Day Three Food Stamp Challenge

Is a container of bread crumbs a baking ingredient, a starch like rice or noodles, or snack food?

 

This Sunday afternoon three adults and 7 children/teens from Temple Beth-El in Jersey City encountered that challenge when we sorted food at the Community Food Bank of New Jersey in Hillside for 2 hours, thanks to the efforts of our temple member Jessi who put the trip together.

  

Each year the Food Bank assists over 1500 partner agencies, distributing over 39 million pounds of food in 18 New Jersey counties, helping to feed 900,000 people. Since incorporating in 1982, they have distributed over 400 million pounds of food and groceries valued at nearly 1 billion dollars.

In the last two years they have seen a 40% increase in food needs.

Our small part was sorting some of the hundreds of mixed boxes of food that came from food drives.  We resorted into boxes by food type: coffee, other beverages, canned foods, canned proteins, baking foods, cereals, snacks, health and beauty, bottled water, pet foods, rice/pasta, baby foods, paper goods, pet foods and a few more.  It was family day, so there were lots of young children in the section where we were working.  That made it so much fun – teaching the little ones that a can of kidney beans was protein, not just a regular vegetable. 

On the way back we talked in the car about why our teens did this. One fifteen year old was very clear about her motivation: not to feel good or proud of herself, but because it was the right thing to do to live up to your obligations to society and humanity. 

So, day three of my Food Stamp Challenge included a renewed sense of urgency to give higher priority to our temple’s weekly collection of canned food.  I’m thinking of calling it “Beyond the High Holy Day Food Drive.” 

 

And I’m sure our teens will be volunteering at the Food Bank again this year.  

After all, now we know that bread crumbs go in the baking supplies box.

P.S.  For those curious about my week's food supply: today I reduced it (i.e. ate) bowl of cereal with milk, banana, yogurt, two slices of toast, some pasta, 3 turkey Italian sausages, some tomato sauce, and red leaf lettuce salad.