Florida Catholic | Food For Our Families: Cancel the cornucopia

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Food For Our Families: Cancel the cornucopia

November’s no time of plenty for farmworker families, but food drive offers well–timed chance to help.

DENISE O’TOOLE KELLY | FLORIDA CATHOLIC STAFF

Published: 11.05.08

ITEMS NEEDED

Rice (5-pound bags are great but smaller bags are good as well) • Pinto beans • Dried beans • Maseca brand corn masa mix (used to make tamales) • Cornmeal • Vegetable oil • Tortillas • Salsa • Chopped canned tomatoes • Dry pasta (spaghetti • shells • elbow • etc.) • Instant milk • Coffee • Dry cereal • Oatmeal • Bottles of juice • Peanut butter • Jelly or jam • Canned meat • Canned vegetables and fruit • Soup • Sugar • Good Start brand baby formula • Baby juice • Baby food • Diapers (all sizes) • Baby wipes

ORLANDO | With Thanksgiving around the corner, ubiquitous are images of the harvest – a time when both food and work bringing it in from the fields are in plenty. But the pictures on the calendar page belie the truth of November in much of Florida, particularly in this year if economic turmoil.

“It’s kind of a desperate situation right now. We’re just starting to plant tomatoes and a few people are helping plant, but it will probably be January or February before the harvest will be ready and in the meantime there’s not much work,” said Tom Comerford, managing director of Sacred Heart Outreach Center in Homestead, one of dozens of drop-off points around the state for the current Food for Our Families drive sponsored by the Florida Catholic newspaper and the Florida Catholic Conference.

Because of the planting and harvest cycles, this would be a lean time of year in any case for farmworker families, the principal targeted recipients of the statewide collection of food and other necessities, said Sister Ann De Nicolo, program director for Catholic Charities of DeSoto County in Arcadia, another Food for Our Families drop-off site. But the seasonal need is being compounded by the economic recession, with many people of all cultural backgrounds and lines of work finding themselves unemployed or otherwise without enough money to feed their families.

“The economy is really hurting people. People applying for food stamps has increased,” Sister De Nicolo of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary said. She noted that receiving food stamps can take a month from the time of application and that more white, non-Hispanic people have been coming in for help. “Of course for the migrants, the pickers, unfortunately the picking hasn’t quite started yet.”

The Food for Our Families drive ends on Farmworker Sunday, Nov. 23, and is intended to provide food and essentials such as baby diapers during a time of great need in largely Hispanic farmworker communities around the state. Farmworker Sunday, as designated by Florida’s bishops, is an annual observance to raise awareness of the living and working conditions of farmworkers and to recognize their contribution to the bounty on the tables of many others.

As part of the drive, the Florida Catholic Conference – which represents the bishops – and this newspaper request that Catholic parishes, organizations and individuals around the state collect food and other items and deliver them to a drop-off point for distribution. The items being sought were identified by those who minister to farmworkers around the state to meet their needs and respect their cultural dietary requirements.

“Most of the people we help out are from Mexico, Guatemala and Haiti, so rice and beans are a big part of their diet,” said Comerfield, pointing out that many of those served at his Homestead Center are couples in their 20s with children, and that the same families work on vegetable farms, plant nurseries and construction, depending on what employment, if any, is available.

Sister De Nicolo said many of the needs are the same for all of the diverse people her agency serves in Arcadia.

“We’re looking for protein, peanut butter and jelly, canned meats, healthy soups,” she said. “For the Mexicans we need rice and beans … pinto beans, they’re a source of fiber and protein.”

Sister De Nicolo added that nonfood items are also greatly appreciated, because they cannot be purchased with food stamps. Diapers and baby wipes are on the Food for Our Families drive list.

Response since the drive was launched Oct. 24 has been very slow, according to people at the drop-off locations. Organizers plan to directly contact more parishes to encourage participation in the drive and to offer suggestions, such as parish rice and beans dinners or youth group projects in preparation for Advent, which begins Nov. 30.

HOW TO HELP

The Florida Catholic newspaper and the Florida Catholic Conference requests that individuals, parishes and organizations throughout the state collect items listed above between Oct. 24 and Nov. 23, Farmworker Sunday, and deliver them to drop-off points for distribution to farmworker families in need. For an up-to-date list of drop-off points and other information on the Food for Our Families drive, click HERE, e-mail mstpierre@thefloridacatholic.org or call the Florida Catholic toll free at 1-888-275-9953.

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