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Feeding people is one of the best ways to show up for your community
Like approximately half of the rest of the American voting public, I’ve had a rough week. The news that Donald Trump would be reelected to the presidency despite being an unrepentant racist and misogynist punched me right in the gut as the results rolled in on Tuesday night. I am sad, scared, and anxious about what is to come, but I refuse to be cowed by the looming specter of fascism. Instead, I will cook a meal for someone.
In the days following the election, much has been said about what will need to happen next as we look toward the havoc that Trump will likely wreak for immigrants, for queer people of color, for Gazans, for any marginalized person. We do not know exactly what that impact will be yet, but I agree with those who have suggested that to survive the chaos, we’re going to have to be there for each other in so many ways. Food is no exception.
Trump has already proposed deep cuts to SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, often referred to as “food stamps,” which will likely increase food insecurity for millions of Americans. Prices at grocery stores are already high, and his proposed tariffs on imported goods could increase the price of essential items — food included — by as much as 60 percent. As the threadbare safety net in this country is further dismantled by Trump and his cronies, the necessity of coming together to provide support for medical care and other essentials will only become more important. We will also need to feed one another.
If you are not already aware of organizations that tackle food insecurity in your area, now’s a great time to look for them. Consider joining your local chapter of Food Not Bombs, a nonprofit organization that distributes meals to those in need in communities across the country. Find your nearest food bank or mutual aid organization, search out free pantries and fridges near you, and ask those who are already doing that work what your community needs most. Maybe it’s something as simple as making a few peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches for distribution at a nearby community center, or perhaps it’s as involved as doing weekly meal prep for an elderly person in your neighborhood.
Feeding programs are some of the most impactful organizations out there, which makes them an excellent vehicle for your post-election malaise. The work that food banks and mutual aid groups do with limited resources and time is staggering. The idea that you can spend a couple of hours assembling weekend snack packs for school children with a group of friends at the food bank and potentially end up feeding hundreds of people is the exact kind of boost that most of us need right now.
Cooking a meal for someone is one of the simplest and most accessible forms of providing care to others. It does not have to be a fancy meal, it does not have to be made with the most expensive ingredients, it just has to be prepared with the intention of offering nourishment to others. A bowl of rice and beans, spiced with cumin and chili powder you bought at the dollar store, provides the same amount of nutrition and comfort as a dish that costs 10 times as much. A loaf of bread is inexpensive to make, and who among us isn’t happy to receive a warm loaf? It doesn’t hurt that cooking itself can be such a cathartic thing to do — as my colleague Jaya Saxena wrote, you can’t doom scroll if your hands are covered in flour.
The broad feeling of hopelessness among so many people right now is totally justified. This result sucks, and it’s hard to escape the feeling that things are only going to get worse. But staring at my phone and stewing in my own anxieties and prognostications isn’t going to make me feel any better, either. If we’re going to survive the next four years — physically and emotionally — we’re going to have to show up for one another. And in my mind, there’s no better way to do that than to feed them.
