FOOD for Lane County
sites provide food relief
with volunteer efforts
Participants and site coordinators
alike say that volunteer effort keeps
the program running smoothly
By Cory Eldridge
Freelance Reporter
The old man takes out his harmonica, wets his
lips and begins his poem. It's about mountains.
After the first stanza he plays a short tune. A
few patrons of the restaurant turn to find the
source of the music, smile and continue eating.
After the fifth stanza he plays the last tune.
His green eyes gleaming, John Suta, 82, says
"That's how you write a song," and returns his
harmonica to its case. "Isn't that wonderful."
The Dining Room, where this lesson in song
writing took place, is one of many sites in Eu
gene and Springfield that serve free meals to
low-income members of the community. Pow
ering these sites is a small but dedicated group
of people, mostly volunteers, who prepare and
dish out more than 200 meals daily.
Opened a year ago by FOOD for Lane Coun
ty, the Dining Room currently serves families
and seniors. The restaurant — with its green car
pet, warm orange painted walls, wood paneling
and cushioned booths — has a comfortable feel.
Avoiding the coldness of an institutional soup
kitchen was one of the goals the designers had
for the facility.
'The restaurant is a wonderful place to have a
site," said Sadie Sponsler, the Dining Room's co
ordinator. "It's warm and has some ambience;
we sometimes have someone come play music."
"I cook up enough meals to have
just enough... with no leftovers."
Tracy Joscelyn
Head cook, FOOD for Lane County Dining Room
Fifty to 70 people eat at The Dining Room
every night. Most are regulars.
'Out of the 90 people in the computer, I
know about 85 of them by name,' Sponsler
said.
Ronnie, who asked to have her last name
withheld, brings her three children with her to
the Dining Room nearly every evening.
'It's a place to sit down and talk to your kids
after school," she said. "It has a family atmos
phere."
The need for places like The Dining Room has
increased because of the state's many job losses,
Sponsler said.
For Suta, the Dining Room is a blessing.
'It's wonderful to have a place like this," he
said. 'It's getting harder to get food together;
that's just the way it is."
Ronnie's family echoed that thought. Since
being evicted from their home, the restaurant
has become vital to them.
They are currently living in a friend's RV, but
the temporary home has no running water,
making meals hard to prepare.
"The kids can eat breakfast and lunch at
Tim Kupsick Freelance Photographer
Barbara Nevler washes dishes after a busy Monday
evening in November at the Dining Room. The
restaurant serves free meals to community members.
school, but we have to come here for dinner,"
Ronnie said.
Meals at the Dining Room are substantial. A
bowl of soup and a hunk of bread is not on the
menu. Chicken, rice, green beans, salad, tofu, stir
fry, chimichangas and a wide variety of desserts
make up one night's meal. The next day's meal
could be just as eclectic or simple depending on
what foods are available
"We have something for the kids, something for
the veggies, and something for the meaties every
night," volunteer cook Barbara Nevler said.
Tracy Joscelyn is the site's head cook and she
decides the night's meal by what is stocked in
FOOD for Lane County's coolers.
"I cook up enough meals to have just enough
... with no leftovers," Joscelyn said. "While it
seems abundant in the FFLC warehouse, there is
not enough food in this county to feed everyone
that is hungry."
FOOD for Lane County is an organization
that collects food and then distributes it to relief
agencies in the area. The University is one of the
organization's biggest contributors, Sponsler
said.
The Dining Room and its sister site at the Sal
vation Army in Springfield are open every week
day except Thursday. On Thursdays and week
ends other agencies serve meals.
Crossfire World Outreach Ministries' "Field of
Dreams" program serves lunch on Saturdays un
der the Washington/Jefferson bridge.
Marlene Hinthome, the project's pastor, said
that the community meal was started by a
woman who had been homeless.
"She made the statement, '1 just want to feed
the homeless, because I know what it's like to be
hungry. Even if I have to take beans and rice to
the park and start feeding people that's what I
want to do,'" Hinthome said.
Turn to FOOD, page 8C
Curb your consumerism
with ‘Buy Nothing Day’
The day encourages people to start
thinking about materialism and
focusing on more simple living
By Noriko Miyazaki
Freelance Reporter
Traditionally, the Friday after Thanksgiving
has been the busiest shopping day of the year,
when people 'shop 'til they drop' at the malls.
Yet it is also a day for thousands of people
worldwide to participate in a global event and
to stand together against the culture of over
consumption.
In 1992, former advertising executive Kalle
Lasn decided to attack 'Christmastime com
mercialism' one day at a time by starting a
'Buy Nothing Day" at the beginning of the
holiday shopping season.
The campaign's slogan was and is simple:
Try simple living for a day — spend time with
family and friends rather than spend money
on them.
In a continuing attempt to try and engage
people in a debate on the issues of con
sumerism and materialism and to educate
them about the consequences of overcon
sumption, the Adbusters Media Foundation, a
Canadian non-profit group, organizes Buy
Nothing Day.
Since the launch of the grassroots protest
against the holiday shopping frenzy, Buy
Nothing Day campaigns have caught world
wide attention and support and are now being
organized by several anti-consumer groups,
environmentalists, globalization protesters
around the world, encouraging people to 'par
ticipate by not participating' on the busiest
shopping day of the year.
The main activity is to actually buy nothing.
But according to the Adbusters Web site there
is no right way to celebrate Buy Nothing Day.
"The idea is to do something to spark up de
bate, not shut it down," a statement on the
Web site reads. "The shining hope for a revo
lution in human consciousness lies in the ac
tions of everyday people. And so in the most
profound sense, nothing has changed at all,"
A resistance experiment called "Whirl-Mart
Ritual Resistance' has become another popu
lar way of participating in the campaign.
Beginning in 2001, the ritual activity has
been performed in a number of places across
the country. In this campaign, a group of peo
ple gathers and silently pushes empty carts
through the aisles of superstores such as Wal
Mart, the world's biggest retailer.
In Canada, some campaigners have been
known to dress as a 'blirifl consumer sheep.'
As they walk through stores ranting and raving
about corporate culture, the campaigners pre
tend to be blinded by 'Mr. and Ms. Corpo
rate.'
In England, participants set up tables in
public settings where people can come and cut
up their credit cards.
Former ASUO Environmental Coordinator
Vivian Vassall said America could take a giant
leap forward in improving the quality of life
on Earth even if it alone celebrates Buy Noth
ing Day.
“The average North American consumes five
times more than a person in Mexico, 10 times
more than a person in China, and 30 times
more than a person in India,' she said. "This
has got to change."
Alon Raab, a University Judaic studies in
structor, said he has participated in anti-con
sumerism events for many years.
"During the first one held in Portland, I
danced, marched, sang and protested as we
wove our way through the streets of downtown
among the people who were moving from one
store to another with full shopping bags," he
said.
Raab said Buy Nothing Day is an important
step toward a world that is based not on mon
ey but on friendship.
"We are human beings and not consumers,"
he said.
For more information visit www.ad
busters.org.
Noriko Miyazaki is a freelance reporter for the
Emerald.
400 Artisans from Eugene’s Saturday Market welcome you to
Fine Handcrafted Gifts
International Food Court
Live Entertainment
Open Nov. 22-23, Nov. 28-30, Dec. 6-7, Dec. 13-14, Dec. 20-24
Open 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, Dec. 2410:00 am to 4:00 pm
In the Exhibit Hall at the Lane County Fairgrounds at 13th & Jefferson in Eugene
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