Food

An important part of the religious communities tradition is providing food to those who do not have enough to eat. These videos highlight just a few of the wonderful projects that have taken place and are ongoing in the Western New York area.

The first video showcases the eleven years persons from a variety of communities worked together to promote sustainability for farmers, farmworkers, and consumers, through an event called “World On Your Plate Conference” on food and sustainable living. Rev. Dr. G. Stanford Bratton, Executive Director of the Network of Religious Communities, spoke with Katherine Mariani, a member of the WOYP Planning Committee, about the history and goals of World On Your Plate, and its upcoming conference to be held at Daemen College.

In the second video, we learn about the role hunger plays in the Jewish biblical narrative, and the recent opening of a food pantry near the suburban location of Temple Beth Zion. Poverty and hunger are painful realities in Western New York. Both the cities of Buffalo and Niagara Falls are at the top of the list of the poorest cities in the nation. But as many discovered following the 2008 financial crisis, hunger and poverty are found in the suburbs as well. Temple Beth Zion opened a food pantry near its suburban location in the summer of 2015. Assistant Rabbi Adam Scheldt, and Amy Schaffer, lead volunteer, at Temple Beth Zion, spoke about the role hunger plays in the Jewish biblical narrative and what led them to open the food pantry near the suburban location of the temple.