I had never heard the phrase, “food insecurity,” until a few months ago.
I realize, of course, the privilege embedded in a statement like that. Not having heard the phrase means not having to worry about food. I’ve never wondered where my next meal would come from. And I certainly have never had to decide between paying for food or paying my rent.
My hardest food decisions have been figuring out which restaurants served food that my children would eat.
The synagogue religious school where I teach ran family learning programs this year regarding food insecurity. Each grade participated in a learning activity about the role food plays in our lives and the ways that people’s food needs influence their decisions each day. Parents shared in the learning with their children and everyone received information about local residents struggling with food insecurity.
The activities culminated in a synagogue-wide event. Synagogue members, students and staff packed bags of Passover food and groceries for local residents struggling with food insecurity. Plus, as opposed to shipping the bags to a different location, the food was handed directly to the people in need who had come to wait outside the synagogue for their groceries.
My family and I loved getting involved. I helped with some of the heavier lifting, unloading bags of potatoes and sugar and moving filled grocery bags from the packing line to the delivery window. T packed more grocery bags than any of us could count. My son thoroughly enjoyed breaking down the empty boxes, which was a much more necessary job than it sounds. And my daughter packed grocery bags and slipped Covid tests into the already-finished ones.
I came down to the food drive immediately after teaching so I hadn’t been outside at all beforehand. When T and S came to the synagogue, however, they saw some of the people waiting to pick up groceries.
I stopped in my tracks when I heard the length of the line.
As I said, I realize the privilege I hold as a white, cis-gendered man living in New York City. I know that T and I work hard to earn our living but that there are still societal and financial challenges that we simply don’t have to consider. But that is exactly why I was thankful that we could see firsthand how many people struggle with food decisions. It added a level of understanding to our work that we would not have had otherwise.
We debriefed together as a family at dinner that evening. We talked about the fun we had working together and the meaning behind our efforts. Our kids asked questions about the circumstances that might cause people to become insecure about their ability to buy food. We discussed our responsibilities as Jews to help others and the significance of actually seeing the impact of our efforts.
T and I also spoke about the reasons for holding the food drive at this time of year. We gather together on Passover to celebrate our ancestors’ journey from slavery to freedom. We recount the story of the Israelites’ travels to Egypt because of a famine in Canaan, their imprisonment and forced labor at the hand of the new Pharaoh, and their eventual exodus to independence. The meal is a feast of thanksgiving: “Once we were slaves; now we are free.”
Our children may not understand the meaning of privilege the same way that T and I do. They still ask for new toys and books and need reminding of all that they already have. But they definitely understood the link between helping with a food drive and the Israelites’ need for food in the Bible. They connected the Israelites’ travels to Egypt during a famine with local residents coming to our synagogue to pick up grocery bags. They were surprised at the number of people who came to pick up food but even happier to help.
During the seder, we recite the verse, “Let all who are hungry come and eat with us.” We may not mean that literally these days – for various reasons – but the intent is clear. Even if those who are hungry do not eat physically at our seder, we want to help them be able to eat at their own.
Everyone deserves to taste freedom.
If you’d like to learn more about food insecurity in New York City, please visit City Harvest. For more information about food insecurity in your neighborhood, please visit Feeding America.
