Like many of you, I’ve been thinking so much, so often, about the 47 million Americans—more than 13 million kids included—who don’t have enough food. My nine-year-old, Holden, regularly eats two or three times what I do; he grows faster than I can believe, and I do not ever take it for granted. When he asks for more food, I’m elated. He is so lucky to be able to ask for that and have the answer be yes, 100% of the time.
Yes, it’s the holidays, and yes, our current president doesn’t seem to care how many people lose SNAP benefits, but food insecurity—probably due to who I grew up with and what I do for a living—is front of mind for me most of the time. If I pay a certain amount for groceries, I’m frustrated and stressed out about my credit card bill, but I have the honor to be able to mostly brush it off. Imagine when that isn’t the case. Imagine being so hungry that you don’t have the energy you need to go about your day—let alone what it’s like to see your child feel that way.
Again, yes, it’s Giving Tuesday, and you, like me, are probably getting emails from dozens of organizations taking advantage of that (as they should!)—and no, this particular newsletter is not totally dissimilar. I’m putting it out today because I know people are listening and looking for ways to help, and I want to share with you the names of a number of organizations that are doing good work to keep people fed—including one in my own neighborhood.
The below post was written by Holden after we volunteered for a two-hour shift at West Side Campaign Against Hunger a couple weeks ago. Giving money is great, but actually showing up physically and doing the work is also really rewarding, and I was so glad to have the opportunity to do so with Holden by my side. We’ll go back again soon. – Kate
I went to a church and bagged food for people who needed it. At the church I did two things. One was to make cards. The other one was bagging the food. I made about four cards and each one was going to be given to one of the people who needed it. The next thing I did was bagging the food. My job was to put two bags of rice in the bag and pass it to my mom who would double knot it and toss it in a bin. So the process went like this: step, grab, bag, slide, and repeat. Some of the other foods in the bag were pasta, peanut butter, oats, and canned food (such as beans).
After that, I broke down the boxes that had been used and went home.
The organization is called West Side Campaign Against Hunger. They give out (deep breath) more than 5,000,000 pounds of food (exhale) to more than 100,000 people who need it, every year.
One thing I learned was that if the people who need the food don’t have a home, they go to a friend’s house to cook it. I felt proud about myself for doing this and the article. Thank you for the interview, Bittman Project. ~ Sincerely, Holden
Here’s a short list of some of the organizations that are near and dear to the Bittman family:
- West Side Campaign Against Hunger (see above!) Today, all donations will be tripled, up to $30,000.
- God’s Love We Deliver cooks and home-delivers nutritious, medically tailored meals for people affected by severe and chronic illness. Mark is on the Culinary Council. Now through December 9th, a generous donor will match all donations.
- Why Hunger helps connect people in need with nutritious food and provides critical resources to fuel long-term solutions to hunger rooted in social, environmental, racial, and economic justice. (Listen to Executive Director Jenique Jones on our podcast.)
- Glynwood is one of the few organizations in the United States that explicitly focuses on fostering a regional food system. Mark’s partner, Kathleen Finlay, is president.
- Community Kitchen is Mark’s innovative non-profit restaurant concept. Thanks to overwhelming community support, it will be staying open through December. After that, Community Kitchen will be diving into analysis, evaluation, and planning to transform the pilot into a full-scale, ongoing restaurant model in the coming year. Community Kitchen is rallying donations and pledges totaling $200,000 by December 31, and a generous donor is providing a $50,000 matching grant.
- Rise & Root Farm is a QT+BIPOC-centered farm rooted in social justice, located in the Hudson Valley, with a focus on providing greater food access to those most in need, and educating people about food, farming, and the food system. (Listen to founder Karen Washington on our podcast.)
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