I know that this country has some rich people who are quietly giving to address the need for food. There's also many commoners who have been volunteering to pick up, bag or box, and deliver food, ready it for distribution, and are change.
A recent survey of local food resources I did showed that local grocers had raised prices on everything to what the market will have to bear ($1.50 for a small can of beans from an American brand), that there were shortages at food banks, that a grab and go lunch at a church was cancelled long ago, as were lunches at local senior centers. However, there were a couple food distributions going on that I hadn't heard about and they're at branches of YMCA and YWCA!
I decided to volunteer for a couple hours just to see how it's done. The boss said to expect lots of produce. A handful of us put together about 10 "homeless" bags and then about 25 bags for those presumed to be able to cook. There was a lot of produce. There was also a generous donation of Trader Joe's prepared salads expiring that day.
There was such an excess of not yet ripe organic tomatoes, which the boss said would end up in a "landfill" that volunteers were told to take some home. So today I'm going to make a homemade tomato soup from the dozen I took and eat it, hopefully in a relaxing manner, while watching the swearing in ceremony.
A couple hours in the hot sun with rubber gloves dripping with sweat, and I was at my limits of participation. But I had to wonder. If this produce were more reasonable in price, couldn't more people have their pride in buying it? And, are stores taking tax deductions based on high retail prices?
As I prepared to go, people on foot with carts and people in vehicles - some SUVs of recent make - began to line up.
C 2021
