Food Banking Op-Ed

An provocative article in this Sunday's post about food banking, a subject I got to be familiar with while doing a fellowship on hunger issues. The author's main point is that food banking is a distraction from the real problem of ending poverty with public policy. Point well taken, but I had a few objections. I felt like he generalized a bit too much about food banks. For example, the Oregon Food Bank, where I used to work, has a vibrant public policy department and sees policy work as part of its mission. Many other food banks do the same. The author is also a bit off when he confines the problem to hunger and food banking. OMB Watch's Gary Bass and Kay Guinane co-wrote a book on the topic that was just released last month, and they found that most nonprofits- including food banks- don't see affecting policy as a part of their mission. They do service, and maybe advocacy when its absolutely necessary. But many of the op-ed author's points resonate. Donors and volunteers don't always want the same thing as the clients of nonprofits and may be a force against nonprofit advocacy. Too many food banks and nonprofits at large just don't get involved in advocacy, or don't do it on a regular basis. And while I believe most nonprofits understand that the root cause of hunger is poverty, they don't see it as their role to address it. It is encouraging to read this article in the Post, though. The more people talk about it, the better things should get. Silence, denial and indifference are probably the biggest obstacles to change in nonprofits, because my gut tells me people know they could be doing more advocacy.
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