By Mickey Friedman
November 29, 2018
I’ve been lucky enough to know some extraordinary people. People who have provided so much to so many: Linda Small, who brought affordable health care to our families; Frank Tortoriello, who created a home away from home and offered affordable breakfast, lunch and dinner at The Deli; and Milly Walsh, who created community at her quirky gas station/health food store/beauty parlor in Monterey, Massachusetts.
Most recently, I have had the honor to volunteer with Mel Greenberg. A man who has made his later life about feeding anyone who has needed food.
How often did you hear about the caravan and the immigrant invasion during the last campaign? How often did you hear about Americans who go to bed hungry?
Used to be words meant something. And people knew what it meant to be hungry. Nowadays our government calls people who don’t get enough to eat the “food insecure.” Perhaps it’s easier for us to sleep when folks aren’t hungry but merely food insecure.
As of 20016, the United States Department of Agriculture “estimates that 41 million people, including nearly 13 million children, in the United States are food insecure … 1 in 8 individuals (13%) and 1 in 6 children (18%) live in households without consistent access to adequate food.”
Their data comes from the Census. Having worked many years ago starting food co-ops and community gardens, I quickly learned that for many families, pride overcame need. Many wouldn’t admit they needed help. Maybe it’s the same with proud people responding to the census. I suspect USDA statistics underestimate hunger.
But let’s stick with the official figures. Here in Massachusetts, 167,450 children, 12.1% are “food insecure.”
Many imagine hunger is a problem of “the poor” – those down-on-their luck folks from somewhere else. NPR recently reported on hunger amongst U.S. college students. According to researchers at Temple University and the Wisconsin HOPE Lab, “36 percent of college students say they are food insecure.” I don’t know the numbers for local colleges, but: “The 2018 numbers are even higher when broken out to include only community college students. Forty-two percent indicated they struggled the most to get adequate food … Nine percent said they had gone at least one day during the last month without eating because they lacked the money.”
The fact is there is hunger in our Berkshires communities. And there is something you can do about it. Right now. Especially during the holidays.
For decades, Mel Greenberg and his Berkshire’s Bounty distributed food to People’s Pantry, the Senior Center, Railroad Street Youth and WIC. He organized weekly dinners in Sheffield. And I’ve worked with who those Mel has inspired. While Mel valiantly struggles with health problems, Mark Cohen, Billy Fuller, and I are trying to take up the slack. Along the way we’ve gotten to know the folks at Backyard Bounty. And Larry Frankel’s been helping us. Each week he gets a large bag from Great Barrington Bagels.
Jay Weintraub and Mark Lefenfeld established Backyard Bounty of the Berkshires in 2015. They pick up donated fresh fruit and vegetables from local farms and farmers’ markets. Like Mel they get weekly donations from Price Chopper, Big Y, and Guido’s and distribute it to feed hungry people in South County and Pittsfield. In 2017, they distributed more than 8, 000 pounds of food. This year they’re up to 28,000 pounds.
In just a few years Backyard Bounty has expanded its work: there are 13 local farms that donate their unsold vegetables; 31 homeowners who donate apples and other fruit from trees on their property; 39 volunteers who pick the fruit; and 18 food pantries and other agencies in South County and Pittsfield which distribute the food to those in need.
In July, 2018, Backyard Bounty built a refrigerated storage shed at the Women’s Infants Children Program at the Community Health Program campus in Great Barrington. This has allowed for greater flexibility in both picking-up and delivering produce.
Currently, Backyard Bounty receives donations from the following farms: Bartlett’s Orchard, Colfax Farm, Double Decker Farm, Earthborn Garden, Farm Girl Farm, Graylight Farm, Hosta Hill Farm, Indian Line Farm, Markristo Farm, Moon in the Pond Farm, MX Morningstar Farm, and Project Sprout at Monument Mountain/Muddy Brook. Backyard Bounty provides a receipt for all the donations it receives, so donors can claim any appropriate tax deductions.
Their website at http://www.backyardbountyberkshires.org offers several options for helping out: if you’re a farmer with fruits and vegetables to donate; if you’re willing to help these participating farmers with their harvests; and finally volunteers to help in other ways.
Now, they especially need able-bodied volunteers with large vehicles for ongoing two-hour early morning shifts to pick up and transport produce on Mondays, Tuesdays and/or Thursdays.
You can contact Mark Lefenfeld and Jay Weintraub of Backyard Bounty by email at info@backyardbountyberkshires.org
Please help us fight hunger. Secure the food insecure.