To think if you rely on a food bank you may need to compromise your vegan principles?

[LondonUnited]

I’m a supporter of our local food bank and am on their mailing list. I received an email earlier to say that they were supporting a vegan family and were therefore asking for specific food donations, including Oatly oat milk, various nuts and seeds, specific types of beans, etc etc.

I may get flamed for this but I couldn’t help thinking that - allergies aside (and I have a milk allergic child so I do get it) - if you need a food bank to feed your family, you might need to compromise on diet slightly? For a start, Oatly Barista is lovely and all that, but Aldi or Asda oat milk is also ok and half the price. And that the odd bit of tinned fish may be easier to access from a food bank than Brazil nuts and chia seeds...

Well @Potterpotterpotter, im happy for you. I hope you consider yourself very fortunate but, sadly you probably dont. I keep a surplus of food because i dont have family that would fill my cupboards and, in the past that is something i would have greatly appreciated. Now i make sure, as far as i can that i never find myself in that awful position again where im worried that i cant adequately look after my children as they deserve to be looked after.

I agree with this actually. I always think when catering for many people, the food should be vegan.

I get what you mean by this, but as a coeliac, the vast majority of vegan foods contain or are cross contaminated with gluten. There's always going to be exceptions to the rule so I think it's best to go on a case by case basis whilst still trying the best to cater to the masses.

I can comment on whatever I like, it’s a open forum.

Well yes. But just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

*jessstan
Stunning temporarily numbs the animal thus causing it to not feel pain.
And specifically do not buy anything labelled halal as it is torture.

I despair that this country has lost its animal cruelty values , and yes I do fear that I am unwillingly buying that meat.
We already do 2 veggie days a week so will up that. Always gone for freee range or local.
However- back to the issue in hand- all children will eat when hungry, same as adults. Allergies aside- if you need food then choices may be limited. I can’t buy what I want as my budget does not allow, same with food banks surely.
And no, I am not a heartless cow. Every year without fail I spend at least £30 on chocolate advent calendars to donate- money I can’t afford. And no, I am not bragging, and yes, it would have bought a lot of regular food, but I hope it made some children happy.

Give this poor family a break life must be hard for them.
Ive never used a food bank know nothing about them and hope I never will but I have significant dairy allergy which is unfortunate as I come from a dairy farming background!! I like dairy milk and loathe nearly all milk alternatives but the different brands all taste surprisingly different, soya (all brands) I think is particularly disgusting Id rather put tap water on cereal than soya and even worse made into yoghurt, my vegan DS drinks oat milk in his coffee and I personally think its vile. There is only one brand of coconut milk that I find acceptable on cereal/in coffee, all dairy alternatives are ghastly in tea, (Ive no idea how it compares to other coconut milks price wise because Im lucky to not have to worry about how much things cost) but if I ever needed to use a food bank I would say I need X brand of coconut milk because 1. it would be a waste of money to have any of the other, 2. if you put it on cereals you have something to eat that's easy to store/prepare is filling and nutritious as many cereals have added vitamins etc.

I don’t think food banks should all be vegan.

I think there's a big difference between purposefully and accidentally vegan. E.g. beans on toast or pasta with tomato sauce or a veg curry - a solid, cheap meal that just happens to be vegan is fine. Giving everyone oat milk when cows milk is far more commonly drunk and in most cases cheaper, not so good and the alternative milk should be brought in just for the vegans.

Did they really ask for Oatly Barista? Maybe it was just an example. I doubt they'd refuse Asda oat milk.

They can ask for whatever they want. It's a request not a demand. Actually I would be quite happy to support a vegan family. I'm not vegan because I'm weak and like meat too much, but I do think it's a good moral choice and one that is beneficial for our environment and should be supported.

If you're having qualms about donating, stop, or take a break for a while.

Totally get you OP. Beggars can’t be choosers and all. It’s like saying ‘I only want food from the finest range please, not own brand cheap stuff’

There is a hierarchy of need (Maslow) and food/water/shelter is obviously at the top. Food is source of energy at its most basic. I’d love to eat out every day but I can’t afford it so I must adapt my lifestyle to my finances.

Unless your self sufficient then you can’t expect to be getting more expensive items because you want them

I've just googled Oatly Barrista (I'm not got on remembering brand names) my DS drinks it I personally think it horrible, it's totally devoid of taste its just white water, DS says thats why he drinks it it doesn't change the taste of tea and maybe thats its attraction, Alpro oat milk has a weird slightly cardboard taste.

Some pretty offensive language in use here. Beggars? Really? Please think about your choice of words.

@choirmumoftwo

Some pretty offensive language in use here. Beggars? Really? Please think about your choice of words.

Give over - you know fine well its a just saying, figure of speech, when someone looks down their nose on something that is being offered for free!

I don't think requesting specific bland is unreasonable. If you buy them yourself and if you can afford it, then why need to choose cheaper one to donate? But if you buy the non branded ones yourself, then there's nothing wrong in not buying more expensive one to donate, just give the ones you are happy with. But suggesting vegan people to eat fish is very disrespectful of other people's beliefs.

Many things are just a figure of speech. Doesn't mean they're not offensive. Words are important and have power.

I read quite recently that fake milk such as Alpro has little or no nutritional value. I'm happy to be corrected. For babies who cannot tolerate cow's milk, the non-cows milk formula must be different and contain everything a baby needs to thrive.

If I had to give up dairy I would prefer to forego milk altogether rather than drink soya or oat milk (I have tasted it).

@jessstan2

I read quite recently that fake milk such as Alpro has little or no nutritional value. I'm happy to be corrected. For babies who cannot tolerate cow's milk, the non-cows milk formula must be different and contain everything a baby needs to thrive.

If I had to give up dairy I would prefer to forego milk altogether rather than drink soya or oat milk (I have tasted it).

Google how to make oat milk-it is water with strained oats and some had liquidised oats

@WaltzfortheMars

I don't think requesting specific bland is unreasonable. If you buy them yourself and if you can afford it, then why need to choose cheaper one to donate? But if you buy the non branded ones yourself, then there's nothing wrong in not buying more expensive one to donate, just give the ones you are happy with. But suggesting vegan people to eat fish is very disrespectful of other people's beliefs.

I think this would just cause people to donate less if the etiquette is to buy for food banks what you buy for yourself. I like Napolina spaghetti for myself but buy Tesco own brand for food bank (unless Napolina is on offer). I don’t think that’s bad?

The thing I have a problem with is that I cannot afford to feed my family brand names, well I can but we would have to compromise on other things, and frankly non branded items can be as good (and sometimes better) than branded.

So I agree with milk issue, if I couldnt afford to feed my family then I would be happy with any of the right kind of milk. Same with beans etc. I do wonder if they have suddenly hit rock bottom very quickly and have come from a position of relative priviledge and so dont realise just what they are asking.

YABU about the fish thing though.

[quote Potterpotterpotter]@ZolaGrey you must be a vegan😂[/quote]
Nope. Just not a prick.

I wholeheartedly disagree.

Fair enough, don’t demand expensive brands but I don’t think vegans should be forced to eat meat and animal products. That is just demeaning as it completely goes against their beliefs - it’s like you want poor people to suffer as much as possible.

Your OP is intentionally goading. I doubt the vegans in question specifically requested fancy nuts in lieu of tinned fish I’m sure they’d be fine with baked beans as a tinned fish substitute? Probably cheaper to source too!

I was a hospital day surgery patient 2 years ago. I was vegan at the time but they wouldn’t discharge me until I ate lunch. My options were things like a plain cheese sandwich or a plain ham sandwich, no vegan options. They wouldn’t let me buy anything from the on site Costa (vegan lunch and breakfast or salads, fruit etc) as I wasn’t allowed to leave the area until I was discharged nor would they let my partner bring food in (he was waiting to collect me). I was forced to eat animal products to be allowed to go home. It was such a shit feeling.

I just dint see why this is a problem. Why shouldn't this family have the oat milk they like if their life is so difficult that they need to use a food bank why can't we who don't need to use one show some kindness understanding and humanity and buy them the brand of milk they prefer. After all they not asking for fillet steak and wild smoked salmon.

Maybe their young child is dairy free? We were advised by the dietician to buy either oatly barista or koko super due to the fat content being higher than standard milk. Barista is at least 20p cheaper so that’s usually what he got unless the koko stuff was on special

Now he’s 2.5 so he gets regular oat milk thank goodness! He can’t have soya milk because he’s intolerant to soya too.

In short I think YABU and a bit up yourself to decry them on their brand choice since they might have good reason for it.

@honeygirlz "I like Napolina spaghetti for myself but buy Tesco own brand for food bank"
I'm genuinely curious as to why you do this. If Tescos own brand isn't acceptable to you why is it good enough for people who use food banks?

@LondonUnited

“However, I wouldn't drink Oatly due to the recent news about them. The family themselves may not have even requested this brand it may be something the food put on as it is a well known brand. Would you be as up in arms if they requested weetabix, for example, as a well known wheat biscuits brand?!”

The list also included Shreddies and Weetabix, rather than own brand alternatives

Not all cereal is vegan, as some has vitamin D from lanolin (from sheep's wool) added. So own brand versions may not be suitable.

And I agree with previous posters that a) they may not have requested specific brands and b) even if they did, it could be either because they know those are vegan and alternatives aren't or because they e.g. have an autistic child who won't eat other brands. Which is actually fairly likely, as virtually all the autistic families I know are vegan.

Lol I'm wondering if Oatly's PR started this thread to counteract the negative stories!!

I've read OATLY so often in the last 10 pages it no longer feels like a word. Could be turned into a drinking game instead.

If you buy them yourself and if you can afford it, then why need to choose cheaper one to donate?

Maybe, if you work strictly to a 'one for my family, one for the food bank' principle and never actually think about the cost; but if effectively the same thing costs half the price of the branded one, and you only have so much money spare to help those less fortunate, you can provide two meals instead of one for exactly the same money.

Also, this may be a long shot and I'm only surmising, if you give a top branded item to a food bank and it goes to a family with a fussy/impressionable child who decides that they prefer that one - whether genuinely because of the taste or psychosomatically because they've seen it advertised on TV by their favourite footballer - and then refuses the normal one/demands that brand in future, when the family is back on their feet but hardly rolling in it, you've not actually helped all that much. As I say, that's just a wild thought: could make sense, could be rubbish....