April 3, 2020 • 27 mins
Organizations that help fight food insecurity are more important than ever in times of crisis. Anney and Lauren explore the history and modern workings of food banks, food pantries, and soup kitchens.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Hello, and welcome to Savor production of I Heart Radio.
I'm Annie Reese and I'm Lauren Vogelbaum. And today we're
talking about food banks and pantries and soup kitchens. Yes,
because that is something that I'm sure a lot of
us have been thinking about as we're all quarantining, as
Lauren and I are coming to you from our home
(00:29):
closet studio. Uh yeah, yeah, it's It's been on my
mind a lot lately, UM, in this our time of
coronavirus UM, because a number of restaurants around Atlanta, you know,
have closed down to the public perhaps obviously, but opened
their kitchens to take out and not just public takeout,
(00:49):
but like specifically for service industry workers who have been
laid off during all of these shutdowns. UM and and
for free or for whatever people can afford to pay.
UM and pular places like like if you're familiar with
the Atlanta restaurants seeing at all, places like Staple House
and Brick Store Pub UM, that could just as easily
be trying to, you know, make money from takeout and delivery,
(01:10):
but they're not. Also this this organization UM started up
called the Atlanta Artist Relief Fund and they're raising money
and like working with local chefs to create and distribute
both frozen and ready to eat meals to two workers
in the arts who have also lost their streams of revenue.
And also organizations like the Atlanta Community Food Bank are
(01:31):
like figuring out how to serve larger segments of the
population and do so safely with more minimal person to
person contact. Um. And you know this isn't just in Atlanta,
of course. You know, these these efforts are happening all
over the country, all over the world. UM. And so yeah,
we wanted to talk about a little bit about the
history of these kind of efforts. Yeah. Absolutely, it's really
(01:55):
really wonderful in these trying times to see people trying
to figure out the best way to help other people. Yes, yes,
that is one of those beautiful silver lining Uh. You
know Fred Rogers look for the helpers kind of kind
of things. And uh, I will say we have talked
a little bit about the sort of thing before, um
(02:17):
in about food access and food security that is UM
in episode six of our New Orleans mini series UM
we we featured heavily in that this wonderful interview with
the excellent Pepper Bowen Um, who's Who's a food and
water attorney working in the New Orleans area. So for
a little bit more on kind of the legal side
(02:40):
of things and food and security side of things. Yeah,
check out check out our full interview with her and
that that episode for the mini series. Yes, she is
a delight. Oh my gosh, such a delight. Uh m hm.
But all right, let's get to our question. Mm hmm.
Food banks, food entries, soup kitchens. What are they? Well? Uh,
(03:08):
food banks of pantries are organizations that that purchase or
collect donations of food from the world's food supply chain
and distribute it to people who are experiencing food and security,
meaning that that those people do do not at all
times have the money and or ability to obtain and
(03:28):
or knowledge to to create enough nutritious food in order
to engage in like active and healthy lifestyles. Um. So yeah, yeah,
that's that's food banks and pantries. Uh. Soup kitchens, it's
it's a somewhat antiquated term at this point, but um,
but it generally means like a kitchen that prepares and
distributes cooked foods to people who are experiencing food and security. Um.
(03:52):
A is soup, you know, being a dish that can
be easily stretched to feed many people with relatively few
ingredients and like relatively low energy use has traditionally been
a staple of these things, so hence hence the term.
And you know, food insecurity is a global problem, even
during generally good economic times. UM. Around the world, as
(04:14):
of a little just a little bit under eleven percent
of human people experienced food insecurity. That's about one in
nine people on the planet, like eight hundred and twenty
million of US. And in the United States as of ten,
that percentage was actually a little bit higher. UM. Thirty
seven point two million Americans lived in food and secure
(04:37):
households that year. UM. That's about eleven point four percent
of US. And there are all kinds of reasons why
this happens. I mean, poverty obviously, but also living in
places where nutritious food is not sold and not having
the time or money to devote to traveling to obtain
(04:58):
nutritious food, and yeah, just like not having received that
the education from family or from community about how to
turn available nutritious ingredients into like palatable, healthy meals. And
there are a lot of reasons why these things happen um,
but a huge part of it has traditionally been food
waste throughout the supply chain um, especially in developed and
(05:23):
generally wealthy countries like the United States. According to Feeding America,
which is this network of food banks, some seventy two
billion pounds of food goes to waste here every year.
That's some twenty five of the food that has grown
and processed and transported. So a lot of the work
(05:43):
that these banks and networks of banks do has just
been reaching out to farmers and producers and grocers and
restaurants and helping them donate product that otherwise would have
gone to waste. And we have discussed previously another episodes
the legal issues around some of that and how we are,
(06:05):
at least here in the United States, working to change
some of those things that have prevented donating some food
in some cases. Feeding America has two hundred food banks
across the United States that provides sustenance to over forty
million people. And just as that, I found that's interesting
and it will probably make more sense when we get
into the history. Fifty of the three thousand facilities serving
(06:28):
the homeless United States are affiliated with churches. Yeah, yeah,
a lot of these, especially historically, a lot of these
UH grassroots organizations have come up through religious affiliation and
UH and that does bring us to some of the
history of how these types of organizations got started. But
first it brings us to a quick break for a
(06:49):
word from our sponsor, and we're back. Thank you sponsor, Yes,
thank you. So the history of soup kitchens in America
is also a history of America's economic crashes, downturns, and depressions,
(07:10):
and conversations around xenophobia, capitalism, and who deserves help. The
first American soup kitchens were a byproduct of the Panic
of eighteen seventy three, which was a devastating six year
economic depression. The idea for soup kitchens may have come
from Irish immigrants who remembered kitchens many Quaker run providing
(07:32):
hot soups during the Great Potato Famine of eighteen forty five,
and in eighty seven, the UK passed the Temporary Relief Act,
also known as the Soup Kitchen Act. It decreed that
local relief groups could collect taxes from Irish landowners and
business people to pay for food. One man sometimes gets
(07:54):
credit for opening the first soup kitchen. Benjamin Thompson a
k a. Benjamin Count von Rumford. That I do too,
I do too. So this dude was born in the
United States in three but was forced to flee Britain
after accusations arose that he was a British loyalist. And
(08:15):
he went on to do all kinds of things, and
the government of Bavaria even granted him a Count of
the Holy Roman Empire title, and he went with the
name of the town he was from, Rumford, which is great, Benjamin,
Count von Rumford. I feel like we need to come
up with where account Well, well, I need to come
(08:37):
up with some count names for I mean, if we
go by by that formula, I guess I'm like Countess
Vaughan Cleveland. I love it, Countess van Cleveland, honored to
be in your presence. So of relevance here. Of all
(09:00):
the things, this guy did his project to end Munichs
beggar problem by providing work and food for the poor.
And this was at a time in Europe where food
prices were high and poverty was rampant due to things
like bad harvest, high levels of unemployment, slow trade, and wars.
He set up workhouses and for lunch, provided, in his
(09:22):
words quote very rich soup of peas and barley, mixed
with cuttings of fine white bread and a piece of
excellent rye bread weighing seven ounces, which last they commonly
put in their pockets and carried home for their Yeah.
He was he was working throughout a few decades, right
right around the turn of the century. There and and
published this book of essays about why and how to
(09:46):
help feed the poor in seventeen nine. His style of
soup kitchen spread throughout Europe and later to the United States. Yeah.
His his sup recipe and and iterations thereof became known
as Rumford soup, And especially in the early eighteen hundreds
that the recipe and kitchens distributing it popped up all over.
(10:08):
His work really coincided with all of the social and
political and food supply upheaval of the American and French
revolutions and a number of other wars around Europe. Um
Like in eighteen twelve, Napoleon Bonaparte ordered two million servings
of Rumford style soup be distributed to the masses every
(10:29):
day in Massachusetts. In eighteen o three, the Salem Register reported,
quote the economics soups are well known, and the name
of Count Rumford is immortal. You're starting to sound more
and more like a vampire. I'm like, wait a minute,
wait a minute, he's like he's like hanging out in Bavaria. Uh,
(10:52):
he's account now and immortal apparently and immortal. We are
are onto this guy. He was also an early adopter
of the potato when most Europeans still viewed potatoes with suspicion,
and he invented things like a drip coffee maker, a
(11:13):
pressure cooker, and the first kitchen range for commercial use,
the cast iron Rumpered stove. There's even a brand of
baking powdern named after him. Yes, that rumpered um all
was not great with these workhouses, though, we should say
he was pretty judgmental of those who didn't have jobs,
and child labor was a fairly common thing at them,
(11:36):
although some offered schooling. Yeah, you know in the evenings
after the kids had finished working could stay behind for
some lessons too. So that's fine. Your tone suggests otherwise
my tone, Yes, your tone Gosh, researching this guy made
(11:59):
me miss my Dungeons and Dragons character gigs fontank, I
continually miss your dungeons dragon's character Gigspon Tank. Although she
made my life and that of our fellow characters significantly
less easy at many times. I'm not going to say
(12:20):
more difficult, more interesting, for sure, but less less easy.
She was a delight, but not she definitely kept everyone
on their toes. That is accurate. One day, maybe she
will return. I certainly hope, so, I certainly hope. So
(12:42):
I just want to clarify I only am reminded of
her because of the name, not because she was a
terrible child labor proponent. Just the name. That's all. Good point,
good point. Yes, important, it's an important tip. Thank you. Yes, yes,
you're welcome now you know, are about my very important
dungeons and dragons, Carrocter gosh um and and one one
(13:05):
note before we leave Von Rumford behind this um. Apparently
Rumford soup is still served at some October Fest celebrations
over in Germany. Oh really yeah, If any listeners have
any pictures or experiences to share, please always yeah, yes,
(13:27):
but okay, back to the history. Yeah, in a man
named Joseph McPhee, you wanted to raise money to feed
Christmas Dinner to the poor, and to raise funds you
put out a soup bucket on Market Street, captioned keep
the pot boiling, and you raise enough from this to
provide one thousand people meals. To this day, the Salvation
(13:47):
Army uses the red bucket reminiscent of a soup bucket
to raise money, and they cite this story as the
reason why I had always wondered about that. I had to.
It was one of those things that kind of always,
you know, went u huh, and then immediately forgot. But
now we know. The number of soup kitchens soared during
the Great Depression beginning in nineteen nine. And in the beginning,
(14:10):
most of these soup kitchens were extensions of private charities
and churches. But as the situation worsened um for instance,
by nineteen thirty two, about twenty five percent of Americans
labor force was unemployed, that's twelve million people, the federal
and state government stepped in running some of their own
in cities and towns all across the country. As a
(14:32):
part of that, President Hoover authorized four million dollars for
state government so that they could get more soup kitchens
up and operating. These places did primarily serve bread and
soup since soup was like you said, Lauren, it was
cheap and water could be added to stretch out supply
to meet demand if necessary. A bulk of the soups
consisted of boiled vegetables and more. Well off people were
(14:55):
encouraged to grow charity gardens and donate the produce to
their local soup kitchen ends, but some did serve other
items like oatmeal muffins, peanut butter sandwiches, or even pies
and cobblers. Some of these kitchens did not have a
space for eating, so people would line up with their
own buckets for food. Many only opened once a day
(15:15):
for one meal, but some provided three meals a day.
Some only opened during the winter. Some charge of small fee,
others didn't. Most of the volunteers were women. Okay, once again,
we need to talk about al Capone. I love this.
The last time we got to talk about al Capone
(15:37):
was it all the way back in our food expiry
Dates episode? I can't remember he's come up again. I
think he might have come up in our types of milk.
Oh sure, oh absolutely, yeah, yeah, I know he definitely
would have. I mean that makes sense because that is
the type of expiration date that he was most personally
involved with. But yeah, Al Capone, al Capon in the
(16:03):
soup kitchen section. Okay, so yes, we're talking about the
gangster public enemy number one. So Capone knew he had
a bit of an image problem, all right, just a
little one, just a just a tiny bit mm hmmm.
So to combat it, he opened what some believed to
(16:23):
be one of America's first soup kitchens in Chicago and
nineteen anyone who was unemployed could get three meals a
day at Capone's soup kitchen, and it fed about two
thousand two people a day at the cost of about
three hundred dollars, which for him, I think I read
somewhere he was making twenty five thousand dollars a day
at one point and like in nine money. Yeah what,
(16:49):
So for him this wasn't that big a deal. But
also he probably shook down businesses for it. So there's that.
For breakfast, they served sweet rolls and coffee, soup and
bread for lunch, and bread and coffee for dinner. For Thanksgiving,
a nineteen thirty five thousand people were served. Mary Borden
(17:09):
wrote for Harper's Magazine that Capone was quote an ambidextrous
giant who kills with one hand and feeds with the other.
And she made sure to point out that the line
to gain entry into his soup kitchen frequently extended well
past the police station where they were trying to get
this guy. It operated into the nineteen fifties, and it
(17:35):
was successful in the in terms of helping his image.
It really did. He was kind of cultivating this Robin
Hood esque type thing, and a lot of people that
were interviewed at the soup kitchen we're like, yeah, I
love this guy. Yeah, good guy. Yeah, giving us food,
keep keeping our babies safe with us safer milk. Yeah,
I love him. Yeah. Yeah. So there you go. That's
(17:55):
the al Capona side. UM. A little bit later, uh,
during and unless having to do with gangsters, I'm sorry, uh.
During World War Two in the United Kingdom, UM, the
Women's Volunteer Service for Civil Defense began preparing and delivering
meals to neighbors and to uh to to service people.
(18:16):
And this was around the time that you know, the
Blitz was happening, and so a lot of people were
either out of their homes or you know, unable to
to use their kitchens or you know in in in
a number that there were a number of social disarray
kind of things going on. Yeah, And so they began
doing this in nineteen thirty nine, and this became known
(18:38):
as meals on wheels. Similar programs would open around the
world after the War UM and in many places they
were developed specifically as programs to to help feed senior
citizens and other people unable to get out of the
home for whatever reason. Rights In the late nineteen sixties,
a man named John van Hingel out of Phoenix, Arizona,
(19:00):
came up with the idea for food banking. The story
goes after retiring from the business world, Van Hngel devoted
a lot of his time to volunteering at a local
soup kitchen. He met a woman who regularly dug through
grocery store garbage bins looking for discarded food to feed
her children. She told Van Hingel she thought there needed
(19:21):
to be something like a bank where food that was
going to be discarded could instead be stored for future use.
Van Hengel took that idea and ran with it. Soon after,
in nineteen sixty seven, he opened St. Mary's Food Bank
in Phoenix, and this was America's first food bank. They
distributed two seventy five thousand pounds of food in their
(19:42):
first year of operation, and not only that, but others
took note and by nineteen eighteen cities had their own
food banks. In response, Van Hengel established a national network
for food banks, and this led to the creation of
Second Harvest in nineteen seventy nine, which was renamed in
America in two thousand eight. Related the Food Stamp Act
(20:04):
PAST in nineteen seventy seven and the Temporary Emergency Food
Assistance Act PAST in nineteen eighty three, allowing for any
surplus produce to be distributed to those in need. UM.
Also in nineteen eight three, Venhangel established Food Banking Incorporated,
which is now the Global Food Banking Network, which is
a international nonprofit that that helps create and support food
(20:28):
banks around the world. The two tho eight recessions saw
another spiking demand for these services, a spike that we
are again seeing now. Yeah, you know, current events are
particularly disruptive to the food supply and how people access it.
UH related programs like the National School Lunch Program, which
(20:48):
normally feeds up to thirty million kids every school day,
aren't operating. UM food banks and soup kitchens depend on
huge networks of volunteers, but with safe at home policies
and place and you know, just like informed precautions being
taken way, fewer volunteers and in some cases zero volunteers
(21:10):
are able to help out at these places. It's also
making it harder for people in need to go out
in order to obtain supplies. Um. You know, meanwhile, fundraising efforts,
like normal fundraisers like Atlanta's Hunger Walk and Run are
having to cancel. That event in twenty nineteen generated eight
thousand dollars in revenue, and this year it's just gone
(21:34):
because it was supposed to happen in the middle of March. Yeah,
and you know, I hate to end on a downer,
and it's I mean, it is very concerning. And I
was saying to Annie before we started rolling, like, oh man, like,
can we do can we do an episode that has
nothing to do with current events next? Because oh yeck,
I don't think I can take it. Um. But you know,
(21:56):
it's again like like silver linings, look for the helpers,
Like there are so many amazing humans and organizations of
humans that are doing really great stuff out there right now. Um,
So you know, after you finish this episode, give a
quick google, UM see what organizations are operating in your
area and how you either might be able to help
(22:19):
or how you might be able to receive help from them. UM.
You know, these folks are working so hard to provide
solutions UM like like making takeaway and delivery boxes of
supplies UM in order to help minimize interpersonal contact at
food banks. Uh. Some celebrities are giving these big awesome donations.
Restaurants are opening up for those free meals. Our former
(22:42):
corporate overlords System one. They set up a go fund
me to match donations to the Atlantic Community Food Bank.
Stuff like that is happening all over the place, and
you know it's it's up to all of us to
seek those resources out and help them or or or
get help. And there is nothing wrong with with with
needing help right now. No, no, definitely not. And we
(23:04):
would love if listeners, if you have an awesome resource
you think we should shout out send it our way.
We would love to. Oh my gosh, yeah, yeah, please do.
We would love to give shout outs UM on on
social media or or on the podcast. However, however we
can help, Yes, yes, we are here for you. Oh
(23:26):
oh we are yeah um and uh yeah yes, speaking
of getting in touch with us, we do have some
listener mail for you. But first that about wraps up
what we've got to say about food banks. So so
first we've got one more quick break for a word
from our sponsor, and we're back. Thank you, sponsor, Yes,
(23:51):
thank you, and we're back with listener mailh my god, hug.
Oh this first one is so good. It is from
Secret Mermaid. She wrote, I'm a burlesque dancer and one
of my more regular acts as a classic tease, but
(24:13):
as an asparagus. I thought you might enjoy some photos
of what a sparkly burlesque asparagus looks like. We did,
we really did. I call the act asparagus. I would
love if you did an episode on asparagus one day,
if the Burlesque Tribute didn't give it away. It's a
(24:34):
favorite vegetable of mine. I mean, oh my gosh, I mean,
first of all, it is like it is currently asparagus season. Yes,
any food related burlesque we always want to hear about
and see photos or video from. If you would like
to send it our way, I don't know, I don't
(24:55):
know if we ever talked about it any But I
have a lot of friends in the burlesque community, and
I'm a huge fan of the art form and the
talent and the costum ng and I will say, Secret Mermaid,
your asparagus crown is a gorgeous and queenly crown. And
I adore it. I too, everything about it. I love it. Yes,
(25:16):
I love it oh so much so so yes and
and yes, and Amber wrote furloughed Bartender here. I couldn't
help it laugh at the old Timing article about how
the ladies only eat milkshakes with spoons so as to
avoid the dreaded mustache. A strange phenomenon these days is
gendered use of straws. A lot of ladies ask for
(25:38):
them to avoid smudging their lipstick. As someone who was
bad at makeup support them. I don't want to be
smudgy either. What's always funny to me, though, is that
some men will not drink from straws because of that association.
On more occasions than I can count, men have ordered
drinks in quote less girly glasses. Makes you wonder how
(25:59):
these guys drink their milkshakes. Indeed, that is that is
something I hadn't thought about. Maybe I just don't. I
don't think I've seen this behavior before, but I can
totally picture some dudes associating yeah, straw drinking with like
(26:21):
feminity or with sexuality. We actually, a long time ago,
back when I did video for stephone ever told you
the other show that I work on, Um, we did
an episode on the gendering of straws. All right, cool, cool,
(26:44):
I mean uncool, That's that's just fine. I mean, you
do you? I mean, like, do you know, like live
your gender however you want to. I suppose, but I
don't feel like straws should be part of that necessarily.
I think I think that's unnecessary. Yes, but here we are. Yeah,
well there there you go. There you go, there you go.
(27:09):
So thanks to both of them so much for writing in.
If you like write to us, you can. Our email
is hello at savor pod dot com, and we are
on social media. You can get in touch with us
on Instagram or Twitter or Facebook at savor pod. We
we are that screen name all three places, and we
do hope to hear from you. Uh. Savor is production
(27:31):
of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts my Heart Radio,
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or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Thanks as
always to our super producers Dylan Vegan and Andrew Howard.
Thanks to you for listening, and we hope that lots
more good things are coming your way.
Hello, and welcome to Savor production of I Heart Radio.
I'm Annie Reese and I'm Lauren Vogelbaum. And today we're
talking about food banks and pantries and soup kitchens. Yes,
because that is something that I'm sure a lot of
us have been thinking about as we're all quarantining, as
Lauren and I are coming to you from our home
(00:29):
closet studio. Uh yeah, yeah, it's It's been on my
mind a lot lately, UM, in this our time of
coronavirus UM, because a number of restaurants around Atlanta, you know,
have closed down to the public perhaps obviously, but opened
their kitchens to take out and not just public takeout,
(00:49):
but like specifically for service industry workers who have been
laid off during all of these shutdowns. UM and and
for free or for whatever people can afford to pay.
UM and pular places like like if you're familiar with
the Atlanta restaurants seeing at all, places like Staple House
and Brick Store Pub UM, that could just as easily
be trying to, you know, make money from takeout and delivery,
(01:10):
but they're not. Also this this organization UM started up
called the Atlanta Artist Relief Fund and they're raising money
and like working with local chefs to create and distribute
both frozen and ready to eat meals to two workers
in the arts who have also lost their streams of revenue.
And also organizations like the Atlanta Community Food Bank are
(01:31):
like figuring out how to serve larger segments of the
population and do so safely with more minimal person to
person contact. Um. And you know this isn't just in Atlanta,
of course. You know, these these efforts are happening all
over the country, all over the world. UM. And so yeah,
we wanted to talk about a little bit about the
history of these kind of efforts. Yeah. Absolutely, it's really
(01:55):
really wonderful in these trying times to see people trying
to figure out the best way to help other people. Yes, yes,
that is one of those beautiful silver lining Uh. You
know Fred Rogers look for the helpers kind of kind
of things. And uh, I will say we have talked
a little bit about the sort of thing before, um
(02:17):
in about food access and food security that is UM
in episode six of our New Orleans mini series UM
we we featured heavily in that this wonderful interview with
the excellent Pepper Bowen Um, who's Who's a food and
water attorney working in the New Orleans area. So for
a little bit more on kind of the legal side
(02:40):
of things and food and security side of things. Yeah,
check out check out our full interview with her and
that that episode for the mini series. Yes, she is
a delight. Oh my gosh, such a delight. Uh m hm.
But all right, let's get to our question. Mm hmm.
Food banks, food entries, soup kitchens. What are they? Well? Uh,
(03:08):
food banks of pantries are organizations that that purchase or
collect donations of food from the world's food supply chain
and distribute it to people who are experiencing food and security,
meaning that that those people do do not at all
times have the money and or ability to obtain and
(03:28):
or knowledge to to create enough nutritious food in order
to engage in like active and healthy lifestyles. Um. So yeah, yeah,
that's that's food banks and pantries. Uh. Soup kitchens, it's
it's a somewhat antiquated term at this point, but um,
but it generally means like a kitchen that prepares and
distributes cooked foods to people who are experiencing food and security. Um.
(03:52):
A is soup, you know, being a dish that can
be easily stretched to feed many people with relatively few
ingredients and like relatively low energy use has traditionally been
a staple of these things, so hence hence the term.
And you know, food insecurity is a global problem, even
during generally good economic times. UM. Around the world, as
(04:14):
of a little just a little bit under eleven percent
of human people experienced food insecurity. That's about one in
nine people on the planet, like eight hundred and twenty
million of US. And in the United States as of ten,
that percentage was actually a little bit higher. UM. Thirty
seven point two million Americans lived in food and secure
(04:37):
households that year. UM. That's about eleven point four percent
of US. And there are all kinds of reasons why
this happens. I mean, poverty obviously, but also living in
places where nutritious food is not sold and not having
the time or money to devote to traveling to obtain
(04:58):
nutritious food, and yeah, just like not having received that
the education from family or from community about how to
turn available nutritious ingredients into like palatable, healthy meals. And
there are a lot of reasons why these things happen um,
but a huge part of it has traditionally been food
waste throughout the supply chain um, especially in developed and
(05:23):
generally wealthy countries like the United States. According to Feeding America,
which is this network of food banks, some seventy two
billion pounds of food goes to waste here every year.
That's some twenty five of the food that has grown
and processed and transported. So a lot of the work
(05:43):
that these banks and networks of banks do has just
been reaching out to farmers and producers and grocers and
restaurants and helping them donate product that otherwise would have
gone to waste. And we have discussed previously another episodes
the legal issues around some of that and how we are,
(06:05):
at least here in the United States, working to change
some of those things that have prevented donating some food
in some cases. Feeding America has two hundred food banks
across the United States that provides sustenance to over forty
million people. And just as that, I found that's interesting
and it will probably make more sense when we get
into the history. Fifty of the three thousand facilities serving
(06:28):
the homeless United States are affiliated with churches. Yeah, yeah,
a lot of these, especially historically, a lot of these
UH grassroots organizations have come up through religious affiliation and
UH and that does bring us to some of the
history of how these types of organizations got started. But
first it brings us to a quick break for a
(06:49):
word from our sponsor, and we're back. Thank you sponsor, Yes,
thank you. So the history of soup kitchens in America
is also a history of America's economic crashes, downturns, and depressions,
(07:10):
and conversations around xenophobia, capitalism, and who deserves help. The
first American soup kitchens were a byproduct of the Panic
of eighteen seventy three, which was a devastating six year
economic depression. The idea for soup kitchens may have come
from Irish immigrants who remembered kitchens many Quaker run providing
(07:32):
hot soups during the Great Potato Famine of eighteen forty five,
and in eighty seven, the UK passed the Temporary Relief Act,
also known as the Soup Kitchen Act. It decreed that
local relief groups could collect taxes from Irish landowners and
business people to pay for food. One man sometimes gets
(07:54):
credit for opening the first soup kitchen. Benjamin Thompson a
k a. Benjamin Count von Rumford. That I do too,
I do too. So this dude was born in the
United States in three but was forced to flee Britain
after accusations arose that he was a British loyalist. And
(08:15):
he went on to do all kinds of things, and
the government of Bavaria even granted him a Count of
the Holy Roman Empire title, and he went with the
name of the town he was from, Rumford, which is great, Benjamin,
Count von Rumford. I feel like we need to come
up with where account Well, well, I need to come
(08:37):
up with some count names for I mean, if we
go by by that formula, I guess I'm like Countess
Vaughan Cleveland. I love it, Countess van Cleveland, honored to
be in your presence. So of relevance here. Of all
(09:00):
the things, this guy did his project to end Munichs
beggar problem by providing work and food for the poor.
And this was at a time in Europe where food
prices were high and poverty was rampant due to things
like bad harvest, high levels of unemployment, slow trade, and wars.
He set up workhouses and for lunch, provided, in his
(09:22):
words quote very rich soup of peas and barley, mixed
with cuttings of fine white bread and a piece of
excellent rye bread weighing seven ounces, which last they commonly
put in their pockets and carried home for their Yeah.
He was he was working throughout a few decades, right
right around the turn of the century. There and and
published this book of essays about why and how to
(09:46):
help feed the poor in seventeen nine. His style of
soup kitchen spread throughout Europe and later to the United States. Yeah.
His his sup recipe and and iterations thereof became known
as Rumford soup, And especially in the early eighteen hundreds
that the recipe and kitchens distributing it popped up all over.
(10:08):
His work really coincided with all of the social and
political and food supply upheaval of the American and French
revolutions and a number of other wars around Europe. Um
Like in eighteen twelve, Napoleon Bonaparte ordered two million servings
of Rumford style soup be distributed to the masses every
(10:29):
day in Massachusetts. In eighteen o three, the Salem Register reported,
quote the economics soups are well known, and the name
of Count Rumford is immortal. You're starting to sound more
and more like a vampire. I'm like, wait a minute,
wait a minute, he's like he's like hanging out in Bavaria. Uh,
(10:52):
he's account now and immortal apparently and immortal. We are
are onto this guy. He was also an early adopter
of the potato when most Europeans still viewed potatoes with suspicion,
and he invented things like a drip coffee maker, a
(11:13):
pressure cooker, and the first kitchen range for commercial use,
the cast iron Rumpered stove. There's even a brand of
baking powdern named after him. Yes, that rumpered um all
was not great with these workhouses, though, we should say
he was pretty judgmental of those who didn't have jobs,
and child labor was a fairly common thing at them,
(11:36):
although some offered schooling. Yeah, you know in the evenings
after the kids had finished working could stay behind for
some lessons too. So that's fine. Your tone suggests otherwise
my tone, Yes, your tone Gosh, researching this guy made
(11:59):
me miss my Dungeons and Dragons character gigs fontank, I
continually miss your dungeons dragon's character Gigspon Tank. Although she
made my life and that of our fellow characters significantly
less easy at many times. I'm not going to say
(12:20):
more difficult, more interesting, for sure, but less less easy.
She was a delight, but not she definitely kept everyone
on their toes. That is accurate. One day, maybe she
will return. I certainly hope, so, I certainly hope. So
(12:42):
I just want to clarify I only am reminded of
her because of the name, not because she was a
terrible child labor proponent. Just the name. That's all. Good point,
good point. Yes, important, it's an important tip. Thank you. Yes, yes,
you're welcome now you know, are about my very important
dungeons and dragons, Carrocter gosh um and and one one
(13:05):
note before we leave Von Rumford behind this um. Apparently
Rumford soup is still served at some October Fest celebrations
over in Germany. Oh really yeah, If any listeners have
any pictures or experiences to share, please always yeah, yes,
(13:27):
but okay, back to the history. Yeah, in a man
named Joseph McPhee, you wanted to raise money to feed
Christmas Dinner to the poor, and to raise funds you
put out a soup bucket on Market Street, captioned keep
the pot boiling, and you raise enough from this to
provide one thousand people meals. To this day, the Salvation
(13:47):
Army uses the red bucket reminiscent of a soup bucket
to raise money, and they cite this story as the
reason why I had always wondered about that. I had to.
It was one of those things that kind of always,
you know, went u huh, and then immediately forgot. But
now we know. The number of soup kitchens soared during
the Great Depression beginning in nineteen nine. And in the beginning,
(14:10):
most of these soup kitchens were extensions of private charities
and churches. But as the situation worsened um for instance,
by nineteen thirty two, about twenty five percent of Americans
labor force was unemployed, that's twelve million people, the federal
and state government stepped in running some of their own
in cities and towns all across the country. As a
(14:32):
part of that, President Hoover authorized four million dollars for
state government so that they could get more soup kitchens
up and operating. These places did primarily serve bread and
soup since soup was like you said, Lauren, it was
cheap and water could be added to stretch out supply
to meet demand if necessary. A bulk of the soups
consisted of boiled vegetables and more. Well off people were
(14:55):
encouraged to grow charity gardens and donate the produce to
their local soup kitchen ends, but some did serve other
items like oatmeal muffins, peanut butter sandwiches, or even pies
and cobblers. Some of these kitchens did not have a
space for eating, so people would line up with their
own buckets for food. Many only opened once a day
(15:15):
for one meal, but some provided three meals a day.
Some only opened during the winter. Some charge of small fee,
others didn't. Most of the volunteers were women. Okay, once again,
we need to talk about al Capone. I love this.
The last time we got to talk about al Capone
(15:37):
was it all the way back in our food expiry
Dates episode? I can't remember he's come up again. I
think he might have come up in our types of milk.
Oh sure, oh absolutely, yeah, yeah, I know he definitely
would have. I mean that makes sense because that is
the type of expiration date that he was most personally
involved with. But yeah, Al Capone, al Capon in the
(16:03):
soup kitchen section. Okay, so yes, we're talking about the
gangster public enemy number one. So Capone knew he had
a bit of an image problem, all right, just a
little one, just a just a tiny bit mm hmmm.
So to combat it, he opened what some believed to
(16:23):
be one of America's first soup kitchens in Chicago and
nineteen anyone who was unemployed could get three meals a
day at Capone's soup kitchen, and it fed about two
thousand two people a day at the cost of about
three hundred dollars, which for him, I think I read
somewhere he was making twenty five thousand dollars a day
at one point and like in nine money. Yeah what,
(16:49):
So for him this wasn't that big a deal. But
also he probably shook down businesses for it. So there's that.
For breakfast, they served sweet rolls and coffee, soup and
bread for lunch, and bread and coffee for dinner. For Thanksgiving,
a nineteen thirty five thousand people were served. Mary Borden
(17:09):
wrote for Harper's Magazine that Capone was quote an ambidextrous
giant who kills with one hand and feeds with the other.
And she made sure to point out that the line
to gain entry into his soup kitchen frequently extended well
past the police station where they were trying to get
this guy. It operated into the nineteen fifties, and it
(17:35):
was successful in the in terms of helping his image.
It really did. He was kind of cultivating this Robin
Hood esque type thing, and a lot of people that
were interviewed at the soup kitchen we're like, yeah, I
love this guy. Yeah, good guy. Yeah, giving us food,
keep keeping our babies safe with us safer milk. Yeah,
I love him. Yeah. Yeah. So there you go. That's
(17:55):
the al Capona side. UM. A little bit later, uh,
during and unless having to do with gangsters, I'm sorry, uh.
During World War Two in the United Kingdom, UM, the
Women's Volunteer Service for Civil Defense began preparing and delivering
meals to neighbors and to uh to to service people.
(18:16):
And this was around the time that you know, the
Blitz was happening, and so a lot of people were
either out of their homes or you know, unable to
to use their kitchens or you know in in in
a number that there were a number of social disarray
kind of things going on. Yeah, And so they began
doing this in nineteen thirty nine, and this became known
(18:38):
as meals on wheels. Similar programs would open around the
world after the War UM and in many places they
were developed specifically as programs to to help feed senior
citizens and other people unable to get out of the
home for whatever reason. Rights In the late nineteen sixties,
a man named John van Hingel out of Phoenix, Arizona,
(19:00):
came up with the idea for food banking. The story
goes after retiring from the business world, Van Hngel devoted
a lot of his time to volunteering at a local
soup kitchen. He met a woman who regularly dug through
grocery store garbage bins looking for discarded food to feed
her children. She told Van Hingel she thought there needed
(19:21):
to be something like a bank where food that was
going to be discarded could instead be stored for future use.
Van Hengel took that idea and ran with it. Soon after,
in nineteen sixty seven, he opened St. Mary's Food Bank
in Phoenix, and this was America's first food bank. They
distributed two seventy five thousand pounds of food in their
(19:42):
first year of operation, and not only that, but others
took note and by nineteen eighteen cities had their own
food banks. In response, Van Hengel established a national network
for food banks, and this led to the creation of
Second Harvest in nineteen seventy nine, which was renamed in
America in two thousand eight. Related the Food Stamp Act
(20:04):
PAST in nineteen seventy seven and the Temporary Emergency Food
Assistance Act PAST in nineteen eighty three, allowing for any
surplus produce to be distributed to those in need. UM.
Also in nineteen eight three, Venhangel established Food Banking Incorporated,
which is now the Global Food Banking Network, which is
a international nonprofit that that helps create and support food
(20:28):
banks around the world. The two tho eight recessions saw
another spiking demand for these services, a spike that we
are again seeing now. Yeah, you know, current events are
particularly disruptive to the food supply and how people access it.
UH related programs like the National School Lunch Program, which
(20:48):
normally feeds up to thirty million kids every school day,
aren't operating. UM food banks and soup kitchens depend on
huge networks of volunteers, but with safe at home policies
and place and you know, just like informed precautions being
taken way, fewer volunteers and in some cases zero volunteers
(21:10):
are able to help out at these places. It's also
making it harder for people in need to go out
in order to obtain supplies. Um. You know, meanwhile, fundraising efforts,
like normal fundraisers like Atlanta's Hunger Walk and Run are
having to cancel. That event in twenty nineteen generated eight
thousand dollars in revenue, and this year it's just gone
(21:34):
because it was supposed to happen in the middle of March. Yeah,
and you know, I hate to end on a downer,
and it's I mean, it is very concerning. And I
was saying to Annie before we started rolling, like, oh man, like,
can we do can we do an episode that has
nothing to do with current events next? Because oh yeck,
I don't think I can take it. Um. But you know,
(21:56):
it's again like like silver linings, look for the helpers,
Like there are so many amazing humans and organizations of
humans that are doing really great stuff out there right now. Um,
So you know, after you finish this episode, give a
quick google, UM see what organizations are operating in your
area and how you either might be able to help
(22:19):
or how you might be able to receive help from them. UM.
You know, these folks are working so hard to provide
solutions UM like like making takeaway and delivery boxes of
supplies UM in order to help minimize interpersonal contact at
food banks. Uh. Some celebrities are giving these big awesome donations.
Restaurants are opening up for those free meals. Our former
(22:42):
corporate overlords System one. They set up a go fund
me to match donations to the Atlantic Community Food Bank.
Stuff like that is happening all over the place, and
you know it's it's up to all of us to
seek those resources out and help them or or or
get help. And there is nothing wrong with with with
needing help right now. No, no, definitely not. And we
(23:04):
would love if listeners, if you have an awesome resource
you think we should shout out send it our way.
We would love to. Oh my gosh, yeah, yeah, please do.
We would love to give shout outs UM on on
social media or or on the podcast. However, however we
can help, Yes, yes, we are here for you. Oh
(23:26):
oh we are yeah um and uh yeah yes, speaking
of getting in touch with us, we do have some
listener mail for you. But first that about wraps up
what we've got to say about food banks. So so
first we've got one more quick break for a word
from our sponsor, and we're back. Thank you, sponsor, Yes,
(23:51):
thank you, and we're back with listener mailh my god, hug.
Oh this first one is so good. It is from
Secret Mermaid. She wrote, I'm a burlesque dancer and one
of my more regular acts as a classic tease, but
(24:13):
as an asparagus. I thought you might enjoy some photos
of what a sparkly burlesque asparagus looks like. We did,
we really did. I call the act asparagus. I would
love if you did an episode on asparagus one day,
if the Burlesque Tribute didn't give it away. It's a
(24:34):
favorite vegetable of mine. I mean, oh my gosh, I mean,
first of all, it is like it is currently asparagus season. Yes,
any food related burlesque we always want to hear about
and see photos or video from. If you would like
to send it our way, I don't know, I don't
(24:55):
know if we ever talked about it any But I
have a lot of friends in the burlesque community, and
I'm a huge fan of the art form and the
talent and the costum ng and I will say, Secret Mermaid,
your asparagus crown is a gorgeous and queenly crown. And
I adore it. I too, everything about it. I love it. Yes,
(25:16):
I love it oh so much so so yes and
and yes, and Amber wrote furloughed Bartender here. I couldn't
help it laugh at the old Timing article about how
the ladies only eat milkshakes with spoons so as to
avoid the dreaded mustache. A strange phenomenon these days is
gendered use of straws. A lot of ladies ask for
(25:38):
them to avoid smudging their lipstick. As someone who was
bad at makeup support them. I don't want to be
smudgy either. What's always funny to me, though, is that
some men will not drink from straws because of that association.
On more occasions than I can count, men have ordered
drinks in quote less girly glasses. Makes you wonder how
(25:59):
these guys drink their milkshakes. Indeed, that is that is
something I hadn't thought about. Maybe I just don't. I
don't think I've seen this behavior before, but I can
totally picture some dudes associating yeah, straw drinking with like
(26:21):
feminity or with sexuality. We actually, a long time ago,
back when I did video for stephone ever told you
the other show that I work on, Um, we did
an episode on the gendering of straws. All right, cool, cool,
(26:44):
I mean uncool, That's that's just fine. I mean, you
do you? I mean, like, do you know, like live
your gender however you want to. I suppose, but I
don't feel like straws should be part of that necessarily.
I think I think that's unnecessary. Yes, but here we are. Yeah,
well there there you go. There you go, there you go.
(27:09):
So thanks to both of them so much for writing in.
If you like write to us, you can. Our email
is hello at savor pod dot com, and we are
on social media. You can get in touch with us
on Instagram or Twitter or Facebook at savor pod. We
we are that screen name all three places, and we
do hope to hear from you. Uh. Savor is production
(27:31):
of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts my Heart Radio,
you can visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Thanks as
always to our super producers Dylan Vegan and Andrew Howard.
Thanks to you for listening, and we hope that lots
more good things are coming your way.
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Anney Reese
Lauren Vogelbaum
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