Celebrate Food Banks!
During the pandemic, our local food bank, The Food Depot, helped many people survive, literally. They rock. Today they run a drive-through food distribution at the Santa Fe warehouse, offer mobile distributions in outlying communities like Mora, Pecos, Abiquiu, and El Rito, have food mobile stops in other villages, collaborate with Pueblo partners and dozens of other partner agencies in northern New Mexico, and support more than 20 schools to receive staples and fresh foods for students. One of their many community programs is a Casita de Comida no-cost market where customers can shop for free.
The Food Depot just lost $200,000 in TEFAP (The Emergency Food Assistance Program) federal funds, which provides food at no cost through the US Department of Agriculture. Other food banks across the country are facing the same shortfalls due to current federal cutbacks.
When I think about what I want to support in June, my choice is to celebrate food banks. When we celebrate food banks through our gifts, time, energy, we’re strengthening not only our community’s physical health, yet also its peace of mind. Knowing where your next meal is coming from significantly reduces anxiety and depression. As two long-time supporters of the Food Depot said, Children cannot grow and thrive if they are food insecure.
Child hunger in the US
Child hunger is a major problem in the US. One in every five kids does not have enough to eat. Our long-term record for supporting children: their health, nourishment, and education has been weak compared to other wealthy countries. We rank #36 to 38 out of 38 nations. This picture is not likely to improve in the near future, at least not through federal action.
Ayurveda, the dhatus, essential tissues
In Ayurveda, the dhatus are the seven essential tissues that support life. They are our key resources: plasma, blood cells, muscle, fat, bone, nerves and bone marrow, reproductive tissue. Through these, our bodies build ojas, our immunity and cushion. Each of these dhatus needs to receive what is essential for their deepest health. This comes through food, water, and breath. (You can read more about this in Morningstar, The Ayurvedic Guide to Polarity Therapy, pp 167 – 174 & 228 – 235.) As adults, we can get by with poor choices or unintended depletion, at least for a little while. Yet kids’ tissues really need steady nourishment. When we celebrate food banks, we’re nourishing our communities’ deepest resources, our kids.
Ethics, inner vision, wisdom
Ethically I celebrate food banks as a clear positive choice. It’s win-win. The Prayer of Kuntuzangpo states, There is a single ground. We are all connected. From this perspective as well, the choice is clear.
My inner vision urges me to not label people good or bad. That way of thinking has gotten us to this passionately divided and painful place we’re in right now. Far-reaching governmental decisions about spending are being made by the slimmest of margins (this draconian budget bill passed the House this week 215 – 214). Sentient beings and the environment are being badly treated – immigrants, citizens, federal workers, vets. To hold with this and not get eaten alive with fury, is a struggle. Wisdom urges kindness. Take a breath.
Where I live and what this means for us here
I live here in the southwestern US. Within these lands are sovereign nations, the tribes and the pueblos. Their values and respect for the land and all beings color my ethics. So many Indigenous people have held strong and protected this land and a respect-based way of life for many centuries. It is a high standard and an inspiration. Native Organizers Alliance is one group that has kept me informed and inspired.
The US population as a whole values environmental protection more than one might gather from the late-night news. According to a 2018 climate opinion poll, an overwhelming majority of individuals believe that environmental protection is more important than economic growth (as cited in Astra Taylor, Democracy May Not Exist, But We’ll Miss It When It’s Gone, 2019, a great read on many levels).
Food comes from the earth. Protecting land and the people who nurture it are part of an interconnected web that gets food to tables and food to food banks. While big ag is happy with the budget bill that just passed, practitioners of sustainable agriculture are not.
Here in the Southwest, the climate is tough. Some foods grow well, yet we’re at the mercy of limited water, drought, and wildly varying temperatures. To celebrate food banks recognizes this essential cushion in an unpredictable life. The web of food growing and delivery is a complex one that includes kids needing nourishment, unpredictable weather, climate change, farmers, grocery stores, farmers markets, community organizers, school lunch programs, and so much more. While New Mexico is definitely dealing with food insecurity, there are at least ten states in worse straits than us.
To grow food, we need water. New Mexico is anticipating a 25% reduction in available water in coming years. When one resource is depleted, you risk depleting others. New Mexico has become, surprisingly, the US’s second largest producer of oil and gas. (Green Fire Times, Jan/Feb 2024, p 11). Communities here struggle to protect scarce water from both the petroleum industry and mining. While big oil promotes produced water, its reused water as an answer to New Mexico shortages, the quality of this water is in question.
Mining is common here in the West, and it also impacts food and water safety. (There’s a dormant mine just one ridge over from my home here in the forest. Periodically international companies want to reopen and exploit it. This is not a theoretical issue for me or my neighbors.) Globally, more than half of all the energy transition minerals and metals (ETMs) needed for a renewable energy transition have been found on, or close to, Indigenous people’s lands (University of Melbourne study, quoted in Green Fire Times, Jan/Feb, p. 110). To protect land and kids we need to pay attention.
Celebrate Food Banks
This is a small window in, about what’s happening where I live. Yet the conditions you’re facing in your community most likely include different flavors. Is there a community food bank in your area that needs support? Time as well as money is appreciated. There is so much to do. Check out the Resources below to start exploring where you might want to celebrate this June. I’ll be celebrating with you.
Resources
Celebrate Food Banks Summer Fruits and Pecans Mandala much thanks to Penney Hubbard. More of her vibrant nature-inspired work can be seen here.
Amadea Morningstar is a writer and health educator working in the US. Her latest book is Easy Healing Drinks from the Wisdom of Ayurveda. Past works include The Ayurvedic Cookbook with Urmila Desai, Ayurvedic Cooking for Westerners, and The Ayurvedic Guide to Polarity Therapy.