Healthy food for the food bank

[Pimpleminds]

DD's school want donations for the food bank for their harvest festival. I asked my friend who works there what they were short of and she said hot chocolate. Spurred on by this I picked up some instant hot choc and a box of coco pops but DD was horrified: 'no mum Mrs X (head) said it must be healthy food for people that don't have the money to buy things that are good for them'.
AIBU to think that if you are using a food bank you might want the odd treat as well?

I help out in the local food bank (sorting the food and bagging it up), we have a list of foods and house hold supplies that we give out every week, anything not on the list like curry powder, mustard, chocolate etc goings on an addition item table in the corner, that people can look through to supplement what they receive.

Everyone gets (let's see if I can remember the list we work through, some times we are short of some of the products) Pasta, Rice, couscous if we have it, tin tomatoes, pasta sauce, tinned potatoes, tinned veg, tinned meat, pie, fish, long life milk, tinned soup, baked beans, spaghetti, breakfast cereal, tea bags, coffee if we have any, sugar - again something we are often short of, tinned fruit, some puddings (sponge, custard, rice pudding, angel delight), biscuits, squash.

Then razors, deodorant, soap, washing powder, Sanitary products, tooth brush, tooth paste, toilet rolls, washing up liquid, and if required nappies, wipes and baby food.

Some weeks we have to prioritise, the family with lots of children is more likely to get hot chocolate and squash than a family of two adults.

All we know about the people coming in (as a helper) is the name of the person on the form, how many adults in the household, how many children and their ages and if there is any dietary requirements.

I tend to buy food that I would buy for my family, if I would eat the value range I buy that, but if I think it tastes horrid I would buy what we eat.

No problem with what your nan does, it's the people who do it and think they're changing the world who get on my tits

Don't tell me to shut up Trollsworth.

I usually go with Pasta , Rice , Good quality Tinned Soups , and Fray Bentos Kate and Sidney Puds , .......Funny enough our Church food baank is startinfg to ask for Toiletries et al ......These are in short supply apparently

I help out at the church who provide food for people in need
And yes, blackberry sometimes putting in a bar of chocolate or a packet of biscuits does make people feel a bit better. Obviously not long term, a bloody bar of dairy milk doesn't solve anyone's problems but something nice in addition to ingredients for a meal, tinned food etc is a nice thing.

What you are saying about the Tesco value stuff isn't true of the people who donate to the church. The majority of donations are multibuy offers where people donate the "free" or half price item.
We do actually sort out the boxes so there is adequate food for hot meals, people obviously do not just get a box with a bar of chocolate in, that would be ridiculous.

FFS, there's nothing wrong with basic/value things, including the chocolate. I buy a lot of basic things for myself and my children, even though I can afford not to. Why spend more money than you need to?
I think it's nice to donate one 'treat' ( if you can afford it of course), as well as things from the list.

OP, I'd listen to your friend who works there, she's more likely to know what they need. It might not be the healthiest of food, but it's better to get what they're short of even if it isn't the healthiest thing on the list. Our local foodbank has about a years worth of dry pasta, but a shortage of jam.

By buying chocolate, you aren't depriving someone of healthy, filling food; treats go in the package as an extra. And cereal might be fine- our foodbank buys milk (and bread and eggs) to go out with each package. Don't know if that's the case with ones that are serving a bigger area though.

I know tantrums but that's what I'm saying.

'Food banks are in urgent need of chocolate' NO they are in urgent need of food.

If it was worded differently - these are things that would be welcomed - maybe, but it's just so condescending to think that sticking a bar of dairy milk in makes you a Good Person.

What I can't stand is the bloody middle class whining about nutrition.

People who think those in the most dire need should be able to whip up a dried chick pea curry.

It never seems to occur to them that those short of food, will often be short of fuel to cook it. They may often be short of a cooker on which to cook it!

Re value products, I was wondering about those. If you have say £10 that you're able to spend on food for the food bank, is it better to get a lot of value stuff or less branded stuff? Or a mix? Would people going to the food bank rather than more food that isn't as nice?

We make regular donations of about £5 and it helps me to think in terms of meals. So I try to go for:

Carbs: tinned potatoes, noodles/pasta (flavoured and plain) crackers, instant mash, rice, and a cereal -- all supermarket basics

Protein: Chickpeas, beans, tuna (if a very good offer as is £££) these days, tinned salmon can be cheaper, canned spinach, nut butter (not all FBs allow nuts) dry soy mince, sardines, marmite.

Tinned veg (some in every donation) Tinned fruit in juice

Fat: Cooking oil, soya cream uht, uht milk, marvel, cakes, biscuits (some gf too when on offer) rice pudding, custard tins, carnation.

Store Cupboard: stock cubes, tomato puree, salt, pepper, spices and sugar, jello as in brand, not Americanism

Toiletries: Loo roll, toothpaste, soap, Sanpro, nappies if go to Aldi, deoderant, sudacream, lip balm, plasters, savlon, floss, shampoo, shave foam, razors

Household: I save samples of washing powder, as I cannot afford to donate it too regularly, jay cloths, spray bleach cleaner, loo cleaner, sponges.

Occasional donations -- sweets and toys at festival times our local paper publishes these dates for all established religious groups, follow on milk.

I buy value stuff that I'd eat myself- I don't think there's much difference between value rice and branded rice, for example. So if it was rice that was needed, I'd buy lots of value bags rather than 1 or 2 expensive branded bags. But I wouldn't eat value tinned meat, so if that's what the foodbank needed I'd buy fewer better quality items.

Carmine, my experiences seem different, we didn't mind value stuff but some of it really does taste vile. Tinned potatoes are awful anyway!

Bland and sweet is best I think, honestly the value rice pudding was really nice. Baked beans were ok - bit chewy. Value soups tend to be v watery.

Thing is you will eat it if it's all you've got - which is should be if you're needing to use a food bank!

I don't buy value.

I know you can buy more stuff for the same money, but I have a horror of someone opening their parcel and it being all value. In my mind, a mix would be more comforting. So yes, always Heinz soup and always PG Tips.

But this might be just silly!

As I donate to one bank locally, I make a note of what I donated last time and make sure each donation has a different distribution of stuff. I also ask what they are short of.

Re brands: if you are hungry, or worse your kids are hungry, you couldn't give a monkeys. Just try to make it as nutritionally balanced and non perishable as possible. Also add things that can be eaten cold and don't need to be soaked. Fuel and water are criminally expensive.

Carmine, I'd say ask the foodbank if they'd prefer basic and more of them or 'higher end' stuff.

We have 14 local foodbanks in our area. They are very much needed, so in our area it tends to be as much food out of what you can afford. I like the rule of buy what you'd have. We buy value for ourselves so I tend to do the same for the foodbank. Our donation comes to around £5 but we got two bags of stuff.

Word,

It's not silly.

I swear that tin of Heinz tomato soup gave me a lift like nothing else!

I felt normal, you know. It was like my mum had sent it.

Thanks.

:)

Tinned potato are fab Blackberry. We use them for stews and veggie curries. You don't have to have the hob on boiling them for ages either as they're already cooked.

I always try to pick things that cook quickly as there's nowt worse than your lecky going off when you're cooking the last bits in the house.

That's what I always feel about food banks.

I mean, I know they're for people in dire need, and they'd probably be grateful for anything but I figure that this is exactly the time they might need a bit of TLC.

A mixture sounds good. I imagine one of the most demoralising things about being short of money for food is that you can't afford any treats. A packet of biscuits or a sugary cereal could lift the spirits just a little.

And something else I put in...dog food.

I mean I know poor people shouldn't have a dog and blah blah blah...but try living on some of these estates as a single mum!

You might be surprised at the number of people who go 'ugh don't like that!' and chuck it.

Oh and we aren't ALL sitting in council flats with electricity meters - just maybe accept different people might use them at different times. And just donate food, just normal food. Obviously food that won't go off but just food, you know?

FFS, there's nothing wrong with basic/value things, including the chocolate. I buy a lot of basic things for myself and my children, even though I can afford not to. Why spend more money than you need to?

I completely agree. I always buy value chocolate to use for baking. Value tinned tomatoes, pasta, butter, veg, ketchup and many other things are all fine in my opinion.

God I wish you were allowed to put wine in the food bank. I would love to treat someone to curry and wine. (yes the curry would have to be tinned but you can get some decent tinned curry)

I thought chocolate is good if you can not eat an iron rich diet? Or is it only the dark chocolate?

I must say i agree that the value tesco chocolate is discusting. I dont mind value things , it is just the chocolate. Btw lidl 's 59p one is good.

I've never donated to a foodbank
A couple of questions, I don't go to church and there isn't a foodbank near me according to the Trussle website. Are food banks only Trussle? If I have £10 to spend each week, what's best to buy and closer to Christmas do they accept bottles of wine as treats?