This week Jen and I worked with our friends at the Lakeview Pantry, but we helped out in an unusual way, at least for us. Instead of helping distribute the Pantry's food, we helped collect it.
The Pantry gets food from many sources. The largest single source is the Greater Chicago Food Depository, which we have written about in previous posts, but they also get donations from grocery stores like Trader Joe's and from individuals through food drives. The source that I think is the coolest is the Green City Market, the farmer's market that takes place in Lincoln Park every Wednesday and Saturday throughout the summer. (It goes on during the colder months too, but it goes indoors). For the last three years, Lakeview Pantry has been giving the farmers at the market an option to donate some of their produce that would otherwise not be sold. The farmers had been composting those items that would not keep until the next market, or that did not look good enough to sell, but were still fine to eat. Now, the Pantry comes to the market with volunteers, hands out donation bins to all the farmers, and then collects whatever the farmers have to give.
The Pantry has distribution on Saturday mornings, so when you volunteer for the market run, you are pretty much on your own. Since we had not done it before, we were careful to get very specific directions about when and how to go about our duties. We hopped in the Pantry's cargo van and got down to the market ahead of schedule, but we lost some time trying to park. Parking in the area of the market is always hard, and with all the vendors and all the shoppers, and us in a great big van, it was really just a matter of luck that we got a spot after only three circuits of the area. Once we "landed" we walked around the market, which was very busy, and found out where we were supposed to be. The Pantry sets up right next to the composting/recycling/trash area in order to catch any farmers who might not know about the option to donate. When we got to that spot, we were almost immediately approached by a really nice farmer who was worried that the Pantry was not going to be there that week. Apparently, they are used to the volunteers coming around with bins earlier than we were told to do it. It was no worries though. That farmer grabbed a few bins and went off to pack them up.
We collected the food in plastic bins with hinged tops. If you have ever been to a farmer's market, you will know what kind of bins I mean - all of the vendors use them. We brought about 45 of those bins along, with the expectation of filling more than half of them, at least. The friendly farmer came back twice for more of them. I stayed with the pile of bins while Jen took some on a cart around to all the vendors. Since the Pantry has been doing this for some time now, the farmers did not need any convincing. Basically every vendor who sold produce gave us something. We also got a flour sack full of buns from a baker. It was a beautiful day to hanging around in the park, with 70 degrees, sunshine and a light breeze, so we had a wonderful time with our work.
Once all the bins were out and the farmers were all breaking down their tents, we collected the bins and loaded up the van and headed back to the pantry. We unloaded all of the bins there, weighed them, inventoried what was donated and then refrigerated the bins that needed it (mostly the leafy green and herbs). It turned out that we had gotten 29 bins full, totaling 877 pounds of produce, plus the sack of bread. That number makes it a good haul, but somewhere in the middle of the range for the life of the program. It seems the best load was about 1100-1200 pounds (all apples, tomatoes and cucumbers...) and that the low end is down around 500 pounds. Looking at all of what we collected, and thinking that it otherwise would have gone to waste, I was really glad that the Pantry puts in the effort to collect it.
It reminded me of a fact that we keep coming across in our volunteer work: For the last 15 years or so, there has been more food grown on earth than is needed to feed the population of earth. Right now, we produce enough food to give every person on earth 2800 calories per day. That is enough to make everyone a little fat, much less to make them healthy. So why do some people have nothing to eat? And where are all those calories going? While some people eat way more than 2800 calories in a day, I can't imagine overeating accounts for the discrepancy. Food is wasted all the time. Now, I know why some people have and others don't. Self-interest and desire to have the most of everything will always beat out the instinct to share and make sure everyone has enough. But I am still glad we could be a part of collecting a little of the food that isn't good enough for those with access to their 2800 calories and more, and give it to those who need it, even if it isn't polished, pristine, perfect produce. This was a fulfilling, wonderful day for us, and we will definitely look to do it again.
For more information about the Pantry and its many programs, go to Lakeview Pantry.
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