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I grew up in a small town in the Finger Lakes region of New York. By small town, I mean that when you were at a traffic light, you knew the families who sat in the cars at the other three points of the intersection!
My father worked in roofing and construction; my mother worked two jobs to try to make ends meet. With three children, our family was below the income guidelines, and we received food assistance. As a child, I did not really know what that meant. I knew that I had a yellow punch card for the school lunch line, which allowed me a free lunch. I knew I felt embarrassed by that. I knew that my mom paid for groceries with something other than cash, and I thought she must have felt ashamed.
I remember one shopping trip when someone she knew was in line behind us. After engaging in conversation, it was time for my mother to pay our total. With some hesitation, she removed cash from an envelope rather than pay with Food Stamps in front of her friend. I also knew that there were nights when my mother "was not hungry." They coincided with the nights that there was not any food left after the three of us children ate dinner. I knew that once a month my mother brought home a box of food from a church and we opened it like it was Christmas! I knew that we ate bread and milk as our breakfast cereal, while my friends thought that sounded gross. But, other than that, I did not know what food insecurity meant.
Food occupied much of my thoughts, and it still does. While everyone defines success differently, my younger self thought when I "made it" I could go to the grocery store and buy the ingredients for whatever recipe I wanted to make. But, until then, I would search and search in cookbooks until I found a recipe that we had all the ingredients for. The NIV translation of 2 Corinthians 11:27 says, "I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure." Paul also knew what it was to be in plenty and want. Because I grew up food insecure, I went through a time as an adult when I would not just buy enough food for my meals, but I would over-buy and stock up. My resolution this year is to not be wasteful, and I can keep that by remembering what it was like to open the cupboard and only see cans of pork and beans and tomato soup.
Every year, I tell my youth group the story of Stone Soup. Perhaps you remember it. A man travels to a village. By the time he gets there, he is hungry. He asks the villagers for something to eat, but not a single person has something to share. So, he puts a large pot over a fire, adds water and a stone, and starts stirring. Curious, the villagers start to come close. "What is it you are making?" they ask. "Stone soup…and it is just about done." But, after taking a taste, he says, "It could use some carrots." One of the villagers announces that he has some carrots to add. The traveler takes another sip, and the soup needs celery. Another villager contributes that ingredient, and so on and so on until the soup is ready and the whole village shares a meal together. It would be a daunting task to try to end hunger alone. But, if I contribute carrots and you contribute celery and our neighbors share what they have, we can feed a village!
This Sunday, February 13th, is Super Bowl Sunday. In 2021, a thirty second commercial during the Super Bowl cost six million dollars to purchase. A thirty second commercial! Feeding America turns one dollar into ten meals. One commercial could provide sixty million meals…just one commercial!
Many churches around the country will be participating in the Souper Bowl of Caring this Sunday to help raise awareness about food insecurity. Our church, for example, will be bowling on Saturday night, and all of the bowlers will bring donations for the United Churches of Lycoming County's Food Pantry. The following day, after service, we will be having a simple lunch of soup and bread. Again, we will accept donations for our local food pantries and Blessing Boxes.
If you would like to take an additional step, encourage your US Congressional and Senatorial delegates, as they continue to work to negotiate the Build Back Better Legislation, to join us in our learning and in our commitment to serving those most in need. The Build Back Better Act would make historic investments in proven child nutrition programs.
These provisions would help reduce hunger, improve health, and support children's academic achievement in states across the U.S. A 2020 study shows that one in seven children in Pennsylvania struggle with hunger; that is 399,270 children. Lycoming County has a child food insecurity rate higher than the state average at 17.2%, and in 2018, had identified 4,040 food insecure children.
Bring your carrots, and bring your celery. As a village, we can end hunger so that no child has to wonder where his/her next meal is coming from!
For further information, visit www.tacklehunger.org, www.bread.org, and www.feedingamerica.org.
Tammey L. Aichner, First Church of Christ (Disciples), Williamsport.