The Hardest Part of Fighting Hunger Has Nothing to do With Food

Every day, our food pantry distributes approximately 7,000 pounds of food, all of which is carried or loaded on carts from the warehouse to be displayed on shelves, tables, or in bins. The physical demands of this work are extreme, and volunteers and staff are often exhausted at the end of shifts.

It’s easy to get caught up in these big numbers- our team moves 35,000 pounds of food per week, and we’re extremely proud of it. But tangible statistics like this can also mean that we forget to consider the other forms of labor that are equally essential to keep a food pantry running. For instance, the labor of helping someone facing food insecurity feel more comfortable and at ease while shopping at a food pantry.

Using a food pantry is highly stigmatized, and people experiencing food insecurity may feel embarrassed, humiliated, or simply extra emotional when they walk through our doors.

Welcoming clients to the pantry requires staff and volunteers to put forth extra positive and open energy.

I see this effort each day in how our team practices empathy as we explain the process for an overwhelmed new shopper, patience as we explain it again for individuals who worry about doing something wrong, and sympathy as we confess how our food supply may not meet everyone’s needs.

In part due to the stigma of food assistance, people often wait until their cupboards are completely bare before they seek our services.  Sometimes they arrive under massive stress, which at times can manifest in some uncomfortable encounters: disrespectful or abusive language and unpredictable or even scary behavior.

It’s important for food pantries to explicitly recognize that managing client stress levels while offering respectful, dignified food assistance is emotionally exhausting.

Our pantry staff are exceptionally skilled in de-escalation, and when difficult or dangerous situations are diffused with skill, it’s easy for leadership to miss the fact that it was necessary at all.  And even harder to recognize the full extent of the emotional labor that goes into prevention rather than reaction.

 To build a pantry that prioritizes compassion, respect and dignity requires enormous amounts of effort to ensure clients feel welcome even when they’re rude, or feel taken care of even when they’re dissatisfied, or feel like their needs are heard even when we can’t meet them.

Recognizing that emotional labor is an essential part of fighting hunger, how can leaders in anti-hunger organizations better support their staff and volunteers?

• Listen. For many people, even the concept of emotional labor is unfamiliar. I’m confident my female readers, and some men out there, have tried to explain the stresses and demands of emotional labor, only to have them brushed away.  Anti-hunger leaders need to listen and learn about the emotional demands of this work.

• Be aware of gender roles.  Non-profit organizations are predominately staffed by women and managed by men.  Men in leadership roles need to engage in structuring a dialogue, recognize, and share the weight of emotional labor in the workplace.

• Recognize the extra burden through compensation.  Exhaustion due to emotional labor means other tasks may not get done, which can impact performance, promotions, and wages.   Leaders must work to avoid penalizing women working just as hard, if not harder than their male peers.  Emotional labor is rarely listed on job descriptions, but can easily be a full-time job in itself.

Major thanks to Kern Herron for his contributions to this piece.

The opinions expressed here are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer.

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