Upon receiving the service learning project assignment, I was dumbfounded. Who did I want to volunteer for? What did I want to do - better yet, in between a full time job and school, when could I do it? It was then that I decided to start with the basic question: who needs help?
In class, we read an article called Food First: 12 Myths About Hunger which discussed the many misconceptions many people like myself have about the issue of world hunger. The most shocking truth that was revealed to me was that "abundance, not scarcity, best describes the world's food supply. Enough wheat, rice and other grains are produced to provide every human being with 3,200 calories a day." (Food First pg. 1) Apparently that doesn't even include meat, fruits & vegetables. This fact caught me off-guard. If there is such an abundant supply of food, why are there so many people going hungry worldwide? The truth is, not everyone is given the same opportunities in life. A lot of it has to do with where you're born, what race you are, and sometimes - even what gender you are. The Food First article goes on to discuss the real reason - "...it results from underlying inequalities that deprive people, especially poor women, of economic opportunity and security." (Food First pg. 2)
So I decided to use the little time I had to make a big impact in lives less fortunate than my own. With the objective of using the knowledge and different perspectives I've gained from class readings, discussions, and life experiences to help better the world and the community around me, I gathered a group of friends, a few loaves of bread and two really big jars of peanut butter and jelly. Later that day, after all the PB&J's were made, I walked down the street from my apartment in Downtown Dallas with my friends and food in tow. It only took two blocks before meeting someone who would gladly accept a free PB&J, the man idling on a street bench thanked us greatly and smiled humbly. It seemed to take him by surprise that a few well-dressed college students were randomly handing out food, but he didn't question. It was apparent that the man had little but what he wore and the contents of his ratty old backpack. By the second and third person, we had begun to see a pattern. Seemingly normal people that were idling on benches and stoops out of the sun's reach, thanking us over and over. It really touched my heart that someone's day could be made with a free sandwich.
One man asked us if we were Christians and college students, to which we all replied yes. He just smiled.
An excerpt we read in class called Stolen Harvest proposed the idea of Food Totalitarianism - "in which a handful of corporations control the entire food chain and destroy alternatives so that people do not have access to diverse, safe foods produced ecologically." (Shiva pg. 17) I really saw an example of this idea while walking around Dallas and interacting with these less fortunate people - the few that had food had bought it from the nearest 7-11 - because it was cheapest food around. However, none of this food was sustainably produced or even healthy. Corporations such as 7-11, McDonalds, and other fast food chains have so much buying power, and yet they choose to buy and sell things that are terrible for both the environment and one's health. With this in mind, seeing the poor people's options made me very sad, and at the same time grateful for everything I have and am able to afford.
Another in-class article, Spoiled: Organic and Local is So 2008, presented this fact: "by 2050, 70 percent of the world's population is expected to live in or near cities." (Spoiled pg 3) At this rate, how many of those people will be hungry? The fact that the companies who control the largest amount of the world's food care the least about its effect on the world is a very scary thing. However, when interacting with those less fortunate that my friends and I were able to help, I realized that I was not only giving a meal, I was giving hope. It felt good to share my wealth and give back to those in need. It felt as if it were almost a responsibility. But is it our responsibility to feed the homeless and the hungry? According to Food First, not necessarily. "It's not our job to 'set things right' for others. Our responsibility is to remove the obstacles in their paths, obstacles often created by large corporations and U.S. government, World Bank and IMF policies." (Food First pg. 3)
This service learning project not only taught me to be grateful, it taught me that those idling homeless people scattered around my community are just like myself, but with more obstacles in their way and less money in their pocket. It taught me that I could give hope with a sandwich, and that if I really want to help, the first step comes before feeding the hungry - advocating the right trade policies, the removal of the obstacles affecting those in need and bettering the quality of food thats made available to them.
- Meredith Whittier
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