Are Politics in Our Food Bank Programs?

by Elise Griffith

Bill "Boomer" Huntington has been a dedicated, reliable volunteer with Morro Bay's senior food bank program for more than 30 years. In his nineties, he's watched it grow from a simple distribution of day-old bread and baked goods to adding canned, boxed, and other nonperishable foods. In recent years they've also been supplying fresh produce, eggs, meat, and even over-the-counter medications several times per week at the Morro Bay Veteran's Hall.

What was once a program exclusive to city seniors that included deliveries by volunteers to shut-ins, expanded during the recession for any Morro Bay residents in need. According to Boomer, folks from outside of the small, coastal city came to pick up free food offerings as well.

Enter the Harvest Bag program of the San Luis Obispo Food Bank Coalition. Never mind Morro Bay had its own volunteers that picked up donations from Albertsons, Trader Joe's, and other sources — in addition to once monthly deliveries of meats from the Federal government — the group had more "pick-up" days per week than other local cities, which distribute free food only on Wednesdays.

It doesn't seem to matter whether or not Morro Bay has large warehouse facilities to store and sort contributions as, say Arroyo Grande, Paso Robles, or San Luis Obispo have available. The executive offices with San Luis Obispo's Food Bank Coalition in Paso Robles recently stepped in to bring Morro Bay's well oiled, successful workings of help for the needy into its own definition of what will (or won't) be available to the individuals and families served.

No longer can volunteers pick up donated produce a few times per week from Albertson's on Quintano. The same goes for Trader Joe's in either local location. Rather than setting up tables brimming with produce, eggs, and frozen meats, Morro Bay volunteers must now fill bags with a reduced amount of donations once per week, and every individual or family in need receives one bag. If there are any extra donations available, such as flats of strawberries donated by a local farmer, those items can also be distributed. The focus, however, is on one single bag, once per week.

Keep in mind, stores donate items of fresh produce that are either at (or past) the sell by date, or are otherwise not as fresh as customers would buy. Meaning, of course, the produce will go bad before the end of a week, even if refrigerated. Many folks won't see this as a problem, because — well, it's FREE to those served by the program. An attitude of "beggars can't be choosers" might easily come to the mind of readers, yet Morro Bay's dedicated volunteers can't understand why their successful program needed to be changed at all. Particularly when those changes mean less food available to needy, many of who are seniors on fixed incomes. Those seniors are why the program was started so many years ago.

This issue truly does bring up a few important questions — What gives a few folks in an office that's located in another city the right to dictate what another city offers to its residents, and what's behind their interference? Has politics entered into local food bank programs? If so, does it belong there?