Mar 1, 2021
In these COVID-19 times, we often hear of food shortages. It’s especially troubling when the shortage involves children who haven’t been able to go to school, where in some cases they get their best meal of the day.
Unfortunately, there’s nothing new about food shortages for the poor. In the Bible, in Deuteronomy and Leviticus, farmers are told to leave some of their crops in their fields for the poor. From time immemorial charities and religious organizations have tended to the poor.
After the Civil War ended in 1865, a significant number of unemployed veterans on both sides – and a proliferation of railroads – helped lead to an uptick in the number of homeless wanderers in the U.S. In Medfield they were mainly called tramps, but sometimes hobos or bums.
There is a subtle difference. A hobo was one who wandered about looking for work. A tramp was one who wandered about hoping he would not have to work. A bum was a wanderer who drank too much.
In the post-Civil War era, Medfield had a poor farm, also known as the almshouse, located off West and Bridge Streets, near the Millis line. In addition to itinerants, the almshouse accommodated four to five residents yearly, many of whom were very old. The report of the Committee on the Care of the Town’s Poor, reported that in 1892 the farm, known as the Medfield Poor Farm was comprised of buildings and houses with approximately 165 acres, divided into tillage, pasture, woodland, and meadow.
It would be many years before the country would provide welfare, and the responsibility for the care of the poor was up to the town. The gypsies residing in Medfield were always run out of town and were attacked in the newspaper by those of the town’s upper classes.
Records showed that the almshouse helped a large but consistent turnover of three to four hundred tramps who passed through each year, staying for something to eat or overnight and then moving on. A special “tramp house” was built to accommodate them at the poor farm. However, not all the people welcomed them and soon chased them out of a vacant home they had broken into.
An increase in the number of tramps coming through town was traced directly to the economic condition of the country as a whole. A major depression in the 1890s threw uncounted thousands out of work, while lesser panics and recessions in 1903 and 1907 also added to the ranks of the unemployed. Many a tramp knocked at Medfield doors looking for a handout or a job to do for some food.
There was a depression at the end of the 19th century that caused the increase in tramp-related problems such as occupancy of tramps staying at the poor farm according to town records. Eventually, vagrancy laws were passed but were generally ineffective.
It also became expensive for local governments as the jails and almshouses bulged with homeless men. In Medfield, the expense was twenty cents per tramp per day, in addition to the building of a “tramp house” at the almshouse to accommodate their increasing numbers. Towns often decided that the best solution was to run them out of town. So much for altruism!
As the decades passed, the poor assimilated into the society the best they could, and the word “homeless” replaced the derogatory word, “tramp.” Better times were ahead.
In the Great Depression in the 1930s, President Roosevelt established the New Deal that provided great relief for the poor and the unemployed. The Greater Boston Food Bank, for example, traces its origins back to the Depression and today provides food for nearly 150,000 people a month.
Food banks are non-profit, charitable organizations that distribute food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger. Some food banks operate on the “front line” model giving food directly to the hungry. Others operate on the “warehouse” model, supplying food to the food pantries and soup kitchens.
The growth of food banks has been welcomed by towns because they demonstrate an active, caring citizenship. Food pantries like the Medfield Food Cupboard, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, encourage voluntarism and receive food from charities that value the salvaging of food that would otherwise go to waste. Most of the donated food comes from food left over from the normal processes of for-profit companies.
The food comes from any part of the food chain, from individual garden owners who have produced to much or whose food is not sufficiently visually appealing, and from retailers who have over-ordered. Often the food product is approaching or past its “sell by” date. The food pantry makes sure the food is safe and legal to distribute and eat.
The Medfield Food Cupboard is located at the United Church of Christ, 496 Main Street. Telephone is 508-359-4958. Edress is info@medfieldfoodcupboard.com.
The decision to visit a food pantry is often a difficult choice for our fellow families here in Medfield. Between the stigma surrounding pantries and common misconceptions about how the system works, many people sometimes don’t seek the assistance they need. Some people have preconceived ideas about myths and facts surrounding pantries and who they help.
Some people think they must be unemployed, or their children must be receiving free or reduced lunch costs to be eligible for pantry services. At the Medfield Food Cupboard, eligibility is based on self-attested need. You do not need a referral, and income is not a factor to receive food. You may be asked to provide a form of identification and proof of address or how many people live with you.
Some pantries restrict visits and availability of food, due to volume of clientele. You should know that a family is welcome to visit multiple pantries to ensure their needs are met during the month. Pantries do not share who comes to visit, and there is no overall count of the number of agencies a family or individual might have used in a given month.
The Medfield Food Cupboard provides perishable and non-perishable foods including dairy products, fresh fruits and vegetables, baked goods, canned goods, dried goods, frozen meats and more. Medfield Food Cupboard distributes items in a pre-packaged form, and allows for a client choice distribution method, meaning families are able to select only foods they prefer, need or want.
Food pantries receive funding and food from the government. Medfield Food Cupboard receives most of its food through donations from Shaw’s and other corporate and individual donors, and supplements that with purchased food and government commodities. The products the food bank receives from these sources are available to member agencies like food pantries to distribute to their clients at the Medfield Food Cupboard. Additionally, Medfield Food Cupboard has access to local private and public funding supplement for their operational costs.
Medfield Food Cupboard also provides a variety of non-food options such as personal care items, paper products, and back to school supplies. It is enlightening to see how other establishment are in full swing by participating in healthy foods like the CVS cashiers who diligently check the expiration dates on any food items being sold. Likewise, the Shaw’s Supermarket always donates any non-perishable items to the Medfield Food Cupboard. In times like the present, Together We Can!
The Food Cupboard has been partially closed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic but is still distributing food to the many and hopes to begin running the pantry full-time this month.
Aside from all the wonderful support and food being given out, it’s so great to see all the happy faces of the outstanding people who are working at the Medfield Food Cupboard during these stressful and uncertain times. They are celebrating 30 years of awesome participation and service. That in and of itself is a ringing endorsement of this vital Food Cupboard operation here in the town of Medfield.
Editor’s note: Tim Flaherty wrote Medfield Food
Cupboard section of this article. Richard DeSorgher wrote the section about the
poor farm in the 19th century.