would last.

I knew that some of our students had food insecurities, and I often wished that I could provide more nutritious food.  I kept some of the bread aside and put it out throughout the week, and we always had a big jar of peanut butter.  I consoled myself by thinking that at least we provided some calories and some nutrition, and I knew that for some of our students, that food was an important supplement, and for some of them, it was all they had.

A year ago, students returned to campus for labs, and our goal was to get them in and out.  We didn't put out food; in fact, we locked the student lounge.  It was the early days of the disease, when we weren't sure of the best ways to keep students safe.  We were more afraid of contagion than of hunger.

A few weeks ago, I got the reminder that the issue of student hunger hasn't gone away.  We had a student who was shaky and out of it, and when we asked him what was going on, he said he hadn't eaten in a few weeks.  We gave him a granola bar and some peanut butter crackers with some juice.

We know we can't solve the problem of student hunger, but we started strategizing.  I applied for a microgrant from Thrivent, the financial group that used to do insurance only for Lutherans only (now they do all kinds of investments for all sorts of people).  Yesterday, we did our first shopping.

We plan to have a basket of snacks and treats always available:

And we'll have something more substantial in the cabinets.  Here's the start we've made on stocking the food pantry/shelf:

Because we know that students need more help than food here and there, we'll also keep handouts with up to date information about where to get more food.  Right now, there are plenty of opportunities; my church's food pantry has never been more well funded, for example.

I'm not under any illusions.  I know that the problem of hunger is far deeper than one food pantry can solve.  But it feels good to be doing a small part to help students stay nourished and stay in school.

Soaring with Strengths

This week has been O.K.ish--it feels hectic at work. I have noticed that a 3 day week-end affects me differently as an administrator than as a teacher. As an administrator, I get back to work, and the remaining 4 days feel jam-packed--no pixies have been in the office taking care of everything, so the work still remains when I return. As a teacher, I could plan differently.

When I look back at this week at work, I want to remember the students who were so grateful for the food I brought in from the donated day old baked goods from Publix. When I was trying to get my steps in, I walked to the 4th floor, and the classroom door was open. I heard a student talking to the teacher about how much she needed the day old bread that she’d gotten out of the freezer last week. And yesterday, a student thanked me for the food I set out. And I said, “I know that some of our students have food insecurity, and I want them to have something.” She told me that she was one of those students, and she usually tries to take food from work.

Part of me feels that the most important work I do as an administrator is to make the campus a more welcoming place. Part of me worries that I’m neglecting some task that I don’t like to do, a task that would involve a spreadsheet, to do the work that I like doing.

But then again, I think about the leadership series that our Executive Director is showing us at each meeting: Trombone Player Wanted. It’s a soar with your strengths kind of approach to leadership. Figure out what you love about your job and do more of it.

What does it mean that I really like feeding people? It’s not about the food or making the food. It’s about the sense of nurturing that I feel.  It's also the sense of being able to help people but to do it without fanfare, so that the people being helped don't feel weird about it.

It's interesting to think about the Bible verses that have soaked their way into my brain and my actions.  I think about the passages that have Christ telling us not to proclaim our good works, but to do them quietly.  Some might say, "You do it quietly, on site, but here you are, blogging about it."

Day Old Bread and Pastry Day

At my campus, we are always looking for ways to make life better for our students, and not just in academics and future jobs.  Many of our students have a variety of issues that make it difficult for them to complete their programs.  I can't solve all of them, but I'm always on the lookout for ways to help.

I know that Publix, our local, large grocery store chain, gives away bakery goods that are at their pull date.  Once, long ago, I did the bakery run for our church's food pantry.  I was amazed at the amount of bakery goods given to our food pantry.

A few weeks ago, I was in the Publix by my school to buy cookies for an event, and the bakery manager was shelving some products.  I asked if she had people picking up the day old baked goods every day, and she said once they had, but now, they had very little interest because they all went to the bigger Publix.  She told me the simple procedure to follow to be allowed to get the baked goods before they were thrown away.

I wrote the letter and had the campus director sign it.  I took it to the Publix, and I was told that I could show up any time either after the store closes at 11 or before it opens at 7.  Last Thursday, I showed up, but there was nothing set aside.  The manager suggested I call next time.

On Sunday, I called to see if they would have anything Monday morning.  The person on the other end of the phone said, "Oh sure."  I half expected to arrive to find nothing again.

I was wrong--two carts of food were set aside for me, enough to fill up the back of my Prius hatchback.  It all had a pull date of yesterday.  I set out a lot of it in our student break room:  lots of donuts, various types of bear claws, some rings with pecans, 6 kinds of muffins, 5 boxes of croissants, and a bag of bagels.  I put the loaves of bread in the freezer, with a sign that invited people to take a loaf, if that would be helpful.  I put aside some cookies for an event today.  I put other pastries in the freezer of the fridge in the other break room.

Most people were enthusiastic to arrive at school to find a variety of treats.  Some groaned about the weight they might gain.  But I know that some of our students have food and financial instability.  It's not the most nutritious food that we offered yesterday, but it's food.

I had thought I might go back again tomorrow, just to see if a Wednesday haul is different from Monday.  Did we have so many treats yesterday because the bakery manager planned for more sales on a week-end?  Is that what they throw away every day?  Surely not--it's a small Publix.

I think I'll just go once a week, unless I perceive that people would benefit from more bread.  I had hoped for more bread to give away, as it's more nutritious than pastries and it can last several days.

It's a shame that there's no shelter that needs the food.  It's a lot of food, and I know there's lots of hungry people out there.  There are days we won't be picking up the food.  There's enough to share.

Through the morning, as I threw away the packaging once the food was eaten, I reflected on the waste not only of the food that might be thrown away, but the packaging--so much packaging.  In my quest to feed a hungry campus, we filled up one big garbage bag with cardboard, plastic, and foil.

I can't solve these problems.  We live in a society where for most of us, it's cheaper and takes less time to buy baked goods at the grocery store, which means that we'll have a surplus of bakery items and the packaging that makes it possible to sell bakery items.  We live in a society where many people experience food scarcity, even as enormous amounts of edible food are discarded.  I cannot redistribute all that food by myself.

So I will do what I can do.  I will pick up a load or two of bakery items each week.  I will hope that it makes the campus a more cheerful place to be (which hopefully will help our retention numbers).  I will hope that some of the food gets to our students who genuinely need the calories.  I will hope that those of us who shouldn't eat those calories are able to resist them.  I will hope that the good outweighs the problems.

Feeding the Flock

--I've spent the week thinking about students and hunger--but not the hunger for knowledge.  No, I've been thinking of statistics and anecdotes that talk about college students, many more of whom are facing hunger and homelessness than we would suspect.

--It's been a successful week of handing out food to returning students, primarily granola bars and fruit to our morning students.  Even the ones who have plenty of food at home are likely to forgo breakfast in the morning rush to get to class.  I liked being there to greet them and offer food.

--Our new campus executive director arrived on campus yesterday when I was greeting students and passing out food.  Later I met with him, and we discussed challenges on campus.  I talked about needing to increase retention and to convince students to stay in school.  I said, "So that's why you saw me handing out granola bars this morning."  He nodded and said, "Good, good."

I've worked for other people who would have immediately totaled up the cost of granola bars and wondered if it was worth it.  I'm glad we didn't have to have that conversation yesterday; I do realize that it may come later.

--Yesterday I submitted a proposal to be a presenter at a conference that I'm required to attend.  When my proposal was accepted, which means I don't have to pay the $140 conference fee, I immediately thought about how many granola bars I could buy.

--I've also been thinking of other ways to surreptitiously feed students.  I know that many students feel shame about not having enough.  I've thought of buying peanut butter and bread and putting it on the counter in the student lounge.  I've also thought about having a crock pot of soup--something cheap and nutritious.  I wasn't thinking of always having those available--but at least once a week, to have something out and available for students who might be hungry.  And it wouldn't take much to always have a fruit bowl on the counter.  I've been surprised by how many people are taking bananas this week.

--I've thought about the food pantry that we used to run at a former campus.   Finding storage for the food at my current campus would be a problem.  I have a vision for ready-to-go food bags that students could grab--instead of the food pantry at my old school that had a wide variety of food.

--Am I crazy to be spending so much mental energy on this project of mine?  Some might say my time would be better spent by tracking down students who aren't attending--and I do plan to do that with each progressive week.

--As I've thought about the past few days and all my various thoughts about food, I've wondered not only if I am crazy, but if this is God speaking to me.  I've thought of Jesus saying, "Feed my sheep."  I've rejoiced in my corporate credit card.  I will keep on with these projects until someone tells me not to do it anymore--and then I'll explain why we must.

Do I Dare to Eat a Peach?

It's the time of summer when I start thinking of my grandmother's cooking, especially her peach cobbler.  I can make peach cobbler on my own, of course--the way I like it, with more pastry and a better quality ice cream.  But I'm not crazy about getting the peaches off the stone.

Still, last week when I was in the Fresh Market, and I thought, let me get some peaches.  I saw the boxes that the peaches were in--they were from a farm in South Carolina, which I thought was a good sign.

In the brief moment before I picked up a peach, I thought about those South Carolina peach farms, the gnarled trees so bare in the winter, full of blooms in the spring, heavy with fruit in the summer.  I thought of road side stands, where I first learned the difference between a peck and a bushel.

And then I picked up the peach to bring it to my nose.  Oh dear.  What a hard rock of a peach.  Sadness.  I put it back and decided to bake something else. 

A Facebook friend suggested I try frozen peaches--that might be a good solution. 

I know that our modern agricultural practices have helped keep food prices low and helped alleviate many of the problems of hunger that past generations have faced.  I'm willing to sacrifice perfect produce if it means that more can be fed.

But I'm still sad for some of the losses. 

And then there's the larger issue of food and hunger in less developed countries.  But that's a topic for another day.

Food, Hunger, God, and Us

We have a Faith and Wellness group at my church, and on Saturday, we met to share a meal and to talk about our relationship with food and what that has to do with our relationship to God. It was a lovely evening, the kind of evening I longed to have when I've been at churches that didn't have similar opportunities.

In some ways, I thought we didn't delve very deeply into the systemic reasons for hunger. We talked about our own issues with finding time to grocery shop and cook, but we didn't spend much time talking about families who don't have the money to buy food. I'll always remember a dark Wednesday in 2008, when the Dow was plunging; it got down towards 7000, and I started to feel very scared.

Then I went over to First Lutheran to help serve dinner to the homeless. During the service after dinner, when the pastor asked for prayers, one of the homeless men said, "That we may find food tomorrow." My possible economic woes, the nation's economic woes, were all put into sharp perspective.

I realize that food issues are all part of the same issue, the larger issue of how we nourish ourselves and make sure that everyone else can provide nourishment for themselves and their families. I know that food justice must expand to address issues of sustainable agriculture and what it means that our food travels so far to get to most of us. I realize that the issue of industrial agriculture may in the future be seen as the greater sin than letting some parts of the world starve. I worry about the fact that we've shifted to such monocultures. I know my history, and the Irish potato famines should serve as more of a cautionary tale to us.

I also know that we seem to go in cycles. In the late 1970's and early 1980's, I was surrounded by lots of grown-ups who were talking about these very issues. Yet here we are, 30 years later, having similar conversations. What would it take to institutionalize some of the changes that we seek?