Boston Medical Center Food Pantry Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary
When a serious eye problem sent Dorchester executive professional Laura B. rushing to Boston Medical Center’s emergency room, she had no job, no health insurance, and no idea how she’d be able to receive the care she needed to address the chronic health conditions she’d been coping with.
In 2006, eleven years into her stint as director of a South Boston nonprofit, Laura was laid off and has struggled to maintain gainful employment and stable income ever since. She’s also had to grapple with Type 2 diabetes, weight problems and glaucoma, serious ailments she had neither the knowledge nor the money to monitor and manage.
But shortly after becoming a BMC patient, Laura received a prescription not to a pharmacy, but to the hospital’s food pantry, an innovative food assistance program where patients receive referrals to obtain free food that can improve their health.
Now, Laura is one of some 7000 local residents that receive over 20 tons of free fresh fruits, vegetables and meat the hospital gives out each month.
For the last ten years, the Boston Medical Center Food Pantry has brought a sense of stability to the lives of local residents with socio-economic barriers that prevent them from accessing healthy foods and quality healthcare. A referral to the food pantry is often the first step for patients on the path toward getting fresh, wholesome foods and learning and adopting healthier eating habits. Pantry patrons are also encouraged to participate in food preparation classes in the medical center’s demonstration kitchen, where they can learn how to cook food, control portion size, and more.
On October 25, South End restaurant maven Joanne Chang and master TV food chef Ming Tsai cooked up special dishes as special guests Catherine D’Amato, executive director of the Greater Boston Food Bank, and philanthropists Ted Cutler, Marc and Clare Perlman, Don Rodman and other longtime supporters mixed and mingled at the Seaport Hotel in celebration of the pantry’s tenth anniversary.
The intimate reception also included cooking demonstrations by BMC Demonstration Kitchen chef Tracy Burg and gave hospital staff an opportunity to honor the benefactors who have helped sustain the pantry, which is funded entirely by philanthropic donations, over the last decade.
The demo kitchen has been a crucial part of reinforcing the pantry’s purpose: to connect patients with both the resources and information they need to choose healthier foods and behaviors.
“When people come in [to the kitchen], we’ll bring in something from across the hall at the food pantry, and people will say, ‘I would never buy that at the grocery store because I have no idea how to cook it or how to cut it’,” says Burg. “So I teach them how to prepare it, and I give them recipes they can take home with them and that we cook and they taste. They get to try these new foods, and a lot of them, it’s their first time experiencing some of these foods. But as a result, they start making healthier selections at the grocery store because they know how to use the food.”
Since she started receiving food at the pantry and taking classes at the demo kitchen three years ago, Laura’s lost and kept off forty pounds. She says the pantry has been crucial to helping her achieve her health goals. “I don’t think my cholesterol would have come down so far or that my sugars [would be] under control. I don’t think that would have happened if I didn’t have the benefit of the good food I’m getting.”
Pantry manager Dr. Latchman Hiralall says the high cost of healthy food often prevents patients from eating well, but that the free food and cooking demonstrations help them better save and budget their money. “The money they save, they use it to pay their bills, especially during the winter months when things are really tough.”
Food pantry coordinator Emile Kamadeau knows about tough times. When Kamadeau first came to Boston from his native Cameroon, he had a hard time finding work as an IT professional. With little to no income, purchasing nutritious food proved difficult. As a result, his diet and eating habits became unhealthy and expensive. “The type of food I was buying with the little money that I had wasn’t what I was looking for,” he recalls.
After receiving a referral to BMC from Massachusetts General Hospital, Kamadeau was promptly provided with a prescription to the pantry. “When I started collecting food here, I had fresh vegetables [and] meat, so I was able to cook something that was actually appropriate to my needs,” he says.
That was in 2004; seven years later, Kamadeau has been a pantry employee for more than five years and says recognizing the positive impact the program is having on people’s lives pushes him to provide the best service he can to his fellow patients. In return, patients express their appreciation for the pantry and its staff at nearly every turn.
“A lot of people, they are very, very, very grateful for what we are doing here,” he says. “So that’s the payback, when people tell you that they really appreciate what you’re doing.”
Laura is thankful that the pantry has alleviated some of the financial burden of being unemployed.
“Fresh fruit and vegetables are expensive, so [without the pantry], I would be eating whatever it was I could afford that’s less expensive, and that doesn’t tend to be fresh produce,” she says.
“I wish I wasn’t in the financial situation I am in, but I’m glad they’re here, and I never feel like I’m treated as less than because I need the help – that never, ever happens.”
published in The South End News
