“Thanks, Cambridge Food Pantry, for your great work. I live in California and am grateful for the chance to help…”  Diane, San Diego.

Sarah was inundated with new families over the weekend, and she was on the brink of running out of the food they needed. I reassured her that we would step in to support the food pantry as always, and she is scrambling to fill those shelves.

Yesterday, I received another harsh message from a nutritionist, this one from MIT. She called me all kinds of names for requesting bottles of Lemonade, a favorite among the pantry kids despite its high sugar content. I got a lecture on sugar.  I explained that I don’t  choose or dictate the pantry’s items or the families’ food choices. I do what is requested.

In the world of social media, even the most basic act of providing food has become controversial.

I get nasty messages from nutritionists all the time.

I wrote to this woman and said I didn’t need a lecture on sugar.  Neither do the families struggling to eat food but can’t afford it in supermarkets.

I’m a diabetic and don’t need lessons in sugar; I can afford to buy organic and other healthy and sugarless foods.

I said I’d give her a lesson in exchange: Poor people are different from wealthy people, academic people, or people who can afford to buy the healthiest and best organic foods, which cost roughly five times what pantry budgets allow.

Being poor means you don’t get to choose what you buy to feed your family or much of anything else.

You get to take what is available and what the government will pay for, which is declining in direct proportion to the growing need. Many nutritionists don’t seem to be taught the complex rules of real life.

If she was serious about helping people experiencing poverty and needing to eat well, I suggested she buy healthy, organic food and other foods and ship them to the food pantry. They would love to have it and share it with the people who come there. I suggested that she also call or e-mail her congressman or women and ask for their support in giving food support more, not less, financial support,  as is now happening.

The nutritionists I’ve heard from seem unwilling to do either. I’m proud not to dictate choices to people who have none to help them get through their trouble. I do what I’m being asked, not what I dictate. I can afford the healthy food I want and need. Hateful messages to strangers don’t do the trick.

Thank you, Army Of Good,  for supporting that.

Here are Sarah’s weekend requests. I’ll keep this going through Monday. Please help if you can. It’s inexpensive.

Fresh Au Gracin Potatoes, 4.4 Oz, $1.49.

Four Cheese Mashed Potatoes, 4 Ounces, 4 Ounces (Pack of 8), $9.49.

Amazon Fresh, Stuffing Mix Chicken Flavor, 6 Oz, $1.29.

You can read more about the food pantry “wipeout” this weekend here.

You can access the Cambridge Food Pantry Wish List (updated regularly) at the bottom of this or any post on my blog. All items on the list are needed and difficult or impossible for the pantry to find or afford. Thanks again for everything you do.