I just looked back over my posts so far, and while I am proud of what I read, the overall tone is a bit depressing. Perhaps not surprising given the topic, but I also want to keep readers hopeful by reporting on successes and positive outcomes. I have “liked” my county’s food bank on Facebook, and recently I have gotten a couple of posts from them on my news feed that have made me smile. Today I will pass their upbeat posts on to you. The food bank reported that in the past few weeks volunteers have peeled, cut and bagged 15,000 lbs. of butternut squash. I love butternut squash and am excited to see so much of it being offered in our local food bank and pantries. They additionally released the amount of venison they received this year from Hunters Sharing the Harvest–3,000 lbs. As someone who regularly dodges deer as they dash across the road, I am glad this successful program is in place. Finally, on this St. Patrick’s Day, the food bank posted that the spring greens have been planted in their local greenhouses! I look forward to seeing those greens as they are distributed to the food pantries in the coming months.
I am very encouraged and pleased fresh produce and unprocessed meat is being offered in our local food bank and pantries. I will explain why over the next few weeks as I publish a series of posts about cooking. This series will be at least three parts. I will be discussing the decline in cooking in the United States, and by cooking I mean from scratch. I also will explain why I think it is important to cook from scratch whenever possible and how cooking from scratch is beneficial to those experiencing food insecurity. Finally, I will address how I think the decline in cooking is often unintentionally aided by food banks and pantries and propose some ideas they can use to combat this decline.
This series will take a bit of research and careful thought, so stay tuned over the next couple of weeks as I formulate and publish these related posts. While I always welcome comments, this topic is one area where I really want to hear what others think. I realize there will be some challenges and hurdles to overcome in what I am proposing, so I need help in looking at the topic from several points of view. In the meantime, find some time to dust off some of your favorite recipes or find some new ones and cook something!
From a Simmer to a Boil 