The $787-billion economic-stimulus plan signed by Pres. Barack Obama contained an often-overlooked section — $150 million for food banks and other organizations that provide food to people in need. Responding to reports that food banks were running out of provisions because of rising unemployment and higher food costs, Congress intervened to help stock the shelves. But taxpayers — the people paying for Congress’s charitable endeavors — should know that not all of these organizations are suffering. Some are even able to throw food away.
Last month, Michelle Obama visited Miriam’s Kitchen, which serves the homeless in Washington, D.C. She ladled out mushroom risotto to the men and women waiting in line, had her picture taken, and talked about the importance of volunteering to meet the growing needs of families around the country. The trip to Miriam’s Kitchen was received as a very good thing — a very first-ladylike thing to do.
But the first lady’s visit wasn’t just about the needs of the homeless; it was also very much about the food itself. In a Washington Post article covering the visit, one Miriam’s Kitchen official explained, “If anyone brings us donuts, Steve [the chef] throws them away. . . . It is not good food for our guests. We care too much to give them anything but the best. Steve wants our guests to have the same experience as if they were paying $30 for the meal.”
There are a lot of things that are not good for the guests of Miriam’s Kitchen — beginning with being homeless, a situation often caused by drug addiction and mental illness. And while eating a donut would seem to be the least of these people’s troubles, it is certainly a worthy goal for food kitchens to endeavor to provide a healthy meal to those they serve. All the same, that dismissal of donuts betrays an expanding food snobbery that once was confined to food magazines and ladies who lunch, but now is showing up in the unlikeliest of places, like food banks and homeless shelters.
This attitude is not limited to the shelters in our nation’s capital. A recent meal served at the Meet Each Need with Dignity (MEND) kitchen in Pacoima, Calif., included pumpkin soup seasoned with browned butter and sage, red-wine barbecue beef on handmade puff pastry, artichoke hearts with meatballs marinara, roasted-garlic-and-turnip mashed potatoes, all topped off with fresh blueberries and sour cream. No wonder these places need a bailout.
What is most worrisome is the counterproductive message Miriam’s Kitchen is sending to those who donate food: it might get thrown away. No one objects to feeding homeless people healthy and tasty food, and no one wants to return to the Dickensian days of giving the poor gruel laced with bugs. But it is shocking to hear that charities are throwing away perfectly good food at a time when stimulus funds — that is, American taxpayers’ dollars — are being used to supplement their food stores.
Millions of Americans are out of jobs, and some are inevitably relying on the occasional trip to the food bank. Should they be advised to stay away from food banks because they give out Velveeta, hot dogs, white bread, and (gasp!) canned vegetables — food that doesn’t meet some gourmet ideal? Is government supposed to step in to make sure not only that every family has enough to eat, but that what they’re eating is pumpkin soup and mushroom risotto?
The economy is changing the way people shop and eat. Consumers are cutting back on food costs, cooking at home rather than heading out to restaurants, and buying generics over more expensive name-brand products. Sales of pasta are up, presumably because it is cheap and versatile. McDonald’s is thriving in this economy — the dollar menu has become a real draw. New stars are even cropping up, including 93-year-old YouTube sensation Clara Cannucciari, who reminisces about coming of age during the 1930s and demonstrates some of her mother’s Depression-era recipes. Even those glossy food magazines are getting in on the cheap-eats movement, featuring stories on pot pies rather than foie gras. (Isn’t it adorable that the editors of these magazines think “cutting back” means cutting out foie gras and truffles?)
Food banks play an important role in helping those in need. Not only do they provide nourishment, but many also run wonderful programs with a focus on food. One project run out of Washington’s Central Kitchen teaches homeless and unemployed adults how to cook so that they might find work in one of the capital’s restaurants.
The staff of Miriam’s Kitchen should be praised for the work that they do every day to help Washington’s homeless, but they should be careful not to forget their mission: to serve the homeless a good meal. I suspect what warms the hearts of the people waiting in line is less the quality of the risotto and more the promise of a decent meal served by friendly people who want to help them get back on their feet. Turning Miriam’s Kitchen into a place to get a $30 meal for free misses the mark.
—Julie Gunlock, a former congressional staffer, is now a stay-at-home mom.
