blog 2 - the background (why this interests me)

The background…

After returning from a life changing year in Chicago doing the program Mission Year, I went to Eastern where I continued to have my thinking challenged. I met others of like mind and we often used classes to moan about the state of this country and how “twisted” or “screwed up” it has become. Our professors were nice enough to listen to our constant moaning and challenge us to not just moan, but do something about the screwed up world we saw. Examples of graduates from our school were all around us, from the well known Tony Campolo (international speaker) to the lesser known Bryan Stevenson (lawyer who represents low-income death-row inmates)
Don’t just talk, do.

During my time at school I worked at the local mall and was amazed at the abundance of wealthy spending amidst workers that were anything but. This mall has dozens of restaurants in it as well as another dozen surrounding it. One night my roommate who also worked in the mall was leaving and saw an Auntie Anne’s employee finishing up. He observed this worker dumping one small bag and one HUGE bag into the trash can. Curious he decided to dig through it. He found a giant bag of untouched pretzels as well as all the other hot stuff Auntie Anne’s sells. Being a poor college kid he looked around to see if anyone was looking, grabbed the bag and brought it back to school. We then had a pretzel party and invited all our friends over. Once they heard they were free Auntie Anne’s pretzels they started pouring into our apartment. I started thinking, this one small pretzel shop just threw out over 100 pretzels. Of all the other 30 restaurants in or around the mall how much did they throw out? How much food waste went on at this single mall? All while knowing this was just one mall of millions that dot our country.

It started to bug me when I saw how much I was throwing out. I watched the trays loaded up in the line at school and watched the trays be unloaded into the trash. As I became more aware of this issue I decided I needed to learn more.

For two classes I wrote two different papers about food. One dealing with the over-arching problem of hunger in America, the other on Obesity and how it relates to Low-Socioeconomic status.

Thus I became interested in Food Waste and Hunger in America.

The Idea

After talking briefly with a friend whom I hadn’t spoken with in awhile; I realized I need to start a blog, and I need to inform other of my ideas, thoughts and plans. Not because I think anyone is that infatuated with my insignificant thoughts; not even because I want you to read this and think I am cool, good looking, talented or any of that. I realized I need this blog so that those who choose to read will keep my dreams and plans in check and will push me and them towards a reality.

Everyone I have mentioned my latest plan to has been sincerely interested and excited. This offers hope that it may work as well as provides me with the sense that people will push me to make this happen.

Here is the basis for the Idea so I do not draw this out is this…

- Food is wasted every day by you and me… in our homes, in our schools, local restaurants and grocery stores.
- There are people in the towns we live in that are hungry.

How do we take these two things and balance them out?

-Some people and business’ have extra food that if they don’t get rid of it, it spoils and is not good to anyone. (they lose money)
-Some people struggle to provide healthy food everyday for themselves or their loved ones.

The Idea could be all of these or only a few of the things listed below:

- Be a building block to build relationships between shelters/food banks and local grocery stores or restaurants.
- Become a food bank of sorts that collects food before it is thrown out and stores it properly to redistribute it to local shelters or our own food bank.

I think or rather we think that these issues and realities work themselves in the thought or conclusion of starting a non-profit of sorts in Phoenixville.

We have various restaurants and grocery stores, we also have people in need. We know people in the town and have the resources to better the community we live in.

Introducing-

Over the next few days I will post more things as to what led me to this idea… and some scary facts on Hunger in America. I hoper you will join in by reading the blog, following the blog and providing feedback. Prayer and kind words will help too.

Thanks for reading… and hopefully connecting with the vision and dream.