Food and Food Banks

Everywhere I turn, the news about the world's food supply is dark and frightening. Rice has risen in price by more than 100% in many places during the past year and 45%in only a couple of months. For people who depend on rice as a staple of their diets, that's not good news.

Will "more" ever be enough? Has it ever been enough for us in the U.S., who have more money and food and clothes and homes than we could ever possibly need? People are starving worldwide and we're worried about how fast we can convert corn to biofuel for our SUVs.

I think about how easy it is for me to enjoy the ethnic foods I love and how horribly hard it is for millions of people to find enough food to simply sustain their lives. It makes me feel sick. Yet what do I do aside from expressing my moral outrage at the disparities I see? How much do you do?

There is no decency, no morality, in talking about compassion for the poor if there is no SIGNIFICANT, concrete action to back up those claims. Talking it up, expressing outrage at the unfairness of it all is, being a backseat liberal...it's all hypocrytical bullshit if not accompanied by something meaningful in the way of personal sacrifice and/or personal contribution to solutions.

It's painful to see that food banks, shelters for the homeless, and thrift stores in the U.S. are experiencing a sharp decline in donations at the moment when more and more people are finding themselves in financial straits because of loss of jobs, rising food costs, and rising costs to put gas in their cars.

There are ways to make a difference simply by making donations to food banks and the like. If we can't find it within ourselves to live less like royalty, at least we can find it within ourselves to share the wealth. Here are some organizations that could use help, to help others. Surely, if people can give to churches for feeding the "spiritual" needs of people, they can give to organizations that help people by putting food in their bellies:

Second Harvest
Alameda County Food Bank
Atlanta Community Food Bank
Capital Area Food Bank of Texas
Capital Area Food Bank (Wash., DC)
Community Food Banks of South Dakota
Eastern Illinois Food Bank
Farm Share
Feed My People Food Bank (west central Wisconsin)
Foodshare, Ventura (CA) County's Food Bank
Food Bank of Central Louisiana
Food Bank of Northeast Georgia
Food Bank of the Rockies
Food Bank for New York City
Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina
Gleaners Community Food Bank (Southeastern Michigan)
Good Shepherd Food Bank (Maine)
Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank
Greater Boston Food Bank
Greater Chicago Food Depository
Hawaii Food Bank
Houston Food Bank
Idaho Foodbank
Montana Food Bank Network
New Hampshire Food Bank
New Mexico Association of Food Banks
Northern Illinois Food Bank
North Texas Food Bank
Northwest Harvest
Omaha Food Bank
Oregon Food Bank
Rhode Island Community Food Bank
San Antonio Food Bank
Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee
Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties
Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties
Second Harvest, Inland Northwest (Eastern Washington, Northern Idaho
St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance (Arizona)
Utah Food Bank Services

There are many, many more. If you can't find one near you, send me an email and I'll find one for you.