The daily digest of Twin Cities culture | Secrets of the City

Related Content

• The Emperor Has Underwear. . . and Maybe a Pair of Socks
• Jovovich-Hawk for Target
• H&M/Roberto Cavalli: They Hate Us

I haven't a clue how to fix most of our huge national scourges. Global warming, gang violence, reality TV. These issues are just too big and ghastly and amorphous. What's one person to do?

But hunger. Now there's a solvable problem. People are hungry, you feed them. Even tiny efforts make a difference. And every single person who has enough to eat can help.

It's been an era of wretched news from the nation's food banks. Need is way, way up; donations are way, way down. In some states, homeless shelters simply don't have the raw materials it takes to feed all the cold, hungry, ill, and marginalized people streaming through their doors.

Luckily, that's not the situation here in Minnesota, where being homeless in winter is a genuinely lethal prospect, and eating a decent meal can be the difference between weathering the cold and freezing to death. The organizations that feed our most vulnerable brethren actually do have enough in the coffers and cupboards to get by.

But according to Heidi Stennes, director of communications for Second Harvest Heartland Food Bank, an organization that distributes food to 950 agencies and programs serving the poor, demand is going up among low-income working people. And that's a need the current system can't quite meet.

"Half of the people using Minnesota food shelves have a child at home; half have a job," says Stennes. "Why is this happening? The price of gas is up. The price of groceries is up. A lot of folks are losing their homes. People get to the end of the month and after paying the heat bill and the rent and child care bills, they're going to food shelves just to try to make ends meet."

And the situation is getting worse. . .as it does each January. Shoppers tend to be happy and generous throughout the holidays, tossing coins into bell ringers' buckets and volunteering at soup kitchens Christmas week. But come the long icy stretch of early year and a lot of that goodwill dries up. Suddenly, no one's showing up to wear a frilly apron and ladle out chicken salad. Everyone who can afford to be is worried about taxes. Food donations slow.

But there is something you can do.

Second Harvest accepts already-prepared food from restaurants and suppliers (currently Leeann Chin and Target Greatland delis are among their top donors) and donations of both money and food from individuals and corporations. Workers there sort and box items appropriately -- putting ingredients together with boxed meals, for instance, so the meat and/or butter a family might need to make a noodle dish come at once. The organization even has a $400,000 two-year grant from the state exclusively to buy milk. That's a lot of milk. . . .

But what gets me is, any one of us can do some good by spending an extra $2.59 on a can of beef stew or a box of whole wheat pasta. Throw it into the bin at Lund's or collect a few shoppings trips' worth and take them to a drop-off location. That's it. This genuinely is a case where a little bit goes a long way.

And if I can put my own little plug in here: the poorest people in our community consume far too much salt, sugar, fat, and preservatives, because that's what's in the food available to them in their local stores and through nonprofit agencies. If you can pay the extra dollar to donate something that's organic, whole grain, or (at least) contains no MSG, artificial dyes, additives, high-fructose corn syrup, or synthetic sweeteners, all the better.

The items most needed by Minnesota's food shelves include:

• canned fish (tuna) and meat
• hearty soups and stews
• complete boxed dinners
• pasta, rice, cereal, crackers
  
• peanut and other nut butters

• canned or dried fruit

Now I have to admit, I'm feeling all mawkish and chipper and Tiny Tim-like here. But dammit, it's true. Feeding people — when done right, with respect and a sense of equity — not only sustains their lives, it preserves their dignity. And if we have the time and resources to debate restaurants, chefs, and gourmet ingredients, I think it's the least we can do.