Paradigm shifts

I've been out of the office more than in these last two weeks, attending a Feeding America meeting and a training session provided by Bank of America.  Time away is good, time to connect with others doing this work, time to think about who we are and where we're going, and time to consider the other big questions attached to our mission of ending hunger.

I was particularly struck by a comment made by my friend John Becker, CEO of the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia, in Athens, Georgia.  He was talking about the need to ask more questions and how that might result in a paradigm shift.  His example as about going to a food pantry and asking the question, "Why all the canned goods?"  The pantry volunteers replied, "Because that's what these people want - they don't know how to use fresh food."

So, he went outside and asked the clients lined up at the food pantry, "Why all the canned goods?"  And they said, "Because that's all they give us here."

At Foodshare, we have certainly demonstrated this paradigm shift over the last dozen years.  Today, fully half of the food that Foodshare distributes is fresh produce, and a signficant additional percentage is other fresh and perishable foods.  Low-income people do want this food, they do know how to use it, we just had to find a way to get it to them, which happens largely through the Mobile Foodshare program.

Where else do we need a paradigm shift?

• Why is the pantry only open two hours in the middle of weekday?  With more and more working poor people needing help with food, and more and more working people wanting meaningful volunteer opportunities, wouldn't some evening or weekend hours make sense?
• And, you know, why does Foodshare not have more evening and weekend hours for those people who want to volunteer and cannot come during a weekday?
• Why does my church (or synagogue or school or workplace) run a canned food drive?  Are there better ways to attack this problem?
• Why are so many people who are eligible for federal food assistance like SNAP, free school breakfast, or summer food for children not receiving these benefits?  What can we do about it?
• Why are there so few grocery stores in low-income neighborhoods?  Should we try to open more stores or should we design transportation systems to get people to the stores with good selection and prices?

What other questions do we need to ask?  Where else might we need a paradigm shift?  Feel free to e-mail me your thoughts at gmcadam@foodshare.org!