The Meth Lunches: Food and Longing in an American City

by Kim Foster

“We lack justice and equity within our food system, we lack the courage or patience to tackle the root causes of poverty, and we lack the political will to ensure living wages and a strong social safety net,” Martin writes. She goes on to say that in an effort to respond to this problem, “we have designed systems that are largely transactional, with a focus on serving as many people as possible, as quickly as possible.”

A pantry that can be a community hub will be better at navigating inclusion. They won’t be monitoring how much you can take. Or when are you allowed to visit again. It will be designed with the input and voices of the people being served. I am firm in this belief that everyone at our little pantry should have choice over their food.

Poverty is a policy choice.

This isn’t what’s stopping us from eradicating poverty. What we really want is to maintain a compliant, silent workforce that is dutiful, does the dirty work, and stays quiet, subservient, and works for cheap.

Another kind of crisis that can lead people into homelessness is traumatic brain injury (TBI). This is a significant and often overlooked factor. Poor mood regulation, concentration problems, and memory loss caused by concussions and head blows are thought to impact as many as a whopping half of all homeless people, according to a 2019 study in The Lancet.