The Power to Make a Difference

Power is a complicated word that has many definitions because as Kahane says, “power looks different to those who have to struggle for it” (17). But I think he could have made a stronger statement by saying that power looks different to everyone. Power can be used to describe strength, control, and supremacy. It can be used to describe politicians, athletes, teachers, and corporations. A weightlifter wants more “power” to lift heavier weights. Food corporations want more “power” to be able to make more money off of consumers. But the type of power that we need to focus on in this class is to make a difference.
Recently, we have gone gleaning (for some more than others) and I personally enjoyed it. It was fun because I’ve never done something like that before. But what hit me most was what happened after gleaning as I saw how much food was in the back of the truck that needed to be delivered. I will never forget how surprised I was when the truck pulled up. I expected a pick-up truck or even a van that held all the food but a HUGE truck (about the size of a large U-Haul) pulled up. I couldn’t believe how much food people were able to glean in a small effort. This is the “power” we all need to realize we have in this class. This type of power brought food to local schools that kept them from eating (what someone said in class) “garbage bags.” Just imagine what we could do with an entire community support this cause and realizing that we don’t need to rely on processed foods if we can just come together and work to make a better community.
I know I need to be realistic in that every person will give up processed food to go out and farm every week. But that is where love comes in because love, according to Kahane, “creates opening, potential, and opportunity” (46). People need to WANT to glean and make the necessary steps to move away from processed foods. The want to glean and help for the love of the community will make dramatic differences. Love, along with power, can bring people to realize that it doesn’t take much to make a difference. If a class from Dominican and a few other people supporting “National Gleaning Day” can come together to make a large difference in providing food to many schools, imagine what could happen when whole communities combine their love and power to make real changes happen.