to go off piste with food bank donations, as they only list wanting junk food

[haveatarday]

At the shops now. The local food bank is only asking for junk food on their list (crisps, biscuits, pot noodles, pasta and sauce, corn flakes).

Aibu to not get these but get healthier stuff, like tinned fruit in natural juce, oats, mixed seeds etc?

I assume that's pasta'n'sauce as in the saches which are much like pot noodles, not jars of pesto and packets of dried penne.

OP, if that's what the food bank want that's what they want. It's not your job to police the diet of their clients, either get what's on the list or find a different charity to donate to.

Can I just ask, are you intending to acknowledge any of the points made by PP or just tutter about junk and carbs??

How will people cook oats and lentils when they have no cooker? Or gas?

"tinned fruit is carbs!"

What does that mean?

Oatcakes are ok I'd imagine but most people would ignore those on a foodbank shelf. I wouldn't choose oatcakes when I'd not had anything much to eat for a while that's for sure. I'd choose biscuits or cream crackers.

I think you should presume that the people running the food bank know more about their users' needs than you do.

When you are living in food poverty, the healthiest thing is to consume sufficient calories so you don't suffer from malnutrition.

Moving it's as though OP thinks people SHOULD snack on seeds because the're poor and beggars can't be choosers. I'll be visiting our Food Bank next week and I'm putting in NICE things as well as basics.

either donate or don't donate.
yours is not to question what they ask for.

I donate through our church and also at the supermarket. We had a talk from TrussleTrust about their work at the foodbank, and I reckon they know what they're doing. They know what the recipients need and can cook with limited facilities etc. They have enormous experience and want stuff that isn't going to be wasted because it isn't suitable.
Also, the bags given out are only for three visits, to discourage dependency.
It's not as if this type of food is all they eat for the rest of their lives. It's meant to tide them over temporarily.

Haven't had this thread for at least a month.

You can give whatever you like to the food bank OP, but just be prepared for them to give in back to you saying they have no need for it. And try not to take offence.

Oat cakes? Oh you're having a laugh. Nobody actually likes oat cakes unless they're at the end of a very long and very boozy lunch and served with good cheese. On their own they are horrid.

The lady bountiful attitude of many people who give to foodbanks hacks me right off. Though not as much as the fact we need foodbanks at all. The fact we have people in 2015 without enough to eat and are relying on charity which is precarious when it is the job of the state (ie all of us) to make sure everyone has the basics every day is outrageous.

Spiders Is tinned soup as well as packet soup ok? What about biscuits?

OP what does your NN mean?

Moving Lady Bountiful hits the nail on the head! It's all

"Oh but aim GIVING to the poor! I should choose what I want...what I deem healthy!! I have the power so they must do as I think because I know best...after all...aim not in need of a food bank."

When you are living in food poverty, the healthiest thing is to consume sufficient calories so you don't suffer from malnutrition.

You are very misinformed. You can have loads of calories but no nutrition.

Anyway you can stop flaming me, I've bought tinned pineapple, tinned soup, tinned kidney beans, read to eat brown rice, oat cakes, ginger oat biscuits, dark chocolate and toilet rolls.

Assuming this isn't some kind of goad-fest:

Maybe the food bank has had a lot of healthy food donations and needs to top up the tinny carby foodstuffs. Also, bear in mind that some people may need what you consider junk, because it is easy to eat, offers readily accessible calories that are not hard on the digestion and is something they like. Lots of elderly people I know like tinned fruit for that reason-easy to eat, a taste of childhood (when for a lot of them it was a treat) and doesn't give them digestion problems.

Cross-posted.
Brown rice takes a good while to cook, OP. Not good when you are in fuel poverty.

After the horrified 'Tinned fruit is carbs!' comment, I've concluded you're a bit bonkers, OP.

perhaps people only have a kettle, hence the request for pot noodles. dont assume everyone has cooking facilities.

Personally if I needed to use a food bank I wouldn't give a damn if I was just getting junk food. As long as I had something to eat.

Haveatarday - please don't go off piste with the list - in this instance, the foodbank are the experts and you aren't. They know what their clients need and want, and you don't.

As others have said, what if the only thing they have to heat things up is a kettle? They need things they can use, not ingredients that will be useless to them. For example, oats will be no use without a hob or microwave, and if they can't afford milk, porridge made with water is pretty unpleasant.

I am also not sure that tinned fruit provide the best sort of carbs, in these circumstances - there is some fibre, but don't most of the carbs come from fruit sugars, which give a quick sugar 'high' but won't give a steady burn of energy, which is what people really need? So, for example, the calories from pasta would be better than the calories from tinned pears.

Ratbag she said the rice is ready to eat.

Yes...as Wolef says go with the list. The organisers know what's needed and what's not.

Mrs Tawdry, that might depend on your particular food bank. There can be a difference in the situations of people using food banks. They will know what the needs of their clients are and what they already have lots of. If they have a lot of clients who are in fuel poverty as well packet might be better but that doesn't mean that tinned won't be of some use to them.

If they have a list use it. They don't compile it because they are bored, it's items they are short of and need.