http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4494371Oh my.
TwoSparkles (1000+ posts) Wed Nov-19-08 03:16 PM
Original message
What foods are best for food banks?
I am wondering what foods are best to donate to food banks?
I remember seeing a DU poster discuss, how it was difficult to go to a food
bank, and that often times people didn't realize that Kraft macaroni & cheese is not
a good donation item--because it requires the recipient to have butter and milk
to make it.
I wonder if people could chime in and share your good ideas about what food banks
need and want--and what food people want the most.
As times get really tough for everyone--it's good to know how we can really help
those in need.
Given that we live in such uncertain times, it could be any of us visiting those
food banks in the not-so-distant future.
Thanks for any and all suggestions.
The first few primitive suggestions are sort of reasonable (peanut butter, that sort of thing), but then:
tblue37 (1000+ posts) Wed Nov-19-08 04:42 PM
Response to Reply #1
35. I also try to include treats for the kids--healthy but enjoyable, like canned fruit, jello--which has no nutritional value but is easy to make, and kid like it for a sweet treat after dinner--P&J, canned vegetables, canned soups, macaroni and tomato sauce in jars, & cash for the food bank to buy food items they feel they need to stock up on.
Canned vegetables, no way.
Food pantries always get stuck with tons of canned vegetables.
Tons and tons of canned vegetables, which don't get taken and used.
franksolich, who helps cart donated food around, fertilizes his garden with canned vegetables (they do after all have value as fertilizer), because none of the donees want them, and something has to be done with them.
By the beginning spring every year, the garden (circa half an acre) is covered about 4" deep in canned corn, canned peas, canned cream corn, canned cream peas, canned carrots, canned potatoes, canned salmon, canned onions, canned green beans, canned white beans, canned string beans, canned beets, canned turnips, canned olives, canned tomatoes, canned spinach, canned cake icing, canned asparagus; all sorts of canned shit that nobody wants and has minimal nutritional value anyway.
Better to fertilize the ground here, than to fertilize the landfill.
peace13 (1000+ posts) Wed Nov-19-08 03:18 PM
Response to Original message
2. Money.
If the food band receives money they can buy in bulk and get more bang for your buck.
Money is always best; beats everything else.
The problem is, people buy two cans of canned vegetables for a dollar, and then donate them, rather than donating the dollar, which food pantries need far more than they need any more canned vegetables.
TwoSparkles (1000+ posts) Wed Nov-19-08 03:26 PM
Response to Reply #3
16. I can probably do as well as the food banks...
This week, I purchased 60 boxes of cereal, and six gallons of milk---and I got it
all for $30.
Our local Cub Foods had a deal...If you purchased 10 General Mills Cereals you got a $15 couponoff your next order AND a FREE gallon of milk. I bought cereal, got the $15 coupons, and I just kept getting more cereal and checking out (and getting those $15 coupons). I also used manufacturer coupon (from the Sunday newspapers) which made it a better deal.
I did it six times.
The problem with that is all the time one consumes doing it.
Sometimes it's just easier to buy a $1.79 box of something, than to mess around trying to comply with "special offers" to get 10 boxes at $1.75 per.
mycritters2 (1000+ posts) Wed Nov-19-08 03:20 PM
Response to Original message
4. The brand name cereals that kids like--yeah, the sugary ones.
These kids see commercial after commercial for these things and never get to participate. An occasional box of whatever is the must-have cereal du jour is a nice treat.
Nope.
A "nice treat" for kids who want cereal is non-sugared stuff.
The shelves of food pantries are bulging, breaking, under the weight of sugary cereals.
Rabrrrrrr (1000+ posts) Wed Nov-19-08 03:23 PM
Response to Original message
11. Don't give them food - give them money. They can buy food at 10 cents a pound or so.
Any food you bring in, they could have bought ten times as much with the money you spent on it.
The rabbit primitive is right, absolutely right. franksolich said so.
TechBear_Seattle (1000+ posts) Wed Nov-19-08 03:23 PM
Response to Original message
12. Money is always good
Money allows foodbanks to fill in with stuff that has not been donated that week, not to mention it helps to pay rent, payrolls, etc. Money can also be used to get foodstuffs that don't store well, such as fresh milk or fruits and vegetables.
Otherwise.... Peanut butter, pasta, jars of pasta sauce, boxes of cereal, cans of fruit. Ideally, packaged stuff that does not require a lot of additional materials to prepare. For example, boxes of mac and cheese are less desireable, as those typically need milk and butter to make.
Money is always good, but I've said that before.
Food banks need money to buy things because they're donated too many canned vegetables by cheapskates cleaning out their cupboards of stuff they've bought but never got around to using, and hardly anything else. A diet of 100% canned vegetables is not a nourishing diet.
Warpy (1000+ posts) Wed Nov-19-08 03:23 PM
Response to Original message
13. Anything non perishable would be extremely welcome especially expensive things like oil, peanut butter, and tomato sauce. You can also consider powdered milk. Even if kids hate drinking it, it can be used in all sorts of cooking and baking. Packaged pasta, bags of flour, canned goods, and cereals are always welcome.
When I was poor and living on a very dull diet, there were times I'd have killed for a piece of fruit. I usually tuck in cans of canned fruit and fruit salad, especially the ones fortified with a little extra vitamin C, because I know they'll go a long way with poor kids.
The warped primitive unsurprisingly offers the best suggestion.
franksolich said so.
tblue (1000+ posts) Wed Nov-19-08 03:28 PM
Response to Original message
18. I wonder if you'd ever find a post like this in Freeperville.......?
No, because decent and civilized people are too busy actually giving, to waste time boasting about it on the internet.
Rabrrrrrr (1000+ posts) Wed Nov-19-08 03:28 PM
Response to Original message
19. Also, instead of food, flood 'em with HABA stuff.
The poor not only have a hard time getting food, but, in their quest for food, they often skip the HABA stuff.
Our local food pantry is often desperate for shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toilet paper, and diapers.
Whenever you stay in a hotel, grab the soaps and stuff, and take them to the food pantry.
franksolich heartily endorses the suggestion of the rabbit primitive, but is leery about this idea of stealing such things from hotels and motels to "donate."
Gormy Cuss (1000+ posts) Wed Nov-19-08 03:30 PM
Response to Original message
21. Some ideas
Canned fish and meats,and peanut butter are good.
Bags or boxes of dried fruit (raisins, apples, apricots, etc.)
Canned baked beans, Spaghetti-os, canned chicken broth, soups and other foods that are basically a meal-in-a-can, especially low sodium varieties.
Baby food (cereal, formula, jars of fruit and vegetables if you're bringing the donation to the food bank directly)
Most of all what food banks need is money so that they can buy large quantities at discount.
franksolich endorses the suggestions of the above primitive, too.
riqster (1000+ posts) Wed Nov-19-08 03:31 PM
Response to Original message
22. Greens...5's, 10's, 20's, etc.
That allows them to react to demands on the ground at the time.
Ditto.
IdClaire (104 posts) Wed Nov-19-08 03:34 PM
Response to Original message
26. depends on the food bank but...
some items on our local food bank's wish list that I see less of include: breakfast bars, bigger size diapers like 4 and 5 (most folks donate the smaller sizes), jelly, coffee. Some food banks can break down items to hand out to so ziploc bags are a good thing to donate.
Ditto.
Breeze54 (1000+ posts) Wed Nov-19-08 03:45 PM
Response to Original message
29. Fresh fruit and veggies, canned tuna, pasta, sauce, soups, rice, whole grain cereals, breads, Tampax, diapers, toilet paper, feminine pads, baby wipes, laundry soap, paper towels, baby formula, dried beans, baby food, stuff for the little one's ie. cookies/crackers (they need a treat in these hard times), that drink in the can for the elderly (Ensure), meat, butter, eggs, frozen orange juice, bottles of juice, baked goods (my local grocery store donates them to the food pantry, including B-Day cakes), coffee and tea and coffee creamer, substitute sugar for diabetics, low fat foods, etc.
Ditto.
But essentially, one can't go wrong with this:
ribofunk (1000+ posts) Wed Nov-19-08 04:50 PM
Response to Original message
36. Something to Complement all the canned plums and sauerkraut they end up with.
