DH is using community pantry for free food

He is 100% fine to do this. The food waste only stops being food waste if people consume it.

Those on low incomes can also use this facility AND if they need to can use food banks too, a separate and different facility focusing on helping poorer people access food.

IT ISN'T A FOOD BANK.

OP doesn't say food bank for a reason, because it ISN'T ONE.

How many times?

It’s not a food bank

That is absolutely disgusting ~ he really should not be doing this. You must try and make him see sense and stop him. I would be so angry that I probably would go to the food bank when he is there and loudly announce that he does not need the food !

For the 11 billionth time - this is NOT A FOOD BANK.

Also, there are loads of these places and just because the one you know about needs a referral or has a particular ethos or mission statement doesn;t mean they're all the same.

Many people have said there is LOADS of food left - piles of pastries, bread, vegetables.

I think the food should be left for those who really need it. Unless there is só much there is enough for everybody, be it they need the free food or not. If not everything is taken out it'll go to waste. But if usually everything is taken by families who can use the help, it's not nice taking it if you can pay for it yourself.

Most food pantries are manned and limit what an individual can take. Maybe you can find another one to donate your surplus food to.

You usually need a referral to get a good bank parcel. You can sometimes turn up in an emergency and won’t get turned away. Food banks also only give a certain number each year. They are not meant to be feeding people long term.
You wealthy friend obviously found a way to cheat the system, but I can guarantee that the vast majority of people using food banks do so because they have a genuine need.

OP is not talking about food banks though.

I’m not sure how you control this aspect of your DH. If it helps any, I’ve stopped putting fresh fruit from my orchard into our community pantry after seeing one car turn around and swipe everything I put in it.

we do have a pensioner flat pantry about 10 minutes further away so I support that.

I tend to look at people and their trolleys these days when shopping. Sounds weird but a few years ago I was at the pre cooked chicken stand debating what I should get for future lunches and a Lady was there who picked one which was a fraction cheaper.
She made the comment it was all she could afford and I was too thick/stunned/ ignorant to let her know at times I have surplus and could help if she wanted…

Terrible, I would ban him! I used to know somebody who was friendly with someone who owned millions in property and always went to food banks ... its absolutely disgusting imo.

Crikey, I agree with you. The dude needs to take a moment. I used to be part of a social supermarket/pantry as a "solidarity member". I was referred to it while on mat leave and statutory pay, which wasn't enough to cover my bills. The health visitor had to twist my arm to go, as I felt as someone with a middle class job I didn't deserve to be there. Suggest to your husband to attend as a solidarity member - pay £10 and help cover the costs of the next member who may not be able to afford to pay, and attend toward the end of the project's opening hours so as not to take food that another household could really benefit from. That £10 would still be a bargain for the food he's getting there AND it will help the project with their costs. I now advocate for pantries to transition to mixed income models. There's a place for middle class income folk in community projects, to bring a stable income to keep the project going, and to pick up the surplus still left over at the end of the day. It's not a bad thing for people to invest more of their food budget into community supply chains, but important to do so ethically and join at the end of the queue. Hope this perspective helps.

This

He's a disgrace.

You are getting confused with food banks. Community pantries have food about to go out of date donated by supermarkets. The food has to be consumed quickly so as many people as possible taking the food is needed to stop it going into a bin.

Ah. I didn't realise that the thread had turned into an argument between two posters.

Ah well.

It's not really mixed though, is it? Anyone here who has, or volunteers in, a local community pantry/fridge, has made it clear that he's doing nothing wrong. The only people thinking he's doing something wrong are those who seem not to understand the purpose of the pantries.
But yes, our fridge has a donation pot for anyone in a position to pay something towards what they collect, and it helps keep the place going. So if they have one I suggest he puts a pound or two in.

That's the whole point - ALL the food is donated left overs/unsolds.

I would suggest to him that the household makes donations to the food banks commensurate with the value of what he is taking from the community pantry. If you don't need it, it seems a reasonable compromise and is a win-win for both the community pantry (saving food from landfill) and the food bank (being provided with more shelf-stable food).

No, that’s literally what the pantry is: food that will be thrown out if no one takesit quickly. That’s the whole point of it, whatever time of day you turn up.

IT IS NOT A FOOD BANK.

Oh, I didn't realise that the OP's husband was coming to the food pantry at the end of the day to get the leftovers before they went into the bin!
That's okay then.

We have one in our town too. I originally thought it was like a food bank, but it's not, it's to prevent food waste and anyone can use them.

Unless he is the manager of a supermarket or restaurant or food distribution centre how would he fund it exactly?
The donations are unsold fresh goods (or sometimes a persons excess home grown veg/fruit).

I wish more people thought like you.

Our food bank is open a frankly pathetic 2hrs a week, but takes in 85% of all donations in the area. The other 15% is split between three other places. Mine, open every day. Another close by, open 4 hours a day, 4 times a week. And another place, which does not a lot to be honest.

Mine, and the 4 days a week place support treble the people, per week, that the food bank does. And yet we get just over 5% of donations a week each. Trussell supports a third of the people on 85%. Drives me and the other charity crazy. But you can't be bad mouthing the food bank, which is all it would look like if either she or I tried to take those figures anywhere.

Exactly this. It’s a blatant example of the privileged taking from those with far less, and it’s shameful. Your DH isn’t “clever” for gaming the system — he’s exploiting a service meant for people who are struggling to get by. With his income, he should be funding the Community Pantry, not raiding it. What makes it even more appalling is how many others here seem eager to do the same and twist it into something virtuous to excuse their greed.

well there was a large number of people telling you that (a) their locations are run in a different way than you describe, with genuine goals to reduce food waste, and (b) what you describe might be breaching the charity commission rules, but you keep insisting that they are wrong and you are the only one knowing THE TRUTH, that the stated goals are not the same as actual goals.
sounds like you are just ignoring what doesn’t suit your narrative