If you needed to rely on a local food bank to feed your family...

[Lovedtodeath]

If you needed to feed your family with items from a food bank, which of these items would you be most grateful to find available?

 

Curves is having a food drive and as a result asked us this question. It really made me think about what I would be donating. I intend to go shopping just for my donation so I thought I would put this poll up here too.

 

Canned meats

 

Healthy cereals

 

Canned fruit

 

Soups

 

Fresh breads

 

Pasta

 

Canned broth

 

Dessert mixes

 

Juice

 

Other (please give a suggestion)

 

I was actually thinking of getting some bread mixes, including corn bread and muffins. And then I had a thought of getting broth, egg noodles, canned chicken, mashed potato flakes and canned carrots so that they could maybe make a meal out of it. But then I am sure the food bank won't keep all of that together, you know?

 

Then I thought healthy cereal would be very welcome, but hot oatmeal or cold?

 

Anyway... suggestions are welcome. TIA

Edited April 2, 2011 by Lovedtodeath

[LibraryLover]

I tend to donate protein foods that keep. Tuna, nut butters, healthy canned soups (usually bean ones), Annie's Mac & Cheese etc.

[dcurry]

which of these items would you be most grateful to find available there?

 

Curves is having a food drive and as a result asked us this question. It really made me think about what I would be donating. I intend to go shopping just for my donation so I thought I would put this poll up here too.

 

Canned meats

 

Healthy cereals

 

Canned fruit

 

Fresh bread

 

Pasta (with sauce)

 

Yes to the above,

 

plus powdered or canned milk, rice milk (for allergy kids), potatoes & onions, condiments (like ketchup & mayo).

 

I've been there, and it's quite humbling.

[elegantlion]

Canned meat, fruit, and juice. These are generally the most expensive of what you listed.

 

Grainy carbs are generally the least expensive to buy.

 

Pears, applesauce, and pineapple would be nice. Canned tuna or chicken are other options.

 

Peanut Butter and Jelly is another option.

[Carrie12345]

Peanut butter, breads (if I didn't have a breadmaker), canned fruits and vegetables of all kinds (though I'd be over the moon with no-syrup fruits rather than the corn syrup stuff), and oatmeal would be great, imo!

[dcurry]

Yes to the peanut butter... that would have been almost first on my list. The huge tubs. :) I think it's a great idea to get input before you shop.

[Once]

I would want chickpeas or (less so) beans.

 

Fruit would be high on my list for a healthy easy to make snack.

 

Stock would be very important to me as I can buy rice and other ingredients and make familiar recipes. Stock is VERY expensive to buy yourself and can be perceived as an unneccessary ingredient if you are tight for cash but can make or break a recipe's favor.

 

When I give to food banks I do not give items I don't go out of my way to afford.....such as expensive cereals and prepackages meals that I feel are low on nutrition. This is not meant to criticize anyone's food choices.....they are just things *I* do not eat regularily.

 

I think it is wonderful that you are holding a food drive.....the issue of food insecurity is close to my heart. I wish you much success!!!

[Mrs Mungo]

The food banks I have volunteered with tend to go for shelf-stable items. They tend to give food to families once per month.

 

At the last food bank where I volunteered we accepted food donations, but when we *shopped* for items with donated money this is what we purchased (in order of priority):

canned and/or powdered milk

canned meats

rice

pasta and pasta sauce

canned vegetables

beans/chickpeas

canned fruit

fruit juice

if there was extra money:

oatmeal

peanut butter

 

Anything extra that was donated was portioned out between the families.

[Lovedtodeath]

Nut butters and beans! I can't believe I forgot those. So should I go with canned beans or dried beans? I don't want to buy anything my family wouldn't eat... so no corn syrup packaged fruits or white pasta of course.

 

Thanks for the input.

[Lovedtodeath]

Thanks Mrs. Mungo. That helps a lot.

[Mrs Mungo]

So should I go with canned beans or dried beans?

 

We did canned beans because we were afraid not all families knew what to do with dried beans.

[Impish]

Canned.

 

You wouldn't believe the number of people who don't know what to do with dried beans. Or broths. Many who access the food banks are the working poor, and rushing home from work for the kids, so things that put a meal together quickly also becomes an issue.

 

And food banks absolutely break up everything. All donations are sorted onto the shelves, and then given according to ability and need.

 

I'd also recommend baby formula, baby food, diapers. Feminine hygiene products. Toilet paper.

 

Here, there's also request for nut free products (nut ban is everywhere in schools), gluten free, etc.

[Lovedtodeath]

We did canned beans because we were afraid not all families knew what to do with dried beans.

Well, yeah, I guess I can see that. Every time I try to make my SIL recipe for refried beans I somehow have to cook the beans twice as long and they still aren't right. :lol:

[happi duck]

Nut butters and beans! I can't believe I forgot those. So should I go with canned beans or dried beans?

 

IMHO, I'd go with canned. I try to give things that can be eaten without much prep, in case utilities are cut off or appliances broken.

[happi duck]

 

I'd also recommend baby formula, baby food, diapers. Feminine hygiene products. Toilet paper.

 

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

[LibraryLover]

We did canned beans because we were afraid not all families knew what to do with dried beans.

 

I've worked in play spaces in family shelters, and one of the issues too, is that kitchen privileges are shared. All of the families prepare their own food for their individual familes; many people have to work in the same space, so prep time is critical. I've noticed that canned beans and such are very popular. Sometimes families are in hotels, often with microwaves the only way to heat food.

Edited April 2, 2011 by LibraryLover

[Unicorn.]

I voted for canned meat, canned fruit (peaches, pears, etc), bread mixes, broth, cereals (both kinds) and pasta. I would have voted for soups, but you lumped it w/ hamburger helper. Things that can stretch to feed a lot of people, or that I could get more than one meal from, and have some nutritional value are what I think are important.

[Mrs Mungo]

I've worked in play spaces in family shelters, and one of the issues too, is that kitchen privileges are shared. All of the families prepare their own food for their individual familes; many people have to work in the same space. So prep time is critical. I noticed that canned beans and such are very popular. Sometimes, too, families are in hotels and have limited to no access to stoves. Microwaves are often the only way to heat food.

 

Very true. This is also the reason we went for shelf-stable items.

[Ravin]

Some things to keep in mind with boxes and mixes are:

 

A boxed mix that calls for adding egg is frustrating when you have no eggs

Hamburger helper equally so when you have no ground beef.

 

There are meals that are complete in the box--they come with canned chicken or whatever in them so you don't need anything besides what's in the box.

 

I've only had to get food bank food once, but I cannot tell you how frustrating and flabbergasting to find that the 1 bag of groceries we were given was 1/3 full with a bag of chips.

 

Chips? Really? If I'm hitting the food bank, it's because we're down to running out of staples even. BLEEEP the junk food.

[Cinder]

Nut butters and beans! I can't believe I forgot those. So should I go with canned beans or dried beans? I don't want to buy anything my family wouldn't eat... so no corn syrup packaged fruits or white pasta of course.

 

Thanks for the input.

 

I try to follow this when I buy for the food pantry. So my choices tend to: peanut butter, jelly, canned tuna and chicken, soups w/o msg, whole grain pasta and spaghetti sauce, canned or dried beans, oatmeal. Sometimes I will get canned veggies or fruit in its own juice even though we don't normally eat those.

 

I like the idea of shelf stable milks and canned soup stock, too.

[AK_Mom4]

Nut butters and beans! I can't believe I forgot those. So should I go with canned beans or dried beans? I don't want to buy anything my family wouldn't eat... so no corn syrup packaged fruits or white pasta of course.

 

Thanks for the input.

 

Think about cooking difficulties, too. Lots of times folks who are getting food from the pantry that I volunteer at are staying in tiny apartments or motels and have limited cooking facilities. Canned beans are better than dried, canned meats are the best protein because they are easy to make into meals if all you have access to is a tiny microwave.

 

I would encourage you to stay away from buying the less-mainstream items. Peanut butter is very good and well-recieved, almond or cashew butter is almost always refused. You may not eat the regular pasta in your family, but most others (including my own family) do not like the whole wheat types. You might be thinking "beggars can't be choosers" here, but it's important to also consider the waste of food involved if the food bank can't give it away because no one wants it.

 

Our most-loved donation list is: peanut butter, canned tuna or salmon, soup, baby food, and canned fruit. It's very difficult to get fresh fruit cheaply here in the winter, so the canned is a neccessity.

 

 

Thank you for donating! Without donations, food banks and pantries whould be hard press to provide for all of those who need help.

[mom2jjka]

There is also a 'complete' ( just add water) pancake mix that might be another good choice.

[SonshineLearner]

I think it's the length of time you are needing help. I think that for things like steady "help" families should receive whole grain staples. And fruits and veggies in season.... Basics... For someone just needing temporary help, some comfort foods... like Annies Mac& Cheese, Even some healthy instant potatoes, Maybe some rice milk that is in the "no refrigeration needed" cartons... And some peanut butter and tuna?? And a few things like noodles and stuff to make casseroles?? (Course, it depends on if they'll be able to make anything??)

Very sweet of you!

[Ravin]

I think it's the length of time you are needing help. I think that for things like steady "help" families should receive whole grain staples. And fruits and veggies in season.... Basics... For someone just needing temporary help, some comfort foods... like Annies Mac& Cheese, Even some healthy instant potatoes, Maybe some rice milk that is in the "no refrigeration needed" cartons... And some peanut butter and tuna?? And a few things like noodles and stuff to make casseroles?? (Course, it depends on if they'll be able to make anything??)

Very sweet of you!

 

Mac and Cheese...ever try making it when you didn't have any milk or butter/margarine? You can sorta use water and oil, but it's rather blech. The Easy Mac kind may not be as healthy, but at least it's meant to be made with just water.

 

You can get Permalat milk or canned cows' milk, too...most people are going to look at rice milk and go, "Huh? blech." Even many health conscious ones who can look at a label and see it's sugar water with added vitamins; might as well pour juice on your cereal. The nutritional value of milk is a good deal in the protein which rice milk lacks.

 

You need more than noodles to make a casserole. Now, noodles, tuna, canned soup, and canned peas...maybe.

 

Though I was grateful for the pudding mix I got in the bag with the chips. I had WIC food (the only food we had at the time), and all you need for instant pudding is milk, and it's a quasi-healthy sweet treat.

[Carol in Cal.]

Disposable diapers, feminine hygiene products, and toilet paper are good staples to supply.

 

For food, really good canned chili with meat in it is very popular at the food bank that we support. Pork n beans is another good option. Anything that you can open, warm, and eat is best. Pop top fruit cups are also very welcome in this context because the kids can take them to school and feel a little more 'normal' and because homeless people can use them. I often give peanut butter as every culture seems to use it for something.

 

When I do a direct drive that involves going and buying food together and taking it to the site on the same night, I ask what they want (from Costco) and buy that. A couple of times they have requested those biggish bags of pre-shredded cheese--clearly those can only be used if they go from fridge to fridge, but they were extremely popular--kind of a treat.

[Lovedtodeath]

How about success boil in the bag rice? I use that all of the time...

[Impish]

Ive never used rice in a bag, so no help there, sorry.

[Mrs Mungo]

How about success boil in the bag rice? I use that all of the time...

 

My most recent food bank was in Hawaii. People were more likely to have rice cookers than stoves. ;)

[elegantlion]

How about success boil in the bag rice? I use that all of the time...

 

I like it, but the serving size is usually not large enough. I would go with bagged rice or regular instant rice.

 

I also agree about toiletries, etc. I know in some states food assistance, food stamps, whatever you want to call it, is designed for food only.

 

We received assistance last year and the food allowance was very generous compared to what we had normally spent on food. However, we were not allowed to use it for any paper products, toiletries, or pet food. We ate well, but had to scrape together money to buy toothpaste and toilet paper. :001_huh:

[Mama Anna]

Because we are a student family, we participate in a campus food pantry once a month. The things that I'm most excited to find there are

 

canned veggies

canned beans

canned fruit

baking basics (flour, sugar, oil, salt, baking powder, wheat germ, etc.)

rolled oats

dried pasta

cake mixes (because of birthdays and church potlucks)

paper goods: toilet paper, paper towels, and kleenex (diapers and wipes, too!)

 

I'm personally not as fond of mixes and kits because they're not nearly so flexible. For us flexibility = frugality. Also, kits often take something more, like hamburger, that we may or may not have.

 

Mama Anna

[Lovedtodeath]

cake mixes (because of birthdays and church potlucks)

paper goods: toilet paper, paper towels, and kleenex (diapers and wipes, too!)

That is why I put that on the poll. I figured it might be someone's only chance for a birthday cake. :)

 

Marsh has Mini-Wheats and Quaker Oatmeal on sale, so that is definitely on my list. I happened to by canned milk and Annie's mac and cheese a couple of weeks ago when it was on sale so I am putting that in.

[happypamama]

I'd probably go for cake mixes (great idea -- everyone should be able to have some sort of birthday cake!), oil (can't make a cake mix without it), oatmeal, maybe canned meats, canned fruit, shelf-stable dairy/dairy replacements, and maybe broth. Non-peanut nut butters would be good too.

 

I've also heard that food pantries like having things that are acceptable for diabetics, who sometimes have to choose between food and meds, so things like diabetic-friendly sweeteners and low-sugar oatmeal packets might be good too.

 

If your food pantry serves a lot of families where all the adults work, leaving kids home alone to fend for themselves, then single-serve/easily prepared things like mac and cheese or hamburger helper might be good too. Raisins or other dried fruits might be nice too.

 

Those aren't necessarily my preferred foods, but people who have small children who are relying on food pantries also very well may be receiving WIC foods. WIC provides cold cereal (and some hot cereal), bread/rice, beans, canned tuna/salmon (though only for nursing moms), peanut butter, eggs, milk, and juice, plus formula and baby food. They also give vouchers for a certain dollar amount of fresh/frozen/canned produce, but if you're really stretching your dollars, veggies are less expensive than fruit, so you might not buy canned fruit. I was thinking that having the non-WIC items at the food pantry would be helpful in rounding out a family's food collection.

Edited April 2, 2011 by happypamama

[happypamama]

Also, what about basic OTC drugs? Along the lines of food stamps not buying toilet paper, they also don't buy Tylenol or cold medicine. I don't know if food banks have rules about that sort of thing or not, but if they can give them out, it might be nice for them to have some.

[Audrey]

Are these distributed to homeless or families in housing? It makes a huge difference. If homeless, you need to consider that they likely won't have access to heating devices (stove, camp stove, etc.)

 

If they are homed families you will still need to consider that they may not have electric service functioning.

 

Protein is key. Too many food baskets are full of starches (usually white starches, too) with little to no protein. Protein is more costly and therefore the thing that usually goes bye-bye in a tight budget.

 

So... canned meat and fish, canned beans, nut butters, nuts. All of these are good protein and are usually edible straight from the can, if necessary.

[Mejane]

canned and/or powdered milk

canned meats

rice

pasta and pasta sauce

canned vegetables

beans/chickpeas

canned fruit

fruit juice

oatmeal

peanut butter

 

 

 

This is almost exactly what went into our last box. I think I added cooking oil, pasta sauce, coffee and teabags.

[Impish]

I was just coming back to suggest coffee/tea.

 

Here in Canada, we don't have WIC or food stamps. So for many families, there's only the food bank to help out with actual food/house goods. So pretty much everything and anything is welcome and needed. Spaghetti sauce, pasta, rice, protein of any and every kind, baby stuff, paper products, laundry soap, dish detergent, spices, dry goods...

 

Its only in the last few years that we've reached the place of being able to grocery shop without any fear involved, the mental tallying of costs, praying you haven't gone over budget, getting the bare needs covered if you were having a 'good' week. All my adult life, from being a single teen mom to recently has been permeated with fear when it came to grocery shopping.

 

Its a horrible, gut twisting, guilt inducing, do-I-pay-this-bill-or-eat place to be. Knowing that x,y,z wasn't the best nutritional choices, but would fill bellies for a few meals rather than going for the better nutrition that would only go for one.

 

It sucks. I don't know if that fear will ever completely go away from me. Now I'm almost hysterical when it comes to stocking our pantry. I have so much stuff downstairs, I really, really need to be using it up since we're hoping to make a long distance move this summer, but the idea of empty shelves down there makes me break out in a cold sweat. :(

[Lovedtodeath]

So I bought a bunch of toilet paper and then found out that they are holding a contest and weighing our donations. :lol: I still haven't made it to Marsh to get that cereal, but I plan to and that isn't heavy either. Bah!

[ocelotmom]

I would encourage you to stay away from buying the less-mainstream items. Peanut butter is very good and well-recieved, almond or cashew butter is almost always refused. You may not eat the regular pasta in your family, but most others (including my own family) do not like the whole wheat types. You might be thinking "beggars can't be choosers" here, but it's important to also consider the waste of food involved if the food bank can't give it away because no one wants it.

You know, I wonder if it would be possible to start a "healthy food bank".

 

I'm sure there are families who don't use the food bank because they know they won't get anything they would actually be willing and able to eat.

 

Then those who would love and appreciate the almond butter could go there, and those who would love and appreciate the refined grains could go there.

[Just Robyn]

I haven't read the whole thread because I have to go. Just wanted to say that some non-food items are good too,

 

toothpaste

toilet paper

laundry detergent

dish soap

toothbrushes

shampoo and conditioner

[Pretty in Pink]

I would appreciate quality protein sources if I had to rely on a food pantry to feed my family. Canned tuna in water, canned chicken without additives, peanut butter, canned and dry beans, lentils, nuts and seeds (to add to hot cereals), etc.

 

Shelf-stable or powdered milk would be a blessing.

 

Rolled oats, grits, rice, and dry pasta are nice.

 

Canned tomato products are always handy. Dried onion and garlic flakes, salt and pepper, italian seasoning...those can help to flavor otherwise bland meals.

[Twigs]

I asked the director of our local food bank, and he stressed protein - peanut butter, canned meat, chicken, tuna, etc.

[Lovedtodeath]

If I have to severely restrict my diet for whatever reason I focus on eggs, legumes, broccoli and berries. Legumes are the only ones I could get canned so that is what I went with.

[Desert Strawberry]

Bread, cereal and fruit. These are foods my children are happy to eat, and I am happy to feed them.

[RoundAbout]

Our local food bank was always asking for canned meals and meats: chili, stew, hearty soups, tuna, etc. For much of my childhood my family was working poor and we often had these kinds of foods because both my parents had jobs and my dad was also going to school at night. There was often not time for serious from-scatch cooking even though my mom knew how.

[Lovedtodeath]

Oh, Beef Stew is a great idea.