The "soup kitchen" evolves

[serene]

There are a lot of people in our neighborhood who live on the street. We
like them, and we try to toss extra [money|scarves|food] their way. We
know some of their names, but not all of them. They are sweet to us, and
when one of us is out walking alone, they ask about the other one.

When I was in San Diego, a church group I belonged to (yeah, that was a
lonnnnng time ago) used to make bag lunches and take them to the park once
a week. I felt like it was something tangible I could do to help.

I worked with Food Not Bombs for a little while, and I liked doing it
(except for the food-safety issues -- eek!), but it means being away from
my home for the better part of a day, and that can be difficult for me on
the amount of time and energy I have these days. Not only that, but it
doesn't address these particular people in my particular neighborhood,
people I've come to care about.

Lately, I've been wanting to do some kind of "soup kitchen" thing --
there's a park across the street from me, and I thought I might set up a
big soup pot on one of the grills there and serve soup to whoever wanted
it until it was gone. Logistical problems exist with that, though the joy
of SOUP! might cancel them out -- how to manage providing and cleaning
bowls and spoons, for one thing. (The sandwich idea from my church days
is a fine idea, but I want to provide *hot* food. It's *winter*, y'know?)

I still may do the soup thing, but someotherguy had another idea
that might be better, logistically speaking: burritos.

I am going to make up a big batch of burritos (solving the bowl/spoon
problem; only foil would be needed) and keep them in some kind of
insulated container for passing out while they're hot. Maybe an insulated
backpack. Maybe a rolling cooler?

We already carry around stuff that we want to share with the folks while
we're on our walks. The most recent thing we've picked up is a few
handwarmers that might be helpful in this cold. We're also planning to
buy some lightweight blankets. So maybe we could set up some kind of pack
of stuff and food that we could carry around with us. I'm thinking also
juiceboxes.

We have a Costco membership, so this is within our means, especially if we
buy beans/tortillas/foil/etc. in huge bulk. I plan to do it once a week,
around the same time every week.

Probable menu:

Burritos (pinto beans, spanish rice) (cheese presents a spoilage problem,
but it's so yummy. I'm torn)
Juice box
Piece of fruit

So next Costco trip, I think I need to buy the following:

pinto beans
flour tortillas
rice
salsa
oil
salt
foil
napkins
juice boxes

and then get the following fresh stuff at the Berkeley Bowl:

onions
garlic
bell peppers
fruit


If you feel like giving me input and pointing out flaws in my plan, please
do. I'm aware that some municipalities are cracking down on feeding the
homeless, and I don't care about that.

Comments

[sensational.livejournal.com]

Have you heard of ? There's probably some good information there. (http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=75752106)

[sensational.livejournal.com]

Er. The link should be: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=75752106

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

How fabulous! It's like they read my mind!

(For those who can't see the link, it's http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=75752106 )

[bafleyanne.livejournal.com]

Re: the soup idea: what about getting a bunch of the plastic disposable bowls/spoons from Costco? That way they *can* be washed, you can buy a bunch in bulk, but if a few disappear or get thrown out it's not a big deal.

I think it's a great idea either way. :)

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

I try to avoid disposables, especially plastic. I was thinking of maybe those sturdy paper bowls, but I'm not sure they would handle hot soup.

[cerulean-me.livejournal.com]

How neat!!!

Can we help??

[jessypie.livejournal.com]

My first thought was putting the soup in bread bowls, but I think rolls that were big enough and sturdy enough would get pretty costly. But it does get completely around the bowl issue, if not the spoon.

The whole thing is a wonderful idea, anyway. Please keep us updated on how it works out!!

[deakat]

What a wonderful idea! I think that you're truly amazing.

[waywardcats.livejournal.com]

Using the same principal for ease of use, you could do other wraps beside burritos. Cold chicken Caesar wraps come to mind as relatively easy, cheap and nutritious. But they would have to be for Spring, when it's warmer I guess. Piroshikis could also be self-contained.

Great idea in any case!

[wild-irises.livejournal.com]

Me too! I want to help too!

[elissaann.livejournal.com]

I see no flaws in the plan. I think it's awesome.

[ailbhe]

Cups of soup might be easier than bowls?

I'd say include something sweet - a little chocolate, a boiled sweet, something. But I do like me some dessert.

Cheese is *highly nutritious* for people who can eat it. This is not to be sneered at. I'd include the cheese.

Foil is good - it means that if there's more food than they can eat at a sitting without being sick, they can keep it for later. After you've been hungry a while it's hard to eat a real meal.

[snippy]

Mugs. The paper coffee cups like St*rb*cks uses.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Good idea!

[betonica.livejournal.com]

I think the cheese is also a good idea (as is the whole rest of your plan); and I don't think the spoilage thing should be an issue - the cheese won't spoil any quicker than the cooked beans will. Unless you mean that the cheese will spoil in your house before you use the large quantity you'll buy in bulk? You can just slice the mold off the outside and use the rest - cheese is like that.

Wonderful, wonderful plan!

[berkeleyfarm.livejournal.com]

I'm not seeing any problems from a logistics or food safety standpoint and think this is a great idea.

A couple of suggestions:

* I'm big on MOAR VEGGIES so would probably get some frozen corn and check prices on zukes at the Bowl to go in those burritos.

* Soft fruits are definitely preferable to hard fruit if you can pack them right - dentistry among your target demographic is in a state.

* If you can score a deal on babybel type cheeses that could solve the "cheese/food safety" tradeoffs.

* Even if you don't, hard boiled eggs are an extremely popular addition to lunches and eggs are el cheapo at Costco.

* Safeway often has deals on the juice boxes - check specials.

If you wanted to walk around with a thermos of soup, a pack of rolls, and cups, Costco will sell you all sizes of cups and "sippy tops".

One of these days I am going to have one of my graphically talented buds make me a colorbar with "Food isn't love...feeding people is love" and appropriate pictures. Keep on keeping on!

[firecat]

cracking down on feeding the homeless

WTF?

Let me know if you want a donation toward your supply purchases.

[algor-langeaux.livejournal.com]

Not sure you will want to *buy* from this company or not, but if you are looking for what is available in the way of wheeled coolers, you might take a look here (http://www.cooler-store.com/wheeled_coolers_11_ctg.htm)...

[catrinaz.livejournal.com]

as you probably know, i pretty much singlehandedly ran a local FNB chapter for nearly a year. not sure what your FNB food-safety issues were about...and you could always, with some volunteers, start up another FNB where you are. i mean, that's essentially what you're doing anyway...

anyway, we got donated plastic dishes (not disposables) and donated flatware and brought them with us to the park, along with a jug of water, a dish scrubber brush, and some liquid dish soap. when each person finished eating, they washed their own dish and spoon and returned them to the table. you don't need one for each person - just enough so nobody's standing around waiting for a dish for too long.

our collective also did burritos (we were the "anarcho-vegan burrito syndicate" <grin>) for several protests and for events we tabled at. they went over GREAT.

i hope nobody gives you shit for feeding people. i know folks it's happened to.

[pipyn.livejournal.com]

Freeze yer cheeze

http://www.extension.umn.edu/info-u/nutrition/BJ9644.html

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

what a lovely idea!

[pyrzqxgl.livejournal.com]

Every so often I see one person or another walking around selling tamales from some sort of insulated wheeled container. I've never gotten any because I assume it's all non-vegetarian, so I haven't really looked at their setups, but if you ever have people selling tamales on the street where you are, you might want to check out exactly how they're keeping their food hot.