Mid-Workshop Reflection excerpts by Geoff Trowbridge

Speaking of a visit with Leigh Pettus, Director of Programs and Agency Relations, Geoff said: "It was pretty serious to learn that 1 in 6 Western North Carolinians are classified as food insecure, when the national average is 1 in 8. I wonder how much that's going to increase because of the current recession. I don't think lots of middle class people are necessarily going to be begging on the street soon, but if people are getting laid off from work in big numbers, they're going to be focusing on feeding themselves and may stop giving to the food pantries that form the safety net for the truly destitute. And then it seems to me that those people who are already at risk and just barely getting by due to the help of food pantries may be left out, and then we could be in trouble."

"The way I look at, if people are really hungry, they're going to be hungry today, and though I know the local food pantries and soup kitchens are there for that, if they're sourcing from the big food banks like MANNA, and if those sources get cut off, then they don't have much to fall back upon. "

After the visit to Manna FoodBank where the group spent several hours packing food for the backpack progam: "It was a situation where I wish we all could've slowed down, stopped packing bags, and thought about, okay, what are the ROOT causes of hunger, of food insecurity, of lack of access to healthy, nutritious food? What can we do to address those root causes? Because until we do, I think a lot of the work against hunger, as incredibly important work as it is and will continue to be, may sadly be in vain in the long run."