The Fulton Soup Kitchen has long been a gatekeeper against hunger for Callaway County families, and on Nov. 8, locals can come together to support their work, getting a delicious meal for their efforts.
A Farm-to-Table luncheon will be served from noon to 2 p.m. at the John O. Harris Activity Center to benefit the local soup kitchen. The cost will be $20 per person for a fresh, home-cooked soup and salad meal created from produce grown locally by the folks from the Fulton Farmer's Market.
"The menu depends a little on what the farmers have," Margot McMillen of Terra Bella Farm and one of the event's organizers, said. "But it is going to be a fresh, yummy, cooked-from-scratch meal."
The tentative menu may include a puree soup made from butternut squash, a smoky heirloom tomato soup, a mixed vegetable soup and a cream soup using wild greens. The salad will be a mixed greens salad from Terra Bella Farm with several kinds of home-made dressings. The bread will also come from local farmers as will the dessert.
Because the food is from local growers, the menu will be based on what is available during this growing season. It is really important to everyone involved that the meal be representative of healthy, locally grown foods.
"And Jimmy's a great cook. He can work with anything," McMillen said.
The "Jimmy' she's referring to is Jimmy Trotter, long time cook and volunteer with the soup kitchen.
"I love food, and I want other people to be able to eat good, healthy food," Trotter said.
"It doesn't mean you're poor if you eat at the soup kitchen. It doesn't mean you use drugs if you eat at the soup kitchen," he said, attempting to dispel the negative myths people believe. "It just means you're hungry."
And in Missouri, there's a high likelihood of hunger. Trotter spoke of reading an editorial from the St. Louis Dispatch that broke down the statistics of recent Food Security reports stating nearly one in six Missourians are food insecure, which is defined by the fact that an individual has had to skip meals because he or she did not have enough food.
According to the Hunger in America report for 2014 for the State of Missouri, "an estimated 79 percent of client households in the state are food insecure." Many of those households are choosing between food and other needs such as housing payments or medicines.
"They just believe there is no reason we can't feed our own," Lori Collins, president of the Fulton Soup Kitchen said in describing the farmers and cooks involved in the fundraiser. "The Farmer's Market folks do a lot for the soup kitchen. I think it's because the issue is close to their hearts because of the industry they're in."
According to Collins, the soup kitchen serves 1,700 plates a month and sees between 30 and 70 people per night. Since the soup kitchen's doors opened for lunches in January 2015, volunteers steadily see about 15 people per day for lunch. Many of those who eat there also volunteer.
"They'll come by and ask, "Hey, do you need any help tonight?'" Collins said.
It is often local non-profits or volunteers who put together and serve the meals for the hungry. This fundraiser is an attempt by the cooks and Farmer's Market vendors to gain a cushion to help get the soup kitchen through the winter.
"It's a real tribute to Callaway County that this is such a community effort," Collins said.
The timing, from noon to 2 p.m. on Sunday, is planned for the convenience of churchgoers to stop by after services. To make a reservation for the Farm-to-Table luncheon, e-mail [email protected] or phone (573) 220-6593.