Upon Moving to Not-So-Rich, Not-So-White Vermont

Over the summer I filled a good bit of my time on North Winooski Avenue at the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf. While still in Southern Appalachia, a region characterized by poverty, I assumed that Vermont was populated by rich white folks and much of it is. However, I found upon moving here that the demographics of Burlington are complicated and there happen to be quite a few not-so-white, not-so-rich folks in the neighborhood. Last semester I took (part of) a field studies course with Sarah Yahm and learned more about Vermont than I wanted to know. I seriously had nightmares about eugenics, racism and gentrification.

The cost of living here is high. My friends down south live in nicer apartments for half the rent. Of course the economy is fucked and jobs are hard to come by everywhere, but the gap between the rich and the poor in this state is scary. The majority of the people I see on a day to day basis are just getting by. In order to keep myself from going absolutely bat-shit crazy I try to not get too involved in the history and politics of the problems and instead appreciate the small solutions. Mother Teresa said “you never know how far a simple smile will go,” so I smile a lot and sometimes work the bread line at the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf.

By interviewing Edi Abeneto, the grocery distribution coordinator at the Food Shelf, I’m not exactly holding true to the fourth element of journalism, maintaining an independence from faction, but oh well. I have come to admire his work here in the Burlington area and have seen how popular he is over on N. Winooski Ave.


Josey: Explain a little about the services here at the Food Shelf.

Edi: Ok, so we have, lets say, three programs. We have the food pantry which is offered to families once a month, and every day people can come to get bread and produce. We have a soup kitchen so we serve hot meals every morning from 7:30 to 9:30. We have a home-bound delivery program that is offered to senior citizens and disabled people who are not able to make it to the Food Shelf.


Josey: So how long have you worked at the Food Shelf? What brought you here and how did you get involved in this kind of work?

Edi: Ok so I’ve been here at the Food Shelf for five years. I was hired here as a translator because a lot of refugees come through and the language barrier is a problem as you could imagine. So after translator, I became the distribution coordinator.


Josey: So which languages do you use here with clients?

Edi: At the Food Shelf I speak French, I speak Lingala, I speak Swahili, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi and English- so I speak six languages in total.
(I had him spell it out for me)


Josey: Where are you from originally?

Edi: Originally I am from the Republic of the Congo but I have lived all over Africa and in France, too. That is how I learned to speak six languages and coincidentally all of them come into use in Burlington. I have been in Vermont for six years.


Josey: What are the general demographics of the clients?

Edi: So most of the people are from Chittenden County, but we do have a lot of refugees, a lot of immigrants coming here. I can say about 75% of the people are Vermonters and the rest are immigrants.


Josey: And where are most of the immigrants who use the services here from?

Edi: Now most of them are from Bhutan and Nepal. We have people from Africa too and from all over the world.


Josey: How many people does the Food Shelf serve?

Edi: Every month we serve about one thousand, two hundred households. With the economy we are steadily seeing more people coming in all the time, so we will have higher numbers next month than this month and probably even more the month after that.


Josey: What do you think is the most important part of your job?

Edi: The most important part of my job is talking to the people, listening to the people, and finding out what they need and how we can improve our services. We’re not only involved in distributing food- we also offer services as referrals so we help people apply for food stamps and such.


Josey: On a day to day basis what can the citizens of Chittenden County do to help out?

Edi: Well we survive on volunteers and donations. There is a lot of work here to be done. We have opportunities for people from the neighborhood to drive, to sort out food, or work the lines in the grocery distribution. We have to weigh and keep track of all the donations. There is always something to do here at the Food Shelf.


Josey: Thanksgiving is coming up, a day of feast and fellowship. I know that the Food Shelf recognizes this as an important time for families. What can the community expect? How does the Food Shelf celebrate Thanksgiving?

Edi: A week before Thanksgiving we will start distributing turkeys and we hope that we will have enough donated that every family who needs one will get one. We will be open on the Saturday before Thanksgiving so that those who are working and cannot come during the week can also get a turkey. We’re going to serve dinner here, have a Thanksgiving party. We will have a very busy season and we encourage everyone to help out and to donate if possible. It’s important for our community.


Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf
228 North Winooski Ave
Burlington, VT 05401
(p) 802-658-7939 | (f) 802-860-3663


Edi Abeneto and the Food Shelf are both very important threads in the culturally interwoven Burlington area and more specifically the Old North End. Communication is key. These people are breaking down barriers and bridging gaps right here in our own neighborhood. They are "feeding people and cultivating opportunities." The opportunity the Food Shelf offers to those of us who aren’t hungry is arguably just as important. What I have found with my involvement is that giving up some of my time helps me just as much as it helps others, most likely more. Service is the best way I’ve found to escape my own wicked thoughts.

Watch Out World Wide Web!

To properly introduce myself I must first announce that this is my first experience with blogging and I’m not too happy about it. I could say that I don’t have the time or that I don’t care to share my boring thoughts but to address that journalism’s first obligation is to the truth I must admit that I have an inexplicable fear of such communication. I’m not a journalist but I am taking Civic Journalism with Rob Williams at Burlington College and am therefore beginning this blog. I have never had a MySpace or a facebook, I’m not reliable with email and two weeks ago I witnessed Rob’s world of Twitter and almost had a heart attack- so bear with me. The photo above is of me and my broken laptop.

My name is Josey Ellis and I’m from the mountains of North Carolina. In 2009 I fell in love with Vermont on a southbound thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail and moved to the Old North End in the summer of 2010. I study documentary at Burlington College but this is not my first go at a career pathway (I have studied at Penland School of Crafts and at UNC Asheville and even at the JY Monk Real Estate Training Center). I work at a boutique on Church Street but spend more time at Uncommon Grounds with my yerba mate than I do at work. I have no idea what I want to do with my life and it shows.