Les Pensées When thinking in English simply isn’t enough.

Thought For Food

***This article was originally published in HERE Magazine <http://herenb.canadaeast.com/>***

My stunningly beautiful wife recently showed me an article in the Times & Transcript (Metro Food Depot Has 'Good News/Bad News'), which mentioned something I'd never heard of before: Moncton's Food Depot. The article said it was essentially a non-profit organization with a warehouse full of food, supplying 23 food banks and soup kitchens between Sussex and Sackville, and that though their shelves were full, they were in danger of closing due to financial issues. My stunningly beautiful wife asked me to help her draft a letter, petitioning the government to help to keep this place afloat. She was indignant that a place like this could flounder due to things like property taxes and lack of social funding, while the government was able to help fund a golf course in our region and pay significant bonuses to certain executives at NB Power. Of course, I immediately agreed with her (I may be a newlywed, but I'm not dumb). But after some thought, I realized this is by no means a cut-and-dry issue, and that flying off the handle without proper information is what tends to give protest a bad name. So, I decided to try and speak with those involved before making up my mind. 

I began by speaking with Food Depot director Ray Gould and Jim White, director of the Ray Of Hope Needy Kitchen. One of the first things Ray mentioned was that their landlord had just died that morning. The significance was, at first, lost on me. But Ray put it into perspective this way: 

"Nobody wants to lend us money unless the government sanctions it, so we have a lease-to-own building. Right now our property taxes are $30,000 a year, and the building is 3 years old, so there's back taxes of $90,000. The landlord never pushed us to pay it, but I told him not to pay the provincial government. I said 'This is crazy! This is a charitable organization! What are we doing paying $30,000 a year when we don't have the money?' Furthermore, the province has stopped giving us any yearly contributions beyond the $19,000 a year CVA grant. Before that, they funded us well over $100,000 the first year, the second year $70,000, and the third year...zilch." 

When the depot asked the province why they'd cut funding, they were told there was no money. This is why those involved were so upset to see what they considered misuse of provincial funds. "Just one of the bonuses <given to NB Power executives this year>" said Ray, "would pay for the operation of this for one year." 

Jim followed up with "If this place shuts down, you're going to have 23 managers going around to Sobeys and SuperStore and Co-Op, and we're all going to be hitting the same spots saying 'I need food!', and the automatic reaction is going to be 'No'. So, all of a sudden, we have no source of food, which means southeast New Brunswick has got a lot of hungry people. If they close this place, I'm just gonna take my keys to the minister responsible in Fredericton and say 'Here! You run the Ray Of Hope Needy Kitchen. Here's our stats. Here's our people. You closed it down...you take care of it.'"  

The food depot has been in existence in one form or another since 1986,  starting in downtown Moncton. Shortly after it opened, the building they were using was condemned as unfit, but the operation continued to work out of there for a long time, expanding to service more and more agencies. Many politicians on both sides of the fence visited the building and urged them to relocate. Finally, about 4 years ago, Sobeys graciously offered them the use of a building in Caledonia Industrial Park, not far from where they're currently located. The building had a fridge and a freezer that were both big enough for a tractor trailer to back into, and much more cupboard space than they would have ever been able to use up to that point. But, as they say in the business world, "Location, location, location." Due to their proximity to all of the major suppliers, they were suddenly getting more food than they were able to handle. After Sobeys sold the building, local businessman Raoul Leblanc (their landlord, up to this point) allowed them to move into their current building 3 years ago. 

And they're still growing. 

In December alone, the depot distributed nearly 250,000 lbs of food, which in the bulk food industry equates to almost 1/2 million dollars. As Ray succinctly put it, "We're doing our job." 

For me, playing devil's advocate is a pass time of sorts, so at this point my mind was racing. It was undeniable that this place was pivotal to the current hierarchy of social assistance in our province, but did anyone ask them to be? Did the government actually break any promises, or was the depot simply assuming they'd be there to bail them out with funding? Was there some level of corruption I was missing?  

"Our numbers aren't as bad as some people think" said Jim, referring to the amount of people being served by local food banks. "We know there's abuse of numbers being reported, which translates into CVA dollars (Community Volunteer Action). This is being addressed in the next few weeks. We're trying to police ourselves; We are trying to be transparent." Last year, the depot laid people off and trimmed their budget by nearly $100,000. The depot and it's sponsored agencies are working on implementing a computerized tracking system to help ensure no unnecessary duplication of services, another step in the journey to making overhead as low as it can go. They're trying to make it work. 

After our conversation, my head still spinning, I took a tour of the warehouse with supervisor Ken Rafuse. The shelves were indeed full of food, and a handful of volunteers were processing new deliveries. There's no question that they could use more volunteers, however, since there are boxes of food yet to be unpacked from Christmas. Apparently 16,000 volunteer hours a year isn't quite enough.  

After our meeting, I climbed into my iceberg of a car telling myself "There are two sides to every story". It would obviously be unfair for me to not contact the government, giving them a chance to share their side.

It turns out the Premier's phone number is on the internet. Weird, eh? 

He didn't answer the phone personally, but after a slight telephone shuffle I did end up speaking with Shannon Hagerman from the Social Development Dept. I explained the depot's plight, advising her that unless something is done to prevent their closure the general landscape of food distribution in this province will be drastically altered, and then I asked her if the province has any backup plans in mind. "In the vast majority of regions in the province", she said, "food distribution is overseen by a network of volunteers and corporate partners. That model of self-sufficiency and community volunteerism should be and is commended. I know the government will continue to work with local organizations that are wanting to develop grassroots associations in the province. But, at this present time, it is the practice of the Dept of Social Development not to provide funding for operating costs of food distribution agencies."  

Okay. So...what now? 

After all this opinion and information, there were still so many unanswered questions. The only thing I knew for sure was why I started this in the first place. So, as stunned as I was, I followed through on my stunningly beautiful wife's request, and I helped her draft a letter to the province. 

To Whom It May Concern, 

I have recently become aware of the fact that there are hungry people in my area. Yes, recently. I am THAT naive. I've also recently become aware of the fact that many of these hungry people are getting relief from food banks and soup kitchens, and that these agencies are getting most of their food from a place right here in Moncton called Food Depot. I won't bore you with the details of their history, as I'm sure you know more about it than I do, and as this letter is more about their future than their past. As it stands, unless something changes for them in the next 4 months, they will be closed due to lack of funds. 

We need your help. 

How you decide to help is entirely up to you. We, the people, have elected you into power because we obviously trust you and your judgments, and I wish to respect your authority. I humbly ask you to consider this situation, seek counsel, deliberate (though not for long), and then act. Should you choose to respond with direct funding, I'll support you. Should you choose to respond by restructuring, or by raising the alarm to local organizations to pick up the slack, I'll support you. Should you decide to write us a letter in the sky, telling us it's time to wake up and start taking care of ourselves...I'll read it. My only request is that you respond. You know where we live.

Sincerely.

Google Earth/Life In The Global Village

***This article was originally published in Inspired Magazine <www.inspired-magazine.com>***

In the words of Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan, we are living in a "global village". Our population grows while our borders shrink. While there is no single cause behind this (trade, travel, and television are major factors), there is little doubt that the innovation most responsible for putting the finishing touches on this little town we now call Earth is the Internet.

The "I" in Internet is capitalized, some say, because it is a place; like Toledo, Wal-Mart, or Nirvana. I'd tend to say it's more like another dimension. It's Bizarro World. In the Internet, we can travel through time and space instantly, or become things that we could never imagine...also, Superman lives there, but he's not as nice as you'd like him to be. The Internet enables us to do more than just the fantastical, obviously. There are many real world connection points (banking, shopping, keeping in touch with friends next door and across the globe), all of which compact this planet into an easily traversable place. And at the rate which the real world shrinks, the Internet gets proportionately larger. As of last July, it was estimated that there were more than 1 trillion (1,000,000,000,000) web pages on the Internet, and the rate of growth currently sits at several billion pages per day. Of course, every kingdom needs a king, and in the nether-world of the Internet, Google reigns supreme. They aren't the only search engine, but they may as well be. Thanks to their patented technology, information is now as readily available as we want it to be. If you can type it, you can find it.

As you'd expect, there are ups and downs to this brave new world. For example, if I were to search the word "love" right now (as I've just done), I'd get approximately 1,910,000,000 returned entries. In other words: a good afternoon's worth of reading. But, were I to Google "poverty", I'd get about 69,900,000 returns, or "war", 887,000,000. There would be news results, blogs, wiki entries, and other forms of dialogue, opinion and/or fact-based. And here's the kicker: This information would be here, floating around, whether or not I asked for it.

In some respects, one could argue that this has always been the case, even before the information superhighway had a lick of pave. But now that the "Church of Google" (seriously, check out www.thechurchofgoogle.org and at least read their "Nine Proofs" section...you'll be intrigued, appalled, or both) has arrived, our society is faced with the burden of choice; whether or not we should encumber ourselves with the weight of this knowledge. There was a time where people would get upset when the morning paper suggested there was trouble down South. It was knowledge that they both did and didn't want. But once the morning paper was tossed out, you were free until the next morning. Now, the morning paper is about as relevant as swing music. We have access to more global information than newsprint could ever have provided, and it's available anywhere, anytime. You wanna find out about the crisis in Sudan? Type it. Economic meltdown in Iceland? Type it. There are no boundaries. If the world is shrinking, then why do my shoulders suggest it seems to be gaining weight?

So, in this current climate, with it's access to an onslaught of potentially disheartening news, how do we live compassionate and involved lives? How do we avoid the pitfalls of apathy and desensitization, when it seems like a natural defense to the informational "white noise" that surrounds us?

See Your World

Start by actually seeking out information about your world. Go on the offensive. I'm not suggesting you give up World Of Warcraft or anything, but spend at least some of your time online familiarizing yourself with global issues rather than shying away from them. Regardless of your beliefs, most of us would say it is our responsibility to be well-rounded, informed, and caring citizens, right? Browse sites, read articles, and keep an open mind and spirit throughout.

Define Your World

There's only been one man in all of history who has had the potential to fix everything in this world, and that man is not you. As you read, you'll find articles about abject poverty, racism, war, and disease. You'll find some issues focused mainly in your country, and others spread out around the world...some in countries that you've never even heard of. Do not be overwhelmed. Keep your eyes open for what strikes a deep chord within you, and then (while maintaining a general knowledge of the other issues on our hands) focus on learning as much as you can about this particular issue.

Change Your World

Once you've narrowed things down a bit, it's time to do something. You might settle on something environmental or social, medical or educational. Whatever your passion, this is the time to remember that the Internet is a tool to benefit the real world, not to replace it. Find out the practical/physical things that you can do to act on this issue, and then...do them.

This may sound overly simplistic, but life is supposed to be simple when you live in a village, isn't it? 

The Away Mission

Everyone loves a good confession. We love to be the catholic priests of the day to day, being shot with excitement from the guilt or shame of others, amidst the mundanity. That is the only reason we know the names "Ricki Lake", "Jerry Springer", or "Montel". Well, here's a little something for you which you may not believe, given my abnormally high level of coolness, but I, Marc Jolicoeur***, was once a Trekkie. For the uninitiated, this means that in my younger years, I was a die-hard fan of a television show called "Star Trek: The Next Generation". I briefly flirted with the original series, as well as with "Deep Space Nine", but STTNG was definitely the one for me. I loved it so much that I had a big book (dubbed "The Starfleet Manual") full of schematics of phasers and starships. My passwords for a long time involved some form of the word "Enterprise". I even learned a couple words in Klingon. My geeky friends and I would regularly stay up all night and watch a marathon of all the movies. I actually read one of the novels once, too. I hated to read; I liked Star Trek.

Why am I telling you this? It's not actually that I feel any kind of weight on my shoulders that needs rid. I'm comfortable. I'm sharing this with you to establish myself as an authority for the starting point of this discussion: the away mission.

If any of you have ever watched an episode of Star Trek, you'll know that they spend most of their time on a space ship, wearing clothes that look like 1970's pajamas. Often, however, a designated group of officers will leave the ship to accomplish a set purpose, which is generally dangerous. When they compile these groups of about 4-6 people, which are comprised mainly of the chief characters on the show, they usually tend to include 1 or 2 "unknowns" as well. "Unknowns", of course, are characters that you've never seen before, and chances are, will never see again. They leave the ship and beam into enemy territory, only to be shot at on arrival. If this doesn't happen, the situation will at least grow tense, and the leisure-suited unknown will become nervous and draw his weapon. In any case, the result is the same; the guy you didn't recognize gets shot.

Even if you've never seen any such episode (or if you're too cool to admit it), you'll have plenty of experience with this sorta thing. Remember "Braveheart"? Countless Scottish rebels were mowed down by the poor-toothed English, but not many with speaking parts. This is pretty much the case in any action film. We only have 2 hours with these people, and their deaths are hardly worth noticing if they didn't even have a morsel of sparkling dialogue. Unknowns are unmissed.

I was a weird kid. Rather, I am a weird kid, though I'm now only a child of the mind. When my body was little, I spent the vast majority of my free time with the TV. It wasn't that my parents didn't love me, and I certainly had friends. I think I was just lazy. Regardless of the reason, I'd spend my prime time on Prime Time all the time. My favorite things to watch were sitcoms and sci-fi. This caused me to have an adult's vocabulary of words I didn't understand, just like many adults. It also enabled me (primarily through the sci-fi) to witness hundreds of these "Deaths of the Unknown". The weird thing? I always felt kinda bad. I always wondered what their life was like and what happened after they were shot. Why didn't they have a witty remark? Would their parents cry that they were gone? Even the bad guys; I recall wondering what the face of the Storm Troopers looked like after they'd been shot...or if they even had faces. As I got older, I started watching more epic movies, and the thoughts faded but didn't disappear. When Neo's fighting for his freedom from The Matrix, he kills dozens of innocent bystanders without concern. Did they have backstories? Is lack of character development a good enough reason for cold blooded killing? The guard who just got stabbed by the hero...did he really have a choice? Was this what he was born for? How can I take no notice of his death and cry for the loss of the protagonist's love? How can I not value the unknowns?

Before you call the Drama Police, I told you; I was a weird kid. I do realize that the people inside the little box aren't real. But they seem real sometimes, don't they? Don't they represent reality, in some way? Life imitating fiction imitating life. A room full of mirrors.

While watching the 6 o'clock news last week, I stumbled on a story about a young man stabbing his grandparents to death. One was stabbed 27 times, while the other was only stabbed 12 times. I imagine the deaths would have been quite painful and horribly slow. They would have heard each other screaming, as well, which would have compounded emotional pain for their loved one onto the physical. They never mentioned their names. Upon hearing this report, I finished my Kraft dinner, went on Facebook for a few minutes, then went out to the movies. I saw a comedy that night. I laughed. They were unknowns.

If my grandparents suffered a fate even remotely close to the one mentioned above, I'm fairly certain I'd be broken in two from the grief. Yet for these 2 poor souls, who could have been angels or devils for all I know, I won't even shrug. How? A Canadian soldier is killed in combat (I don't approve of the war), an African mother dies of AIDS (we don't even speak the same language), a British tourist is shot in Brazil (I bet it's warm in Brazil), and to me they are all unknowns. We may be living in a global village, but our huts are getting further and further apart everyday. The space between us is the value of life. 

We see it all around us. We see it in video games. We see it in the abortion rate. We see it in the school system. We watch it in movies and read about it in the newspapers. On the world market, the value of life is plummeting. The decisions of businessmen and politicians everywhere have been lowering people's perspective of what human life is, and the end result can only be a world where life is as disposable as a paper plate.

By no means am I saying that no one is helping. Right now, throughout the planet, there are thousands of organizations trying to preserve health and human dignity by feeding the poor and caring for the sick. Many of these organizations are doing tremendous work infusing worth into the people they deal with. Others are also doing a lot of work to restore people's wellness, but to feed and clothe someone so that they can continue to be taught that humans are nothing but chemical accidents without a future or a meaning is putting a bandaid on a shotgun wound. The trouble is that all these things (education, entertainment, social conditions, etc) combine to create an atmosphere where an individual can too easily see other individuals as unimportant. Worthless. And if this becomes a person's prevailing view of humanity, it won't take too long for that person to figure out that they are, in fact, human as well. What if this individual comes to the conclusion that, in the story of life, they're just one of the unknowns? How will they choose to treat the other characters in the story? How will their story end?

The fact of the matter is that we are not worthless. Regardless of what you believe about creation or God, just look around at what humans are able to do, able to be. Look past the horrible things that we've done and see our creativity and our capacity for love. We're coming into an age where we might no longer be able to own slaves, but we might soon be able to buy fetuses, and life could too easily come to be viewed as just another product if we don't take care as to our view of it. 

As someone who claims to follow the ways of Christ, my job is to think of others more highly than I think of myself. But that wouldn't mean much if I considered myself worthless, would it? Even religious selflessness is at least partially reliant on a worth of humanity.

Now, we live in a beautiful but broken world, so if we truly esteemed every single person so highly, we'd die on a daily basis. What with the reports of war and famine, the rape and murder and general disregard for our fellow man, our tears would run us dry. To be honest, I don't know how we could practically live in the balance between that theoretical world and the one we now occupy. But I, for one, think we need to try.

I don't watch Star Trek that much anymore. I still catch the odd rerun here and there, and when a movie comes out, I'll make an appearance, but I am a little out of touch with that whole scene now. I do still understand the away mission very well, though. They don't kill off the captain because Trekkies know him. They care about him. They knock out the unknowns because they're just that; unknown. The real world isn't scripted, but the writers of chance and circumstance might be less inclined to wreak so much havoc on unknowns if they knew that people cared for them too. For TV, we vote with our ratings. For the real world, we vote by how we treat people everyday. Today, let's cast our ballots for worth.

***If you're in the majority of people and don't know who "Marc Jolicoeur" is, then you might miss the inherent sarcasm in the proclamation of how cool he is. Allow me to reassure you: sarcasm intended.