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...

[quote happywearingmymaskallday]**@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?[/quote]
Surely because it’s her money and her choice?!

She could buy 2 packets of own brand for the price she oats for 1 packet of the branded stuff and help 2 families out?!

If your infant needs a specific milk then it will be prescribed Free by your GP.
Same as highly allergic children.
So I call BS on the whole allergic rationale.
Parental preference fair enough. Religious rationale fair enough. Both of those need to think about whether their child’s hunger is more important.
In both cases the child may well decide to choose another route.

Pays

You are the reason some people don’t use food banks op. Personally I don’t think you should be allowed to work there.

@User33019385

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.

Just repeat again

It is vile and a rip off- make your own for pence

(Just in case they did)

@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?

Who said anything about acceptable or not? It's kind to help a food bank at all, without being expected to donate half of your family food budget. The vast majority of people who buy the Napolina Spaghetti - in fact anything on sale in the supermarket - won't be buying anything whatsoever to give to the food bank as well as foodfor themselves.

If you saw somebody regularly sleeping in a shop doorway without any bedding and bought them a nice thick Go Outdoors own-brand 4-season sleeping bag, would you be a terrible meanie because you didn't offer them a luxury king-size silk duvet from The White Company, like you have at home, or offer them the difference in value as cash as well?

User33019385 I was going to say, this thread has made me want to buy oatly barista too!

@daisyjgrey - meow🤣🤣🤣

@Stannisbaratheonsboxofmatches

User33019385 I was going to say, this thread has made me want to buy oatly barista too!

Just suck a wet dish cloth Cheaper and the same taste

There are some vile views on this thread.

OP, how poor/hungry would you need to be before you would eat horse meat, or even dog meat?

Why do you think that you have the right to dictate that someone who chooses a plant based diet to be forced to eat animal products if they were ever in the need of a food bank?

YABU to expect vegans to eat non-vegan food.

YANBU to expect vegans to eat cheaper vegan food.

I am a vegan, but eat supermarket brands wherever possible. For myself (not DC), if the only food available at the food bank was non-vegan, I wouldn't eat it. Luckily, I don't have to rely on food banks, but am frequently in situations where there is nothing for me to eat and I go without.

I imagine that is the same for vegans who are unlucky enough to have to eat from food banks.

They asked, you dont have to comply and FTR, i wouldnt.
I dont think charity should cater to CHOICE, which vegan and religion are, but if they want to ask, its that charities choice. Allergies and SN are the exception, they are NOT choices

And yes, we had food hampers before when i was a kid, sure id have loved coco pops and a block of chocolate but we got basic food to see us though, when we were really lucky it had sausages or mince in it.

Just suck a wet dish cloth
Cheaper and the same taste

This just takes me back to pregnancy cravings - although it was kitchen sponges not dishcloths!

@Thisseatisnotavailable

There are some vile views on this thread.

OP, how poor/hungry would you need to be before you would eat horse meat, or even dog meat?

Why do you think that you have the right to dictate that someone who chooses a plant based diet to be forced to eat animal products if they were ever in the need of a food bank?

I think that relatively recent history had shown that we would eat humans to survive

@HermioneMakepeace

YABU to expect vegans to eat non-vegan food. YANBU to expect vegans to eat cheaper vegan food.

I am a vegan, but eat supermarket brands wherever possible. For myself (not DC), if the only food available at the food bank was non-vegan, I wouldn't eat it. Luckily, I don't have to rely on food banks, but am frequently in situations where there is nothing for me to eat and I go without.

I imagine that is the same for vegans who are unlucky enough to have to eat from food banks.

But wouldn’t you really? I was vegetarian. I was critically ill, hours from death , I was told that as part of my recovery I needed x (non veg diet) and I stopped being vegetarian

When it comes to survival how many would really die ? Self preservation is in built

"Also, if the food bank is funding this then that surely means they have less money available to feed other families?"*
*
This. Retain vegan diet, but use cheaper brands that stretch budget further. As a meat eater, I could like organic fillet steak, but I wouldn't request it from a food bank budget.

To those questioning why buy brands for yourself but supermarket own for food banks....

I shop within my monthly budget for my family some of those items are brand or more expensive items than some alternatives but they are what we like and fit within our budget.

Like most families (I'm my experience), we have a monthly budget. We are in the fortunate position at the moment, to afford theses brand products there are times when we can't and so don't. At the moment we can afford to donate a certain amount to food banks sometimes we do that as a cash donation so they can buy what they want sometimes we can't and we try to buy what we can to continue to support them. We have always thought buying supermarket own products or cheaper products allows us to buy more and so hopefully help more families. Or budget is finite, yes we could buy more expensive brands but when the money set aside is gone it's gone! We have always thought more is better...that might be a simplistic way of looking of things but the distinction I'm trying to make is, it's not the case I think people using food banks deserve less/cheaper products than we use but by buying cheaper products we are able to hopefully help more people.

Maybe the answer is to just give what cash we can each month and the food bank can decide what the money should be spent on! But I agree with pp so many people are doing nothing why are we coming after those that are trying?

I don’t have the time to read the whole thread, but in principle I think that if someone is vegan then yes they should be able to access vegan foods through a food bank. However, they might need to lower their expectations slightly and eat vegan appropriate foods that are less glamorous - e.g. baked beans, oats, peanut butter, etc.

But I also think that it would be much better for food banks to just get donations of money rather than food, because that way they would be able to provide a more nutritious range of foods for a wider range of dietary needs.

Right. So if you’re Muslim or Jewish and need to visit a food bank you should set aside your religious principles and take the sausages? The vegan’s principles should be honoured just as much.

However, YANBU about the brands.

But I also think that it would be much better for food banks to just get donations of money rather than food, because that way they would be able to provide a more nutritious range of foods for a wider range of dietary needs.

Reducing the number of people who donate - I wouldn't donate money because I would feel I needed to give more and I can't. It wouldn't be viable to give the cost of 4 items a month or whatever. I can give something from my shopping without missing it, but a financial donation would not work for me. There is also the fact that I can put a little treat in sometimes, not just basics. I like to think that someone will smile at getting something nice.

@Gizmo79

If your infant needs a specific milk then it will be prescribed Free by your GP. Same as highly allergic children. So I call BS on the whole allergic rationale. Parental preference fair enough. Religious rationale fair enough. Both of those need to think about whether their child’s hunger is more important. In both cases the child may well decide to choose another route.

Good points about allergies, I didn't know about the prescriptions.

Some of us are so fortunate, it makes you think. I'm a pensioner, on my own, and buy free range eggs and poultry, organic milk, farm assured meat and ethically farmed fish but there was a time when I was very hard up and glad of anything. Had I ever been in a position to need a food bank I'd have taken whatever was on offer that I could eat comfortably. If I was a vegetarian I'd stock up on tinned tomatoes, lentil and other soups, pasta, bread and marg, cheese (including Dairylea type), tinned fruit and could probably exist quite healthily on that.

Quite honestly it is easier to donate money to a food bank than dither over what to buy, then they can purchase what they know is needed. I know that if you buy online from Ocado you can make a cash donation and it's easy to set up a monthly dd for places like the Trussell Trust.

@PiratePetespajamas

Right. So if you’re Muslim or Jewish and need to visit a food bank you should set aside your religious principles and take the sausages? The vegan’s principles should be honoured just as much.

However, YANBU about the brands.

Sikh temples langar provide vegan food free to all who ask.

If you'd broken down at night in the middle of nowhere, without any mobile signal, and a kindly couple in a noisy old Ford pickup offered to take you to the nearest town, 70 miles away, to find accommodation for the night and then seek assistance - I don't think many of us, however rich or poor, would consider for a moment turning them down, as we would have much preferred somebody in a shiny new Mercedes saloon instead.

happywearingmymaskallday
@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?
Surely because it’s her money and her choice?!*
Yes thats true. I donate money to a food bank but if I was to buy food I suspect I'd buy what I buy for myself I'd feel uncomfortable buying a cheaper product but that might be me being ridiculous. You're right donating is the most important thing.

Quite honestly it is easier to donate money to a food bank than dither over what to buy, then they can purchase what they know is needed. I know that if you buy online from Ocado you can make a cash donation and it's easy to set up a monthly dd for places like the Trussell Trust.

Maybe look a bit more into the trussell trust and decide if it the best option. Look at how it is being provided locally maybe.