Pies for People, Soup for Supper- Bringing awareness to hunger, one pie at a time.

Hardwick, VT- November 9th, 2010-The squash is harvested, pureed and frozen, the volunteers are signed up and the recipes have been double checked. All that’s left is to bake the pies, cook the soup and deliver the food.

With just a week before our first bake night at Sterling College, we find ourselves reflecting on the past few weeks, our last two Pie events and our message as two mission-driven organizations.

Each year, there are hours of coordination leading up to the event. There are dozens of phone calls (and even more e-mails), soliciting donations of ingredients and talking to potential volunteers, coordinating the use of kitchens, freezers, and deliveries so that the timing is just right for our recipients. Once the coordination is nailed down, we move immediately into two nights of baking and cooking, where a cadre of volunteers make crusts and pies, season and stir vats of soup, wipe counters, sweep and mop floors, all the while jamming to tunes over a set of speakers in Sterling’s spacious kitchen. One week before Thanksgiving, it’s a mad scramble to deliver the pies and soup, intact, to their various homes. It’s an exhausting 6 weeks and we often ask ourselves the following questions: Are we making an impact? Is the message getting out? Thankfully, we can answer both questions with a resounding “Yes!”.

According to the USDA, 14.6% of our population was food insecure in 2008. That represents over 49 million people, of whom 16 million are children. Those are staggering numbers.

On a local level, we directly impact hundreds of people when they eat the pies or soup at community dinners, school lunch, as a snack at one of the senior centers or as a client of the local Food Pantries. On a regional level, we hope to inspire others to work with food security organizations towards a solution for hunger from a local perspective using fresh, healthy ingredients. Neighbors helping neighbors. A community feeding their community.

We know that we cannot end hunger with a slice of pie or a bowl of soup, but if our Pies for People, Soup for Supper event gets people talking, involved and working towards a solution, then we support those who take on hunger every day.

If you would like to be involved in our event, please consider donating to our Food Access Fund or donate directly to your local food bank, food pantry or any other organization that strives to create food access and security. Thank you for your support.

Contact:

Elena Gustavson, Program Director
Center for an Agricultural Economy
elena@hardwickagriculture.org or 802.472.5840, ext 2
Contact:
Tim Patterson, Media Director
Sterling College
tpatterson@sterlingcollege.edu or 802.586.7711, ext 124