About Connections: Love it or hate it, history is a map. Those who hate history think it irrelevant; many who love history think it escapism. In truth, history is the clearest road map to how we got here: America in the twenty-first century.
In the mid-eighteenth century, once the dangers of the French Indian War were quelled, settlers poured into the western part of Hampshire County (later Berkshire County). Inside the circle of mountains, there was land, and there were waterways, but it was not Shangri-La. The settlers had to struggle to break ground and plant. They were dependent upon the weather, the soil, and their own backs to produce food. They had to produce every morsel they ate. If there was a draught, a protracted winter; if the ground was hard, or the root and rock outcroppings were stubborn, there was a shortage of food. There was the possibility of real hunger, and unless neighbor helped neighbor hunger could turn to starvation.
Today, we have progressed beyond that point. Food is massed produced and distributed with a speed unknown in centuries past. Along with the hand plow and shank’s mare, hunger should be history — but it is not.
“Hunger is all around us in Berkshire County whether we know it or not,” says George Himmell, Executive Director, Veteran’s Food Pantry of Lanesborough, Mass. “We see people who keep their houses impossibly cold and do not fill their prescriptions just to be able to buy food. We help with the food so they have money for heat and medicine.”
“The lowest 40 percent of wage earners in Berkshire County require assistance or they face hunger,” according to Paul deSlaurieas, Executive Director, Co-Act, a community action organization. “Beginning in 2008 the food pantries and meals sites ran out of food constantly at the end of each month. Further, they had no fresh produce.”
Concomitantly, the diabetes rate in Berkshire County climbed to the highest in the Commonwealth. Hunger is not simply a lack of food, according to the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts; hunger is also a lack of nutritious food.
Co-Act was formed with the goal of feeding the poor and feeding them well. Co-Act approached the food retailers to supply food and local farmers to supply produce. It established Food Net to collect produce from local farmers and feed it into nine distribution sites in Central Berkshire and two in South Berkshire.
Later, it expanded when it created the “Grow an extra row” program. This initiative approached gardens such as Lenox Garden Club and individual gardeners and asked them to grow an extra row in their garden to donate to Food Net. Co-Act collected 500 packets of heirloom seeds to give to the willing gardeners. When they harvested, they took the crops to a series of drop-off sites throughout the county set up by Food Net and from these the food went to the 11 pantries and meals sites.
In 2009 Food Net provided 6,000 pounds of fresh produce to the pantries and meal sites; in 2010, 11,000 pounds, in 2011 18,000 pounds and 20,000 pounds per year thereafter. Any excess produce is preserved for serving over the winter months.
The Veteran’s Pantry which is defined as a medium sized pantry supplies 18,000 pounds of food every month
During the worst of the last Recession, as expected, the number needing assistance went up. Then two things happened that were unexpected: the number requiring assistance did not simply increase, it skyrocketed, and it never went down. Usually, the need for assistance is cyclical – moving up and down with economic indicators. This time the increase was sharp and never went down. In the last six years pantries and meals sites have served an ever-increasing number.
The reason is not the number of unemployed, it is the number of under-employed, that is, the working poor. Corporations choose to hire part-time workers and thereby avoid paying benefits. The result is a part-time employee whose salary does not sustain his/her family.
Agreeing with Himmell, deSlaurieas says, “The employee cannot pay for both housing and food. They pay rent and use pantries, food stamps, and meal centers for food.” He adds, “We are subsidizing corporate America; they underpay and drive their staff to us.”
The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts considers Berkshire County to be in the best position of the four counties it funds. Unfortunately, being the best is not good enough. The Berkshire County system is overtaxed.
“Once we could give 2 bags of groceries per family; now we can only give one,” deSlaureas says.
Co-Act is continuing to encourage individuals to plant an extra row for produce. They are also establishing drop-offs in post offices all over county so individuals can help by dropping off nonperishables.
Not for the first time, our community must band together to provide food for all or some will suffer hunger and some will starve.
Go to the Food Bank for Western Massachusetts www.foodbankwma.org for more information. Coming up in Berkshire County: A showing of Meryl Joseph’s documentary, “City Farmers,” at Bard College at Simon’s Rock Lecture Center April 9 at 7 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.
And then on April 11, also at Simon’s Rock, a conference on food and sustainable living at Bard College of Simon’s Rock: “Think Food, sponsored by the newly established Center for Food Studies at Simon’s Rock and The Nutrition Center.
