Lunch Plans

So I went shopping on Sunday and here is what I bought:

What you are looking at is lunch for me, the other two VISTAs, and our amazing supervisor, Melody Porter, for the week. With the exception of a can of soup from yesterday—our entire meal plan for lunches is on the table. Monday’s lunch was the two cans of vegetables and melted cheese sandwiches.

This food and the meals we are eating this week are based on the guidelines of food provided to families that visit FISH, a local food pantry. Looking at this table of food I’m already hungry and mentally watching the supplies deplete with despair—and we are just eating on this system for a week, for one meal a day, knowing that we all go home to plenty of food. This is just a small picture of hunger in Williamsburg, a daily reality for 20.7% of the population who are food insecure and must make continual calculations about how to divide up their insufficient food supply and must continually face a table with not enough food on it. I know this week will change the way I think about hunger and again, it’s only a week.

If you want to know more about hunger and how students in Williamsburg are addressing the issue, check out Molly Bulman’s, Student Coordinator of The Campus Kitchens at William and Mary, video speaking up about hunger awareness: SpeakUP: Molly & Hunger Awareness.