BACK OF THE FRIDGE STEW- By Justin Bower

 

Back of the Fridge Stew- How Soup Kitchens are failing- and destined to fail- Houseless nutritional needs

By Justin Bower

    Often, in times of illness, we tend to gravitate towards certain foods- dense, hearty soups, thick breads and saltines, and other forms of warm, nutrition filled foods on a subconscious level, to attempt to make ourselves feel better. However, this behavior is predicated on a degree of options we have- the access to a kitchen to nourish ourselves, and the opportunity to choose what goes into our bodies on the basis of our own personal tastes and wishes. The houseless, however, have these two entities kept separate. Food stamps may allow access to any variety of grocery store items, and soup kitchens give access to warm, fully cooked home-style meals, but these two methods of food obtainment are kept distinct- and one may be failing to address serious nutritional issues.

 

    In a study by LISA G. SISSON and DEBORAH A. LOWN, an examination was made of 3 soup kitchens in the city of Grand Falls, Michigan. The researchers asked a variety of soup kitchen clients to report back on what they selected to eat, developing data points of the overall nutritional content offered to individuals from these kitchens. Results found that “one meal from the soup kitchens did not provide two-thirds of the EAR for energy, vitamin C, magnesium, zinc or two-thirds of the AI for dietary fiber and calcium but did exceed the reconmendations for saturated fat” and “2 meals from the soup kitchens met the goals for all nutrients except dietary fiber. However, all possible 2 meal combinations provided excessive amounts of calories, more than twice as much sodium as desirable, and high amounts of saturated fat, thus potentially contributing to overweight/obesity and other chronic noncommunicable diseases.” 

 

On first blush, the solution to this seems obvious- “How is it up to a single food kitchen to pack all the needed nutrition into one meal? The houseless should view this as supplementary to their own food access.” However, it’s important to note that the food access to the houseless outside of kitchens is excessively relegated to Meals ready to eat, like fast food and microwavable meals - both that are exceptionally saturated in fats, empty calories, and low nutritional content- and food that can be consumed cold, and in small amounts, due to not having access to food storage or cooking facilities. 

 

Thus, these kitchens are unfortunately contributing to a variety of health concerns- Hypertension and cardiovascular diseases, Diabetes, Obesity, and hemorrhoids - are all results of poor nutrition that affect a variety of houseless people each year.

 

It is unreasonable to blame soup kitchens for these problems- A study by Feeding America cities that 1 in 7 people in the U.S requests use of food banks across America. The reality of these numbers means that most soup kitchens are likely more concerned with stretching their dollar, more so than hitting key nutritional needs, as evidenced by the prevalence of things like simple white breads in the menus of the kitchens. Expecting these kitchens to provide total nutritional needs, in a single meal, would require near MRE levels of planning and strategic decision making to provide meals to people- and then to deliver this meal in a universally palatable and acceptable fashion is likely the stuff of miracles.

 

In short, the nutritional issues faced by many of the homeless are unlikely to be solved through sheer food access- food quality, and affordability, would be more effective. Consider donating more nutritious foods to your local kitchens to help solve this crisis.

 

CITATIONS

 Sisson, L. G., & Lown, D. A. (2011). Do Soup Kitchen Meals Contribute to Suboptimal Nutrient Intake & Obesity in the Homeless Population? Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition. https://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=US201400152000

 Institute of Medicine, Food and Nutrition Board.Dietary Reference Intakes forCalcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Vitamin D, and Fluoride. Washington, DC:National Academies Press; 1997.

 

Institute of Medicine, Food and Nutrition Board.Dietary Reference Intakes forEnergy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and AminoAcids. Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2005

 

 Austin CK, Goodman CE, Van Halderen LL. Absence of malnutrition in apopulation of homeless veterans.J Am Diet Assoc. 1996;96:1283–1285.

 

 https://www.feedingamerica.org/research/hunger-in-america