wfn.org | UMNS# 04498-Yam Jam collects 100,000 pounds of food for needy

["NewsDesk" <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Yam Jam collects 100,000 pounds of food for needy 

Oct. 26, 2004	 News media contact:   Kathy  Gilbert * (615) 7425470* 
Nashville {04498}

NOTE: Photographs are available with this story at http://umns.umc.org.

By Tamie Ross*

GOLDEN, Texas (UMNS)--Sandra Horton surveyed the soft, brown earth, looking
for plump sweet potatoes to add to the orange mesh bag she was filling for
the Society of St. Andrew.

Trouble was, it looked as if all that remained in the muddy 27-acre field
were scrawny, black-spotted, root-resembling remnants of what used to be
sweet potatoes. 

Horton had envisioned herself uncovering a bonanza that looked like the fat,
rich, copper-colored spuds she usually sifted through in a bin at the grocery
store.

"Mom, you're not looking at this field with hungry eyes," her daughter,
Billie Wilbur, scolded her. 

That phrase motivated the group from Mount Zion United Methodist Church,
which hails from Panola, Texas, for the rest of the day.

One and one-half filled bags and two hours later, Horton proclaimed herself
cured of her earlier blind spot. "I could probably buy and donate a lot of
potatoes for the price of the tendonitis shot I'll need tomorrow," she joked.
"But honestly, this feels good. We're helping a lot of people today."

More than 700 pairs of gloved hands were expected at this remote patch of
east Texas land and another 70-acre field not far away for the annual "Yam
Jam" on Oct. 23. The Texas chapter of the Society of St. Andrew sponsors the
Gleaning Network each year with farmers, volunteers and food banks. Yam Jam
is one of the Gleaning Network's biggest events.

Several times each year, farmers grant rights for the volunteers to scour the
fields after mechanical harvesting is completed. The produce is then
distributed through local food banks to those who need it most. 

Each gleaning session yields thousands of pounds of perfectly good produce
that otherwise would have been left in the fields to rot or be plowed under.
In Texas, five months each year - mid-June through mid-November - is spent
giving growing fields a once-over after the commercial picking ends.

The fresh fruits or vegetables taken from the fields are put directly into
the hands--and onto the tables--of the hungry, usually within 48 hours.
Besides sweet potatoes, the society regularly works with farmers to ensure
apples, cucumbers, Irish potatoes, blueberries, squash, okra, watermelon,
pumpkin, corn and other produce reaches people who need nourishment.

Gleaning is a biblical concept discussed in several Old Testament passages,
the most familiar is one cited by several volunteers as they weave through
the rows of green leaves that indicate sweet potatoes are nearby.

"Who hasn't heard of the story of Ruth and thought, 'Wow!'" said Wilbur,
reciting Ruth 2, where Ruth follow workers in the field, collecting
overlooked grain to feed herself and her mother-in-law, Naomi, whose husbands
both had died. 

"I've never known hunger, and my children have never gone to bed crying
because they didn't have anything to eat. Yet working out here really helps
you get it: These little sweet potatoes can mean the world to people who
don't have enough food to feed their families," she said.

Jubilant workers like Wilbur's 11-year-old son, Nick, unearthed a few
giant-sized yams somehow missed by mechanical diggers. But the majority of
the day's bounty came from smaller, yet still healthy, potatoes buried in the
field.

The previous night's downpour left puddles of water inside the huge tire
tracks that snaked through the fields. But the rain was a treat, said Fred
Fink, office director and field coordinator, and he never feared the threat
of a washout.

"That rain really cooled things off really well and made the soil easier to
dig," Fink said. "This is backbreaking work anyway, but a hot, sunny day is
devastating to us."

In its 25th year as an ecumenical organization founded to feed the hungry,
the Society of St. Andrew now collects 25 million pounds of left-behind
produce each year. Those who glean these fields represent churches, civic
groups and corporate organizations. 

The Texas chapter, whose offices are at the First United Methodist Church of
Irving, nets about 2 million pounds of food each year, Fink said, with Yam
Jam accounting for 100,000 pounds of that total. Roughly 26 United Methodist
groups participated in this year's Yam Jam.

Fink wishes he and others could do more. An estimated 96 billion pounds of
American-grown food is wasted every year, forgotten in fields or tossed into
dumpsters because it spoiled.

In his 30-year career in computer sales for IBM, Fink never dreamed so many
people lacked access to fresh food. A job change and the resulting two years
with the Society of St. Andrew have taught him what he should do "with the
rest of my life," he said.

"I never knew hunger existed like it does," Fink said. "And I never knew so
much food went to waste. By considering both of these facts together, we can
work to put a stop to both.

"We grow enough food globally to make sure that no one ever goes hungry. It's
just a matter of getting what's grown to those who need it in a timely
manner."

*Ross is a freelance journalist based in Dallas.

News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org