Should Food Banks exist?

Homily St. Edmund’s, Tobermory,Ontario
July 31 Matthew 14:13-21

There was an opinion piece in the Globe and Mail this week which argued that the time has come to end the food banks which have for thirty years helped the poor and working poor.

Food banks began in the early 1980’s as a temporary measure to help people during a recession.

I was a reporter in Calgary at the time working for a daily newspaper and recall writing a story about the Calgary Interfaith Foodbank, a joint effort by religious groups in the city to help those hit by a downturn in the economy which had burst Calgary’s oil boom.

The idea then was that food banks would work themselves out of a job when prosperity returned.

But that never happened.

Christian Churches and other faith groups have long been the backbone of the food bank and soup kitchen system.

We recognize that feeding people who are hungry and don’t have anywhere else to turn doesn’t solve poverty, and it certainly isn’t efficient. It would be much better if people had the resources to buy their own food rather than have a donation and distribution system set up—with all that volunteer and paid labour.

But Jesus asks us to feed those who are hungry, to have compassion on those who are in need.

In many ways that is counter cultural. In the United States right now, the country is on the brink of financial chaos because the Republicans won’t agree to increased taxes on the rich to sustain needed social programs.

In Toronto there are proposals that nutrition programs at schools be removed from the city budget. These efficiency experts are no doubt motivated by “survival of the fittest” rather than compassion and a desire to help those less fortunate.

In the story from Matthew’s gospel Jesus makes it clear to the multitudes what he
Values: compassion and caring. He withdrew by boat to find some place to pray after hearing of the death of John the Baptist.

Yet when the crowd followed them he had compassion and tended to their needs, curing the sick.

The disciples urged him to send the crowds away, seeing the challenges of maintaining the necessities of life in this remote place.

But Jesus would have none of it.

Jesus tells the disciples to feed the people.

But we only have five loaves and two fish, they say.

But out scarcity comes abundance, thanks to God’s blessings. The crowd eat until they are filled with much left over.

This story is so important it is told with variations in all four gospels. As well as underlining the need for compassion, it also teaches us that through sharing, we can satisfy our needs. Through sharing we demonstrate our common humanity.

And for Christians it serves as a reminder of the practical application of the teaching of Jesus to love our neighbours, to feed the hungry.