Demand at Community Kitchens at Four-Year High reports Best Kitchen Knives HQ

(EstateNewsWire.com, November 14, 2012 ) San Francisco, CA- A Just Harvest, a 30-year-old community kitchen and pantry in north Chicago, serves more than 200 people each day.

For many of the men, women and children of wide-ranging ages, racial, and ethnic backgrounds, the meal they eat at the kitchen is their only meal of the day. Unlike many community kitchens, A Just Harvest serves dinner at 4:30 p.m. daily.

"A third of them are homeless, a third are seniors and a third are underemployed," said David Crawford, the kitchen's director of food services. "Most of these people are just trying to get by. When a majority of your money is going towards rent, it can be hard to put food on the table."

As the economy continues to struggle and unemployment still high, community kitchens fill a vital role in feeding the poor.

That demographic is larger than it has been in recent memory. According to the Greater Chicago Food Depository, which distributes food to more than 400 pantries, kitchens, and shelters throughout the city, one in six Cook County residents does not know where their next meal will come from. The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2011 American Community Survey indicates there are more than 900,000 people living at or below poverty levels in the county.

The need at A Just Harvest has quadrupled since Rosario Valdovinos began working as a chef at the community kitchen 30 years ago. "To help people is enough for me," she said. "I am just grateful for this job, to be working. It makes me appreciate everything I have."

The community kitchen’s efforts are appreciated by those who rely on them. "I've been coming here for 20 years," said Donald Hicks, who volunteers and eats at the kitchen. "This is where I'm able to come and get a good meal. I don't know what I'd do for food if it weren't here."

A Just Harvest and other community kitchens rely heavily on donors to operate, said Wendy McNew, Greater Chicago Food Depository public relations coordinator. That need is at an all-time high, she added. "We're serving 68% more people now than four years ago," she said. "The need for food donations is greater than ever."

The good news, said McNew, is that of all the problems affecting Chicago residents, hunger is the simplest to address. "The issue of hunger is different than others in that by engaging the community, by building relationships, we can actually solve it," she said.

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