I spent that day listening to hundreds of people from all over the U.S. and Canada who deal with hunger, homelessness, health, agriculture, labor and other sectors where injustices are becoming more pronounced. It was the last day of a 3-day conference called "Closing the Hunger Gap," hosted by the Oregon Food Bank.
I knew I'd learn a lot, but the thoughts provoked by the people I met and listened to that day led to something more profound. My feelings are coalescing into anger. That's probably a good thing as we move inexorably into another election season that has as much substance as a vat of cotton candy.
From the breakout sessions I attended, I both regretted--and was glad--I had not attended all 3+ days of the conference. It would have been more overwhelming than my measly flood of produce and probably more than my brain could absorb - not because of negativity, but because of myriad inspiring conversations, ideas and keynote speakers. They coalesced the frustration I've been feeling for quite some time, but hadn't voiced with others. This was an opportunity for me, an outsider, to learn from people who deal with issues that are altering our communities and our country.
What You See and What You Don't
The "face" of the problem is the increasing homelessness in many communities. But that's more like the scab on a sore that's festering below the skin, unseen. We can ignore it or try to cover with "band-aids" to ease our consciences and make us feel better, but it does nothing to solve the problem in the long run. In spite of years of charity, the numbers are increasing. Is the help offered by armies of well-meaning volunteers and non-profits only exacerbating the situation by taking pressure off our politicians and titans of industry? The symptoms are being attended to but the root causes are not.
The visible homeless, with and about whom we feel most uncomfortable, are often those plagued by unattended mental illness or addictions. Surviving as best they can must only exacerbate the symptoms. A bowl of soup and temporary shelter in winter won't change their situations.
There are also "invisible" homeless all around us who show up for work and school every day. A shocking number of children in our own community have no real home; they may still be with one or both parents, but sleep in cars or constantly change locations (hotels, couches or floors of family and friends). They have no place to call home, let alone a room of their own in which to study or play or temporarily escape the fear and frustrations in their lives. How will that affect them as adults?
Universities now have food banks for students barely scraping by. Work-study jobs are designed to give them just one hour less than the number that would qualify them for employee benefits, saving the university money. However, that one hour also makes them ineligible for SNAP benefits (food stamps). Add this Catch-22 to the fact they'll likely graduate with debt they'll be saddled with for decades and their futures don't look as promising for having played by the rules and gotten an education as it did for previous generations. What does that portend for our future society?
Just as we judge all homeless by the most visible, we often judge all who use food banks as somehow failing as good citizens. Truth is, many of them work not only a job, but two or three, and still can't make ends meet because of high housing costs, a temporary or chronic health condition, abusive family situation or some other crisis in their lives. Why should low-wage earners who show up to work every day (they can't afford a sick day) feel shame in not being able to feed their families? Do their employers (especially those whose CEO makes millions) feel shame their employees need food banks? Are stockholders aware of it?
Situational or Generational?
Some who rely on food banks are infrequent users who feel shame in using them and thus avoid them. Many who qualify for SNAP (food stamp) benefits don't apply. Others are generational users for whom it is their way of life. They know how to work the system for their long-term advantage. We tend to judge the former by the latter, making their situation all the more uncomfortable. Hence, we rarely hear their stories. If we did, they might reveal more of the root causes of growing need.
In our increasingly global and investor-owned world, it's hard to put a finger on the root causes of food insecurity, lack of affordable housing, non-living wages and all the other injustices that are stewing at and just below the surface. There are many and they've been growing for a long time; the consequences are becoming increasingly visible and tangible. Our daily news shows where the scabs are being ripped off. The report may seem to be "just" about racism, health/obesity, labor strikes, housing starts, immigration, etc. but they are all related to access to jobs that pay a living wage, food, healthcare, housing, and education.
We were all brought up to believe that if you just get an education and work hard, you can achieve anything. It's still true for some, but an increasing number are exhausted from the treadmill that leads to nowhere. Someday there will be enough of them with just enough energy left to start a revolution to abolish the growing inequities - again. History does repeat itself and we must heed lessons from situations eerily similar to those in our history books. The civil rights movement did not settle racism, the women's rights movement didn't bring pay equity, wars have not brought world peace. Labor unions were formed when a few enjoyed great privilege and the masses got the crumbs. Laws to counter the inequities of the previous century have been steadily diluted to benefit the few again. Democracy can't be entrusted to the rich to dole out to the rest of us.
Keynote speaker at the conference, Nick Saul, told the story of an event in Canada where a cabinet minister commented that the happiest day of the year for her family was when they shopped together for food for the local food bank. A recipient whose family had to rely on such food while she went to school and worked several low-wage jobs spoke truth to power when she said, "There is no justice when your children get to choose what my children eat." That recipient, Nadia Edwards, was also part of the keynote session, along with Janet Poppendieck. Nadia not only got a degree in social work and initiated new educational support programs in food banks, but returned to school to become a nurse with the goal of working on the streets with the homeless. She's been on that tightrope; she understands. But she won't just be applying band-aids, she'll be poking at root causes and speaking more truth to power.
She's both inspirational and revolutionary.
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