Last weekend our little Flemington People’s Pantry experiment became something more than a food charity.
Around one ‘Open Table’ sat Jews celebrating Shavuot, Christians reflecting on Pentecost, Muslims breaking their fast of preparation for the season of Eid al-Adha, and a handful of people with no particular faith tradition at all, except perhaps a belief that food, conversation and community still matter in a fractured world.
The meal was birthed out of community connections made locally in response to the Bondi massacre late last year when the Pantry community shared a powerful moment of acknowledgment and song around Hanukah candles at our Beer and Carols fundraiser.
Ongoing conversations since then, facilitated by Moonee Valley Mayor Rose Iser and local leaders Awatif Taha and Miky Smith led to this shared feast.
Surrounded by the colour of rescued food, activist posters and the period quirks of our People’s Pantry Hall, the shared cultural cooking and story telling experience was led with warmth and passion by Kanwal Lash of @kraftystoriesbyklash.
As we prepped food and cooked together, I was struck again by how often our traditions meet around ordinary things: bread, harvest, sacrifice, hospitality, neighbours, mercy and shared tables.
The Jewish harvest festival of Shavuot remembers the redistribution of first fruits and the giving of The Law for a people learning justice, rest and belonging post slavery.
For Christians, Pentecost remembers the giving of the Spirit which birthed a community via many languages and inspired the sharing of their resources.
For Muslims Eid al-Adha recalls sacrifice, generosity and the conviction that what we receive is meant to be shared.
Different stories, Different theologies.
Yet somehow the same human questions.
How do we live together?
What do we owe one another?
What does enough look like?
For some at our meal it was the first time they had meaningfully met and engaged with those of other faiths.
One of the most moving moments came through a simple call and response we shared before the meal:
“What was given at Sinai?”
“A way to live with one another.”
“What was given through Abraham and Ishmael?”
“That what we receive is meant to be shared.”
“What was given at Pentecost?”
“Courage to live together across many languages and cultures.”
Then before we ate we each shared a ‘thanksgiving’ from our own faith tradition or language.
In a world increasingly shaped by fear, monoculture and division, there was something quietly defiant about hearing those words spoken by many voices around the same table.
No debates. No forced agreement.
Just people listening carefully to one another while chopping herbs, stirring pots and passing the rice.
And perhaps that is part of the deeper wisdom hidden inside all three traditions: revelation is never meant to stay trapped in books, temples, churches or mosques alone. It must eventually become food, neighbourliness, generosity and shared life.
At the Pantry we often talk about food relief, but nights like this remind me we are also hungry for belonging. Hungry for spaces where difference is not erased but honoured. Hungry for tables wide enough to hold grief, culture, faith, doubt and hope together.
For a few hours in Flemington, that happened.
After the inevitable initial awkwardness, diners expressed a sense of relief, affirmation and joy. Stories were honoured, strangers became neighbours and the world, however briefly, was remade through shared bread & biryani!
We ran this in spite of our pantry being swamped with demand just now, (up from 125 households per week on average last year to over 160 this last month) whilst we have never had so little in the bank?
That is because we’ve never just been a charity. We’ve always been determined to keep sharing food that meets needs that are not only physical but social and spiritual and to celebrate abundance of enough in the face of scarcity.
If you can help us to keep doing so before the end of financial year, donations are tax deductible via PeoplesPantry.org.au, or even better for us you can choose to become a regular partner.
You can also follow our weekly updates and food sharing adventures on our socials @pplspantry.
I leave you with the words that concluded our meal…
‘May we refuse the sleep
of indifference and may we continue sharing beyond this table in Peace, Salām, Shalom!’
-Rev. Marcus, Tim & all The Pantry Peeps!
