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...

Poor people can make choices about what diet they want to follow when they can actually afford their own food... until then they can eat what they are given and should be grateful for the help

Have you inadvertently escaped from the pages of a Dickens novel?

IME food banks are only intended to tide people over for a few days, nobody is going to say the vegan family have to eat dairy/fish/meat but a vegan diet could be accommodated short term with standard stuff they probably normally have donated (baked beans, pasta, rice, chick peas etc all vegan)

Whenever I give to food banks I try not to buy the cheapest brands as I’m understand that the nicer stuff is more popular, which I can understand. I mean, if you’re having to live on tinned and packet food which is often not as nice as fresh, you’ll choose the kinds that taste best, won’t you?

I think it's a bit cheeky to ask for premium brands specifically. But asking for vegan food in general is fine.

During lockdown I spent £200 a week on food for a local charity, they suggested I downgraded on the brands

So it must differ

Vegan milk - of course people should be able to be offered that from a food bank, just not a specific brand, as I doubt other foods offered through food banks are brand specific.

I think it is also fine for a food bank to request packets of nuts for vegan families, or simply for families who like them. Food banks request other foods that are popular, nutritious and currently needed, so why not request nuts instead of tinned meat stew?

Chia seeds...possibly a bit rarefied.

Maybe vegan donors like to donate vegan-friendly food, so why not give them the heads up?

Have you inadvertently escaped from the pages of a Dickens novel

Nope but beggars can’t be choosers. 🤷🏼‍♀️

@Inthebleakmidwinteriwouldsing

Also, if the food bank is funding this then that surely means they have less money available to feed other families?

That’s neither here nor there really. The aim is to ensure that everyone is fed (ideally in line with their needs, beliefs and preferences). Some people will cost more per head, others less. As a veggie it doesn’t affect me if another family’s chops cost more than my lentils.

Your food bank has chops? That must be rare?

YANBU about the request for specific, expensive items. Asking for Oatly oat milk is taking the piss. They should just ask for Oat milk. Veggis, beans etc can feed a vegan family without the need for expensive add ons. I'd say the same for a meat eating family asking for branded Heck sausages rather than any old banger!

It's possible they have a fussy child who has grown up on Oatly and won't touch anything else.

Also possible that the food bank was just giving examples, and the family haven't requested specific brands or foods at all.

Either way, hardly worth you getting upset about and using it to have a go at all vegans.

Basic vegan food is cheap, way cheaper than a diet based on meat at every meal and therefore would cost charities less. Maybe it should be the other way round, and people relying on food banks should be forced to go vegan? No, didn't think you'd like that one.

Also, if the food bank is funding this then that surely means they have less money available to feed other families?

Even if they’re only asking for Oatly, the cost would likely be swamped by the cost of meat and dairy products for non-vegan families. I doubt they account for every family on a penny by penny basis, but diets which include meat are almost always more expensive than those which don’t, so I would be surprised if it didn’t all come out in the wash.

Brand names like oataly fair enough. It is the nicest tasting one but in desperate times any old brand of oat milk should be sufficient. Maybe if someone was wanting to go buy it specifically fair enough but if they have a generic brand spare then I don’t think they should turn it down.

Beans and pulses are cheap to buy and a lot of people do keep them in the cupboard - I know it’s not unheard of for me to have 6 tins if kidney beans in the cupboard or the random tin of butter beans than no one really likes but they end up added to something eventually.

If they are asking for expensive things like vegan cheese or beyond burgers fair enough to say it’s cheeky. But a bit of oat milk and some tins of beans isn’t exactly specialist or expensive and some people might have them lying around. I’m a vegetarian who still eats dairy and will have cows milk in my coffee but I have uht soya milk and almond milk in the cupboard as I use them for particular recipes. I have tins and tins of kidney beans, black beans, chick peas etc. I even have a good stash of dried beans too. So if I got that email I could have donated some of the stuff (not chia seeds though as mine are open and decanted into a jar). I would also have messaged back with the offer of the almond or soya milk too.

Could it be that the suggestions are just items/ brands that the food bank is familiar with?

Also, how do you know they're not vegan for religious or medical reasons?

The food bank has asked. Not demanded nor guilt tripped. They often ask for specific items anyway, this is no different? TBH, when times are hard it's often even more important to stick with your principles. I don't blame people for not wanting to eat meat/ animal products just because they've fallen on hard times. It does sound a bit like people berating benefits recipients for having "luxury" items.

@Potterpotterpotter

Poor people can make choices about what diet they want to follow when they can actually afford their own food... until then they can eat what they are given and should be grateful for the help.

Is that you, Mrs Mann?

To be fair to the family though, my local foodbank always post their wishlist with brand or well known names of products rather than the cheaper own make alternatives, e.g. Asking for cup a soups... I only buy the branded ones on offer and get aldi/morrisons own alternatives but no idea what they are called! Easier for people to pickup with their shop, no matter what supermarkets they go to.

So might not be the family actually asking for the brand, just that they would like oat milk instead of cows milk.

I think requiring a particular expensive brand is unreasonable when there are cheaper alternatives. It's not the same as requesting halal or kosher, it would be if they said only xx brand of halal burgers for instance.
I don't really think people should have to stop being vegan though because they are using a food bank, there's lots of cheep vegan food.

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

OP, do you not think that perhaps this isn't the family being fussy about which brand of oat milk, but that it might be down to the food bank administrator not having catered for a vegan family before?

I can imagine the conversation might have gone "thanks, but we're vegan so we can't have the milk".."oh, ok - what do you drink instead of cow's milk then?"..."oat milk or similar, something like Oatly, you know?"..."ok, got it!".

Just because the food bank is asking for specific things they know will be ok, it doesn't mean the vegan family have specified that they will turn their noses up at everything else!

@Polnm yes. It is both those things. The food bank can request whatever they want people to donate for what is appropriate for their users. Would you like me to say it again or have you caught on yet?

I do think food bank users should be able to express dietary preferences, eg veggie/vegan, although not sure why an expensive brand is needed over a cheaper one.

Having said that when I needed to use a food bank back at the start of lockdown I told pescetarian DS1 that, depending on what we got given, he might have to choose between just 'sides' or having meat to make a full meal. Luckily he didn't but as no one asked about dietary requirements I didn't know what we would end up with!
And the couple of bits we got given which we didn't like i put away for an emergency. As it ended up we didn't need them so I donated them back again

Your food bank has chops? That must be rare?

I don’t eat meat and have very fortunately never needed to use a food bank so I have no clue! Our local food bank has a drive for carbohydrates each winter but I always just donate money Then they can buy what they need.

You can get chia seeds for £1 for 200g at Home Bargains. That lasts me ages for overnight oats.
There's either some trolls, or deeply deeply unpleasant people on this thread who think that folks in dire financial circumstances should be grateful for whatever scraps they can get. Awful.

Oh! That's a bit odd. We will put a shout out for vegan alternatives occasionally, but we tend to buy them directly or ask a supermarket for a direct donation. And no, we don't aim for the brands or only the cheapest versions. And I don't think I've ever been asked for chia seeds.

Bags are 3 days worth of food staples. I don't think chia seeds are a staple food!

@ShebaShimmyShake

I hate it when 21st century peasants don't act like 15th century ones.

just can't get a decent quality of deserving poor these days

YABU OP - people are allowed to be poor and vegan

@Potterpotterpotter I’m not sure how to read your reply, is that a direct statement of fact relating to your thoughts or sarcasm directed towards the OP?