Why candy?!
It is the day after Halloween as I write this and after a night of trick or treating with our five year old daughter, it feels like we’re all drowning in candy. There’s something so decadent and delightful about overdoing it with the candy consumption on Halloween night but it can be easy to forget what a privilege it is.
In the world of hunger relief (as well as nutrition and healthcare) it is an important topic of debate not to label any food as good or bad. When we put value judgements on food, we start placing those same judgements on people (and ourselves!) and that type of judgement is at the heart of why, as a society, we have largely accepted the criminalization of Poverty. All too often we blame the people who are afflicted by poverty, hunger and homelessness instead of blaming the systems of opression that led to those people’s circumstances.
Yet, most people would tell you sugar is “bad” if pressed to give it a label one way or the other. The subject of eating and enjoying sweets can be both complicated and fraught. So why, then, are we asking specifically for CANDY to feed people who are facing the most brutal form of food insecurity? Shouldn’t we be giving them wholesome, nutritious food?
Well, we are! And we are also giving them candy. And we feel that it’s important to explain why…
Lollipops are always a huge hit!
Every Giving Meal that we distribute is, and always will be, made from scratch with plenty of fresh vegetables and a balance of starch, protein and fat. Think dishes like chili with peppers and squash or stewed beans with turkey and rainbow chard. Our goal is not only to deliver restaurant-quality food to folks experiencing homelessness, but to also ensure that those delicious meals are delivering optimal nutrition and satiation because our guests don’t often know where their next meal is coming from.
What we realized when we started distributing our Giving Meals, back in the winter of 2020, is that some people can’t or won’t eat what we provide. There are myriad reasons why. Some folks are mistrusting of anyone handing out food (or, seemingly, in a position of power or authority), others have suppressed appetites due to drug or alcohol addiction, some have major dental issues that interfere with their ability to chew or digestive issues, and there are myriad other reasons why it is important for us to have other food to offer.
Additionally, and perhaps even more importantly, it isn’t just healthy sustenance that we’re aiming to deliver but also the often overlooked necessities of pleasure and comfort. Our guests are the most disenfranchised folks in our community and they not only deserve to have access to good, wholesome food but also to have the choice to eat treats and snacks that they love. It’s a way for us to bring them a spark of joy and to also give them some agency by providing different options.
A little piece of Halloween candy is easy to take for granted when you have a huge pumpkin-shaped bucket full of them, but to someone who faces hunger on a daily basis and often has no choice as to what food they can get, that same piece of candy can be meaningful. Ultimately, we look to our guests to tell us what they want because it shouldn’t be up to us to decide for them, no matter how well intentioned we are. As it was with our restaurant, our focus is to serve and meet the needs of our community to the best of our ability with the tools we have. If the people want candy, we are delivering candy!
