NEWSBYJEREMY KEITH HAMMOND

Just the other day I was handing out food from the back of a large truck. Not to hungry people, but to the volunteers and managers of various food pantries, soup kitchens and homeless shelters. The products we were distributing included chicken, potatoes, bread, lettuce and pastries. Many enthusiasts grabbed as much as they could of everything, stuffing the trunks of their station wagons or the back seats of their church vans. A few others turned stuff away, more often than not, the pastries. Free calories for the hungry were turned away. Not because they didn't have the space to store it. Not because their entire clientele was diabetic. They specifically told us that they didn't want to hand out unhealthy food to their guests.

My initial thoughts varied - I didn't know what to think. On the one hand, I wanted to praise them for seeming so responsible and I pictured little kids munching happily on apples and carrots. On the other I thought someone might be going hungry because of how picky her local soup kitchen manager was. Handing out cupcakes, especially on a regular basis, is definitely going to cause problems down the line, especially for children. At the same time, you're not just handing out healthy food versus crappy food, you're handing out value.