you
I'm going today and I'm going to take a look at what it's like to go to a food
pantry I'm gonna go and I'm gonna see what is it like who comes to the food
pantries what is the atmosphere and what are the myths
I'm gonna do some myth-busting today and I'm gonna open up a world of thinking
about the food pantry and how it affects people's lives are the people that come
to a food pantry do they look really poor do they look really distraught or
are they more middle-class are they are they happy are they sad what is the
atmosphere I'm gonna share with you a little bit of insights I'm really
nervous I've never done anything like this before but I really want to gain
knowledge and I want to gain wisdom on a part of her life that a lot of us don't
understand and a part that many of us do understand so I'm gonna share with you I
cannot film because of the dudes to the nature of this video I will not doing
any filming because it's a very personal thing that we are doing today you know
my thought and insight on the food pantry and let you know what I thought
about it is it like for tens of millions of people the first time they go to a
food pantry what would be like you know today our heart race like mine
do they feel nervous you know putting yourself in other people's shoes it can
be a real life-changing it a moment to realize that all of the feelings that
they're feeling I'm driving for the first time to this food pantry I'm going
to share with you a little bit why I'm going and the reason for it but I'm
feeling the apprehension that I bet everybody felt when they first go to a
food pantry so I'll show you a little bit later all of the things I've learned
from it
so the one thing we noticed that all the vehicles are actually even nicer than
mine so they drive nice vehicles and so that is something that was too
surprising to me I thought maybe they would have order vehicles but they're
actually very nice vehicles that they have so it was so much fun
one Saturday of every month they put all the food out for the community and what
doesn't get eaten usually will be thrown away but it's still really good so I
have sausage potatoes all kinds of rhubarb all kinds of bok choy all kinds
of different lettuces and then I'll show you what else I got most importantly to
me is I got this it's called steak it's chopped up steak but I'm going to fry
this and we are going to can it and it's going to be like ground beef
they said it tastes just like ground beef so we're going to go ahead and fry
it and then I'm gonna can it I had a wonderful experience everybody was so
kind everybody was so happy and pleasant I can't wait to go next month and share
with you more about taking food that was leftover and was going to be thrown away
and I can actually really preserve this food this is one way of thinking outside
the box is my thoughts and my experiences of today I really had fun
today so I'm gonna give you a big backdrop of
where I went and what it was so there are local church has a food
pantry it's every Wednesday and at the end of
the month whatever food is left as far as fresh food they will go ahead and
they'll have it free for the public for its community I've heard about this a
long time and I was really apprehensive I really wanted to go but that means I
had to step outside of my comfort zone in order to go I didn't know how people
would react or how people would be I didn't know what I would feel like what
was my feelings what was I feeling and at first my heart was beating fast it
was like me I really had a lot of fun and what happens is the food that
doesn't get used up today that day then would be thrown away most
likely so it's a really neat thing that they do with the leftover food then once
a month open up to the public and we can take what we need and I realized a bunch
of things I realized there's a lot of food waste in the United States and I
realized there's a lot of food waste even though there's a lot of things that
are happening to help control that waste there still is a lot of waste there was
still a lot of food that could be used a lot of the packages of strawberries
maybe half of them were rotted and the other half were good you know a lot of
people they turn up their nose when they see it and think ill this is old you I'm
not gonna eat this but when they realize this just take it apart and pick out the
good it is still so much good there and the stereotype is what this food is not
looking good it doesn't have that look a freshness that they don't want to even
try it and we've come to a point that we just want everything to be aesthetically
perfect the perfect Apple the perfect banana everything has to be perfect and
there's so much goodness is so much nutrition in some of this food and it
gets wasted it's changed my perspective I'm going to go every Saturday at the
end of the month I have such a deep respect for all of the people and what
they're trying to do I'm also going on a challenge so you hear a lot of
challenges you know a challenge to do this challenge to do that I'm gonna see
how long I can live off of my garden my food that I have prepped and thrown away
food your recipes are going to come to me your recipes are going to come thrown
away food recipes recipes of food that others didn't want or recipes of foods
that were given to me for free can I stay away from the grocery store now
I'll still need to get milk but how much do I really need to get that is going to
be a challenge you're going to go along with me once a month I'm going to go to
this place and continue to have so much fun and fellowship
I got to meet people that I haven't seen since I was a little girl I got to just
share happiness people were actually very happy it really surprised me
people were experice very kind the people that were giving and the people
that were receiving it just was a whole beautiful place that I was at today I
got to see people they cared for one another
everyone was so respectful it just was a very joyous time we were coming together
for fellowship and we were all taking turns we were being respectful we were
all getting what we need and there was plenty for everyone
so how is really fun I just really I'm so glad I got to go and so many times we
are so afraid to move out of our little box we live in this little box where
we're fraid to try new things to be amongst the people that are different
than us we're afraid to leap out of faith and see what it's like I walked in
different shoes today I walked in shoes of people that maybe didn't have as much
as I do also there were people that had more
than me that were there and but I got to see what it's like when I surprised not
as many people were there that I thought and I've come to the conclusion now I
need to go a bunch more times to really be able to say this with a hundred
percent clarity but it seemed to me like a lot of people that go to that were
used to be on food stamps and food stamps you can buy whatever you want you
can buy you know snacks and ice creams and cakes and cookies everything there
today was scratch cooking everything was fruits and vegetables and you know there
weren't that many people there there's a little bit of meat as well but it just
seemed to me like do people not come because they're used to getting their
food for free and they're used to be able to go into the grocery store and
getting whatever they want but for me it was perfect I have a very low income
very low income but this is what I was searching for something like this where
I could get some fruits and vegetables that I can't grow in my own home
and it's food that was going to be thrown away how much better is that
instead of dumpster diving and finding food that you could be a little bit iffy
because when you dumpster dive you have to be very careful because you don't
know what was poured in on top of that food you don't know how long that food
has been lingering in there you don't know when they close the lid how all of
that rain water will seep into the food there's so many things about dumpster
diving that are a little iffy but when you go to something like this the food
doesn't come from the dumpster the food came actually from the manufacturer that
actually came from the produce auction and it's things like that and so it's
another way of reusing something that's going to get thrown away but it has a
little more safety to it because none of the food was old guys for following
along this journey with me today it was an eye-opener
you know I didn't know what it would be like and I didn't know how the people
would be I I didn't know how they looked or how they dressed but they were just
like me I blended in perfect there so is that because I'm low-income maybe so is
that because I'm just an everyday girl probably more likely everyone and get
ready for the recipes coming up because they're going to be everyday recipes of
food that I have here that I've got free or I have in my pantry no grocery
shopping for me let's see how long it can last