Through My Eyes

After a restful night we were up and our way to Martha's Table. As we were walking to Martha's Table we came upon this homeless gentleman whom had claimed his spot, his home. He had all of his life's positions placed under this little tree, the tree didn't seem to provide him any shelter from the rain/snow/sun why would he choose this spot to be his home? Maybe he used to live close by and living under this little tree was as close as he could get to where he used to live and it held memories for him, I will never know as I didn't stop to talk with him as to why he choose this spot to be his "home" or why he has a motor scooter.

Once we arrived at Martha's table we were met by a very energetic and enthusiastic women who worked with all volunteer groups. After we donned hair nets, gloves and gowns we got to work. I did my best to avoid peeling all the potatoes instead a few of us bagged deserts which consisted of donuts, lots of donuts, pie's, cookies, and cakes. All of these day-old or about to expire items were donated for the homeless, while bagging these items our group start talking about all of the "empty" calories these items held. Sure it is great of the businesses that donated these items, instead of throwing them in the trash, but are we not contributing to the obesity problem among the homeless?

According to the National Center for Health Statistics (2007) obesity affects more than 72 million Americans. Despite the potential for hunger, homeless people are as or more likely than other Americans to be overweight/obese. It is estimated that three million Americans, 1% of the population, experience homeless yearly. One third of America’s homeless adults are women and nearly one fourth are children (Davis, Weller, Jadhav, and Holleman, 2008). Many homeless are obese due to eating fewer meals per day. The meals they do consume usually come from soup kitchens, fast food restaurants, shelters, food pantries, or convenient stores. Many of the meals identified within the shelters consist of food high in starch/sugar/fat and low in fruits/vegetables and few good alternatives. A Toronto finding reported little access to grains, dairy, and some nutrients (Daiski, 2005). Most studies reported that shelters seldom utilize a nutritionist/dietitian and rarely offer special diets for certain health needs.

This puts shelters in a hard spot do they accept unhealthy empty calorie foods to feed those that are hungry or do they spend what little money they have on purchasing more healthy foods?