“Leaving Food On The Table During This Pandemic”
William Jackson, M.Ed.
My Quest To Teach
The pandemic has affected families across this nation, it has disrupted jobs, isolated families, created divisions between people in politics and social justice
issues.
The pandemic also has shown the disparities between families and their security in food. There are many lessons that have been learned; the access to food, housing and living a life with family that is consistent with living in the United States of America. The reality is that even before the pandemic families where already experiencing challenges in obtaining food and food that
was healthy.
Food deserts, food insecurity and food deficiency are words that are used in the media constantly when the discussions centers on what is lacking in millions of American homes. This nation has grown use to seeing other countries lacking of food, other countries with children crying when hungry and no food is available, other countries where parents are weeping because their children are hungry and there is no food. Scenes of parents not begging for
themselves, but for their children.
The pandemic is showing that Americans are no different than what is going on around the world and yes it has touched Black, White and other cultures. My wife and I have been volunteering at food distributions with our church, with community organizations and obtained food for families that do not have transportation to even get to the many sites that are distributing food.
Organizations like Farm Share https://www.farmshare.org/
have been doing the work in communities across this nation for years. Because of the devastation of families that are in deep need of food now Farm Share and others are being highlighted by news media to share what resources are available to communities
that are in need.
Many parents and grandparents do not have to tell their children not to leave food on the table because there are starving children in the world. Now parents and grandparents in this nation are the starving families and children are eating every morsel of food because they may not be able to eat a consistent meal during the week. Schools can only provide so much, children from elementary to high school, colleges and universities have had to deal with food insecurity from time to time with students, but now the need is greater because many students cannot receive help to get food from their families
because their families are struggling as well.
Lessons that should be learned for this nation that cross cultural, generational, gender and racial lines families are in need of consistent, nutritious and life giving food. Not food filled with sugars, chemicals, artificial ingredients and foods that just fill stomachs and not nourish the body. Farm Share’s calendar of distribution shows across the nation where the next food give always are so families can prepare to attend and obtain what is needed without getting out of their vehicles. Where people can obtain food for the elderly that are not mobile where people that are disabled
can receive food that does help build strong bodies.
The United States of America is not as secure as we are lead to believe there are more homeless, there are more mental health issues, there is more poverty, there is more of an educational system where students are not being serviced as they should be and Black and Brown children are not receiving quality education because of alternative initiatives impacted in racism and injustice. Farm Share is providing services for all families on distribution days.
https://www.farmshare.org/fooddistributions
William is the digital innovator for his brand My Quest To Teach using the hashtag #MyQuestToTeach sharing his journey teaching, mentoring,
community activism and community collaborations.