Food bank items

[EatSleepRantRepeat]

I've been given some supermarket vouchers from work and I'd like to buy some extra items from the food bank with it. If you work for a food bank or have used a food bank, what kind of things do your clients really want or look forward to?

I've checked the local wishlist but it's things like brown sauce and bags of sugar (so non-essential for most people) and frey bentos pies & powdered mash, which I personally wouldn't eat or serve to people at home. They wouldn't go in a microwave either because of the metal packaging.

Do people actually eat and enjoy those things, or are they just shelf-stable but people are too polite to decline? What happens to people like me with food allergies - is it bought in or is it tough luck?

I usually just buy laundry liquid and tampons/pads but there aren't the usual bulk-buy offers on this week so fancied buying something different.

(Before anyone judges me, I'm not policing anyone's dietary habits, I'd just rather spend my money on something foodbank users would normally eat and enjoy. I've never been able to volunteer in one because they're not open outside of working hours).

Couldnt you like just give the vouchers to the foodbank, to get their own stuff

I tithe as part of my religion, and the supermarket won't split the voucher down into smaller denominations. I might have a look at that for my Christmas donation though.

Ours always says:
canned meat and fish- surprisingly expensive. I get stew, curry and chilli and sometimes Heinz bolganise, cans tuna
canned desserts- rice pudding, custard,

Ask your local food bank what they want, and buy that.

My local food bank recently asked for no more pasta, but as many deodorants and shampoo / shower gel bottles as we could manage. I'm sure if I asked again in a few weeks, the need would be for something else.

@picklemewalnuts

I really understand your perspective, however why do you think they are asking for those items? They work there. They chat to the clients. They know what works.

They can support people with allergies- they know if they have regular donations/clients who need particular products.
They can shop specifically for them if necessary.

Thanks for covering the allergies question - the marketing I saw said it was vouchers for food emergencies so I assumed they wouldn't have time/resources (and I would literally have to go hungry than eat pasta unless I wanted to spend all day on the loo).

This is mine this week.
They are making half term packs soon.
Also , just because you wouldn't eat or serve something , doesn't mean others won't like it. Packet mash isn't nice (IMO) but it's not perishable nor are the FB pies.

Everything must be shelf stable so they need tinned products mostly, dried packaged goods etc, if you are hungry I don't think you will worry about it being powdered mash.

Canned tomatoes, small packs of rice and pasta (they can't split packets for hygiene reasons), uht milk, biscuits, instant coffee, tea ... they prefer own brand and cheaper rangers because quantity is important.

I've run a food bank and lost count of how many donations included refrigerated items that had to be thrown because we couldn't guarantee it's safe, some with notes explaining how x or y is better for you!

Frey Bentos pies aren't ready to eat, they have to be baked, (in the tin).

I always add ketchup as my DS was a nightmare and rarely ate anything without ketchup and certainly nothing new. I might also put in mustard or mayo and that sort of thing as it can transform a sandwich and yet, if you're really counting your pennies, you're not going to buy it.

For a basic family pack for 3 days we provide (when we can):
5 tins of soup (a box of cuppa soup = 2 tins)
4 tins of baked beans
4 tins of veg (incl tomatoes or potatoes as well as peas etc)
2 tins of fish
4 meat products ( usually tinned)
2 x500g pasta or one pasta one rice
2 pasta or curry (or any cooking type) sauce or extra tomatoes if we are short.
Cereal
UHT milk
Tea or coffee
Biscuits
2x Tinned fruit or pudding of some sort
Crisps
Squash
Sugar
We try and put in a few sweets or crisps as well if we have any.

Everything else is used to sub for what we don't have or to help out those whom we know have special circumstances or food preferences or larger families or pets. Pre-COVID we used to have a toiletries table for people to help themselves but now we pack to order. So while in former days we went through lots of sanitary provision, for example, now people have to specify they don't tend to ask as much.

Tinned meat meals or dishes are the thing we are always short of. When the food bank asks for basic things like these from the list it is because we really need these types of foods. A lovely tinned complete meal from MandS might be tasty for one but will it split well between 3 people as the protein component of a main meal, for example, in the way that a tin of corned beef or chicken in white sauce would?

Yes tinned stuff isn't as tasty as fresh food but we don't have specialist storage so it must be hardy.

@EatSleepRantRepeat

Couldnt you like just give the vouchers to the foodbank, to get their own stuff

I tithe as part of my religion, and the supermarket won't split the voucher down into smaller denominations. I might have a look at that for my Christmas donation though.

Not to give to their clients. For the volunteers to go shopping with.

some with notes explaining how x or y is better for you!

Yuk. What arseholes.

@maslinpan

I would think your food bank volunteers have an accurate idea about what food is practical and popular. Some people may not have a microwave, so a Frey Bentos pie is pre cooked and ok to eat cold. If you are in a hostel with no proper kitchen, but a kettle, then powdered mash is ok too.

You have to cook FB pies.

My DH loves Fray Bentos pies!

A PP just mentioned half term packs. In the run up to school holidays, I make sure I add some multi packs of crisps, things like penguins or clubs and some fruit shoot type things.

FB pies do need to go in the oven

Types of things I usually donate
Long life milk
Cereal / porridge bars
Teabags
Coffee
Shampoo
Body wash
Toothpaste

My local food bank publishes a most wanted list:

URGENT MOST NEEDED ITEMS: 8/1/2022
TINNED MEATS
TINNED FISH
UHT MILK
UHT JUICE
TINNED DESSERTS
CUSTARD
INSTANT COFFEE SMALL JARS
JAMS AND SPREADS
INSTANT MASH / TINNED POTATOES
PASTA SAUCE
BISCUITS

They have asked for no pasta or baked beans as they have an excess.

Fray Bentos pies need to be oven cooked.
Fray Bentos meat puddings do not.

Spam, tinned bacon grill and hot dogs are frequently requested by our clients, I think because they are highly flavoured so can spread over several meals.

I love a Fray Bentos pie.

@EatSleepRantRepeat

I've been given some supermarket vouchers from work and I'd like to buy some extra items from the food bank with it. If you work for a food bank or have used a food bank, what kind of things do your clients really want or look forward to?

I've checked the local wishlist but it's things like brown sauce and bags of sugar (so non-essential for most people) and frey bentos pies & powdered mash, which I personally wouldn't eat or serve to people at home. They wouldn't go in a microwave either because of the metal packaging.

Do people actually eat and enjoy those things, or are they just shelf-stable but people are too polite to decline? What happens to people like me with food allergies - is it bought in or is it tough luck?

I usually just buy laundry liquid and tampons/pads but there aren't the usual bulk-buy offers on this week so fancied buying something different.

(Before anyone judges me, I'm not policing anyone's dietary habits, I'd just rather spend my money on something foodbank users would normally eat and enjoy. I've never been able to volunteer in one because they're not open outside of working hours).

Is there a reason you're ignoring their list? Perhaps you know better?

My budget is max £50 out of my £200 voucher @jsl52 as I'm tithing, so I can't get it split down to give to the volunteers either. Good to get the quality vs quantity perspective too @gogohm because that was something I wasn't sure about either.

Thanks to those that mentioned half term - that wasn't even on my radar at the minute.

Don't be a dick @ISpyCobraKai - I've explained that in my OP already and in my subsequent posts, if you actually read them before jumping in with something spectacularly unhelpful.

@dynamitegirl

A PP just mentioned half term packs. In the run up to school holidays, I make sure I add some multi packs of crisps, things like penguins or clubs and some fruit shoot type things.

If we are given funding to provide lunches to FSM families we must follow the government guidelines regarding the content of school lunches, so no chocolate or fruit shoot, however we do use those things to bulk up food bank family packs for the school holidays instead.