The Green Parent

Mornings in my house revolve around a frenzy of food. Between preparing breakfast for my girls (they are on a cinnamon toast kick) to packing their lunches (PB&J, carrots, and applesauce), and taking a stab at defrosting what we will have for dinner, it seems almost surreal to me that outside my home, throughout my town, my country, and certainly throughout the world, there are mothers who will not be able to feed their children today.

It is heartbreaking and it is humbling.

Lest you think that hunger is a social issue and not an environmental issue, remember, many environmental problems such as air pollution, water pollution, and genetically engineering livestock and crops are the direct result of our desire to feed people in need.

And it’s pointless to beg people to recycle or install a CFL lightbulb when their only thoughts are on feeding their children.

So parent to parent…let’s go green this year by making sure that other parents have the food they need for themselves and their children. Here’s how:

• Go Local: Contact your local food bank, soup kitchen, or church to find out what you can do to help. Donate non-perishable items, distribute flyers, organize pantry shelves, or volunteer to serve.

• Get Clicking: It’s easy to become jaded and think that the money you donate will simply get lost in an administrative slush pile. But there are charities out there that are really making a difference by getting food and funds into the hands of the people who need them. Here are a few worth checking out:

Meals on Wheels: Meals on Wheels organizations provide hot meals (either at local community centers or by delivery) to elderly, homebound, and disabled folks in need throughout the country. Check out their website to donate or find a program near you.

Target Hunger: Target Hunger aims to alleviate hunger in inner-city neighborhoods. They distribute about 3 million pounds of food each month to families in need in addition to offering courses in nutrition, self-esteem, English-As-A-Second Language, adult literacy, math and job search workshops.

Heifer International: Give a man a fish and he’ll have food for today. Teach him to fish and he’ll have food for life. That’s the idea behind the programs at Heifer, International. This organization provides farm animals to the world’s hungry so that they can have something to eat today, as well as hope for the future. Heifer’s recipients also become future donors, as they pledge to donate their animal’s offspring to another family in need.

• Get Your Kids Involved: After all, we teach our children from an early age that it’s important to share. What better way to walk the walk than to show them how sharing benefits kids in their community and in their world.

Photo of child eating corn courtesy of Radharadhya d
Photo of child and goat courtesy of Heifer International