To donate quinoa to the food bank?

Just cook it yourself and eat it?

Just ask yourself why you have this quinoa and polenta in your cupboard and don't want it anymore.

There you go.

Forgot to add: if it is in date it won't be thrown out. It will be offered to food bank recipients first, offered to sheltered and soup kitchens if it's close to sell by date, bartered to volunteers for more popular stuff if it hasn't been chosen and is taking up space.

At the risk of being described as 'nasty' as I was on another thread, I will say that if you have something to donate then do so. If it isn't something from the main package list it will go on the shelves or tables for people to help themselves from, and if no one chooses it, after a couple of weeks a volunteer who does like whatever it is will 'buy' it by effectively swapping in more popular items to a similar or greater value.
I will say that our food bank has several families who welcome quinoa, chickpeas and other vegetarian proteins. Pretty much everyone eats pesto. Polenta is the stand-out on your list as it needs some effort to make it tasty but we have enough veggie families that I'd expect it to go off the extras table.

Everything is appreciated and is of value, even if it is bartered out for other things.

Our foodbank has a 'community cupboard' attached - some have a 'help yourself' shelf as a pp referenced - and anything can be put on that; and anyone can take it, with or without a referral. It's a great idea. Someone always wants it.

People that have found themselves in a position that they must use a food bank come from all walks of life.
They come from different cultures and backgrounds .
Many would be delighted to find a different kind of food on the shelf that they've seen that they wished they could afford.
Most people who use the food banks I presume read English and can follow directions on a package
And I did say that where I come from the food banks are desperate for items to put on the shelves they have more people coming for help then they can supply with food.
I don't know what OP would do with the food in her cupboard that she doesn't want. If she's afraid to donate it because it'll get thrown out I wonder what she is going to do with it? At least give it a chance.

Well, if the OP is like me, he/she will have been lucky enough to have never been to a food bank, so we wouldn't have a clue what goods are acceptable. I would no more wish to lumber a food bank with jars they cannot shift than I would donate a faulty table lamp to a charity shop. It's not about whether it's beneath someone, it's about not dumping stuff on people who already have enough work as it is.

Oh come on, don't be a tosser about it. Quinoa is a niche South American grain.

If you're on your uppers and trying a feed a family from the basics in a food bank parcel, quinoa is neither use not ornament.

In my 3 years volunteering it was the sort of stuff no one wanted because they didn't know what to do with it. It kicked around for months, with a tin of edame beans and a jar of kimchi.

"Crying out for donations and will take anything offered" describes most food banks, but "got some weird bourgeois stuff no one knows what to do with" isn't exactly helpful.

OP is perfectly reasonable to ask the question.

Personally, I'm getting Cher vibes from Clueless when she donates ski equipment to a disaster relief drive.

I was once so poor I couldn't afford enough food (when my eldest child was a toddler and before food banks were a thing). I used a lot of quinoa as a source of protein for my toddler. It is a fabulous food

It's not a beggars can't be choosers scenario - if your children wouldn't eat it or you wouldn't be able to cook it, it would be pointless taking it.

I work in a. Foodbank. Sadly it would not go any of our food parcels (I work for a national well known foodbank ) it will go in our ‘other’ shelf for people to choose themselves. Parcels have to be really generic.

I'd ask before donating. The food bank aren't going to want it if it won't be useful.

One thing to bear in mind is that people needing food banks sometimes can't afford gas/electric for cooking or might not have access to full kitchen set ups, so foods that need minimal or no cooking are often more useful.

Good to know that some areas food banks aren't in as desperate need for donations as others are.
Where we are food banks are crying out for donations and would take anything offered.

I've no idea what it is and I went to university and everything. I know to pronounce it and thats it.

I hope you have a jar of kimchi as well.

OP is getting a hard time. It's completely normal to wonder whether less popular foods are worth donating. I've definitely had the same predicament and decided against donating a tin of smoked mussels last year!

Pesto is really useful - just add pasta and you’ve got a meal.

Quinoa is useful too.

Polenta is expensive to use because it needs a lot of stock, butter and seasoning to taste good.

You win MN today 😂😂😂

Absolutely donate it.
Quinoa is a grain that has been a popular staple long enough that most know what to do with it.
Everything else that you have to donate, IF it's within the BB date should definitely be donated.
It won't , it cannot, go to waste.

My mum runs a food bank and things like this do hang around at hers for weeks or months, so it's not a daft question OP.

I'd ask your local branch. They'll know what will get picked out and what won't.

I had to do exactly this when ds spring a collection day at school on me. Quinoa, coconut milk and a tin of red salmon. They had sent a list asking for instant mash and corned beef.

I'm sure someone made use of it.

Donate.

the food bank will know what to do with it.

all sorts of people use food banks.

I work with people who are destitute and quinoa is definitely on their radar. Not sure what your point is?