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...

@Pixxie7

Surely you would rather spend money on food people actually want nearly everything you describe is cheaper than buying meat and will last a long time.

Unless you are shopping on a budget yourself and can only spend a small amount on food bank items. You won't get too much bang for your buck if you're buying Oatly.

When I was low on funds, I bought the own brand or value products. In those days I wouldn't have been buying the food bank Heinz beans or other branded items, I couldn't afford them myself.

You could argue that I could just buy the cheaper options on their list - which is very true, pulses won't cost much - but buying non-brand items for the food banks means I can purchase more for them overall and they get more supplies.

@CasuallyMasculine

You've purposefully taken one quote from my much longer post out of context there

My point was clearly that, as a 'meat eating' child my choice, when my parents weren't cooking (for example in a canteen) wasn't limited by then and i was free to choose whatever I wanted to eat. Whether my veggie friend was actively restricted in her diet by her parents, thus limiting what she could eat, in situations that had no bearing on her. That is what I mean by imposing a dietary choice on a child and a 'restrictive diet'. It's not about what an individual family chooses to try or buy, it's about restricting the childs choice for no good reason than the parents own beliefs (not when the parent has done the cooking).

I like others agree to a point! Requesting brand name vegan products is not ok! But I don't think people should prohibited from their beliefs due to money!

It's hard to know though have the family requested brand name oat milk or have the food bank picked what they think is a generic example?

Like with all charities donate what you should donate what you can afford personally. If my local food bank requested vegan products I would be happy to follow that in the same way I follow requests for less beans more bread or whatever they are short of at a given time! I have an amount I can afford to donate and I buy within that amount things they are requesting to help those in need of the service! The charity are best placed to help those using the service not me!

Being vegan was recently recognised in an employment tribunal as equivalent to a religion in terms of its legal protection.

With regards to the food bank, however, my view is that the fussier they are the more likely they are to go without. Just because the food bank asks for an expensive brand of vegan milk doesn't mean that anyone will donate it. Besides, it is possible to eat very cheaply on a vegan diet.

A kilo of porridge oats costs about £1 and makes 20 servings of porridge. Just boil it with water and a pinch of salt. I eat mine with cold full cream milk and soft dark brown sugar, but I have eaten it without milk before and it is fine. Similarly lentils, pulses and tinned veg cost very little and can be used to make soup, casseroles or pasta sauces. No need for expensive dairy and meat substitutes.

I get what you mean about brands, op. I'm not a vegan but if I had to go to a food bank I wouldn't insist on brands that I prefer and would accept own brands and a general compromise, particularly if I had other mouths to feed.

Another thing crossed my mind: I always thought being a vegetarian or vegan was far cheaper than being a meat eater. I buy quite a lot of fruit and veg and if I lived on it, which I could if I wanted to, I would save a heck of a lot of money.

Sorry if this has been said as I haven’t rtft but different brands taste detectably different - if there is eg. a fussy/autistic child then giving them a an off-brand oat milk which they won’t be able to use might be a waste

@TheHappyHerbivore I’m not on min wage, I don’t use food banks and I don’t need benefits. I haven’t looked into the problems with UC because they don’t concern me. I left school and got myself a decent job so I can afford whatever brand of food I want but like Iv said if I did have to use a food bank then I’d be happy for anything edible, not top brands.

If you can’t afford your own food then be happy someone is willing to feed you.

Anyone feeding their children is imposing a dietary belief. Meat / veggie / vegan / organic / free range / locally grown/ sugar free / halal / kosher / Jain.

Anyone who sees only vegan as imposing dietary belief is ignorant.

Poor people can't make that many choices though. I would like to buy free range meat, don't eat it myself but OH does, however, it is three times the cost of nasty factory meat. Its pretty cheeky to expect expensive foods like that from the food bank.

When we put a social media request out I just google for an image - So if Oatly Barista oat milk was the first to come up in that list I would use that image. It is not intended to imply that is the only acceptable oat milk.

Our delivery people ask for preferences - anything we can do to make a shit time a little more bearable is the way we look at it. For a while we had a family who's child liked a particular brand and type of pasta - so we went through our pasta stocks and found it for them. And then put out a SM request for it. One of our regular donors bought a whole box for us. If we had got to the end of our supplies we would have bought some more in.

I am so glad our donors don't have your mind set OP.

@Potterpotterpotter Well, if you’re truly as ignorant about these issues as you claim, perhaps you should stop moralising on them. Just a thought.

DD is a vegan and heavily influenced by the latest trends and I have over indulged as she is a weight restored anorexia but the reality is she will not be able to sustain financially this style of vegan diet whilst at university or if she was low paid. She could easily end up in even more debt because of the niche ingredients. She has a year in which we will work on a vegan affordable diet. Like with most things the more you have the cheaper it is to eat vegan with specific ingredients. I buy 4kg bags of chia, hemp and tiger nuts. I would not be able to afford these in smaller weekly portion. Or the extra vitamin D, calcium, magnesium and B12, her diet is nutritional approved by a dietician but her bloods show vitamin deficiency without supplements. The food bank I help out does cater for vegans but it is basic. Luckily we are provided with veg/fruit boxes and it’s generally topped up with lentils or similar. We also have two vegan helpers who are very brand/product aware. We only supply Asda soya UHT or what is placed in the baskets in store.

*Anyone feeding their children is imposing a dietary belief. Meat / veggie / vegan / organic / free range / locally grown/ sugar free / halal / kosher / Jain.

Anyone who sees only vegan as imposing dietary belief is ignorant.*

Bloody hell, once again, does anyone actually read peoples reasoning on here or is it all just knee jerk reactions?

I said it's not about what parents feed their kids when they're doing the cooking for them. My mum doesn't eat beef so we never ate beef at home because she didn't cook it either. However she never stopped me eating beef at school's or friends houses or out, and once I was old enough to cook myself if I did beef she was fine as long as she didn't have anything to do with it. The 'imposing' comes when you're restricting your child in situations that don't affect you whatsoever based solely on your personal beliefs. Such as at school or friends houses, this in no way benefits the child or affects the parents and is purely for their own gratification - that's what i believe is wrong.

Do they accept donations of meat? Because surely meat is more expensive than a brand of milk?

It's all relative, I guess. Lentils are going to be far cheaper than mince. Beans cheaper than cheese etc.

I highly doubt it's the individual family requesting Oatly milk. I do agree with the point that they should not be allowed to pick and choose brands but if someone is willing to donate Oatly milk, what does it matter?

Do your beliefs extend just to moralities or do they extend to religious views, too? Should a Muslim be given non halal meat? Should a Jew be given bacon? You can't diminish somebody's entitlement just because you don't agree with it, OP.

I wouldn't ask for a specific brand of eg tea or coffee at a friend's house, so it's not really OK to do it to strangers, especially expensive brands.

Please tell me you don’t genuinely think going to a friend’s house for coffee is in any way comparable to visiting a food bank.

That's very odd your daughters diet has been signed off by dietitian but her bloods are low / she needs so much supplements.

Clujd the anorexia have damaged her absorption ability? @Boulshired

I am shocked and saddened by some of the Opinions on here about food banks. Where is your empathy ?

If you do not want to help a food bank then don’t, I think probably those with the most extreme views will not be donating anyway.

As others have said I think the food bank is using generic names as these are the names everyone knows.

People are absolutely allowed to be veggie / vegan and still receive assistance if they need it, how can anyone think any differently ?

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

I suspect that you would not question religious beliefs.

Yanbu about requesting by brand though.

@ohreallythen.

So you believe children shouldn't follow their parents dietary choices?

So only eat halal / kosher / vegetarian at home then choose whatever or allow (younger non verbal children) to be served food that opposes their parents belief?

[quote OhReallyThen]@CasuallyMasculine

You've purposefully taken one quote from my much longer post out of context there

My point was clearly that, as a 'meat eating' child my choice, when my parents weren't cooking (for example in a canteen) wasn't limited by then and i was free to choose whatever I wanted to eat. Whether my veggie friend was actively restricted in her diet by her parents, thus limiting what she could eat, in situations that had no bearing on her. That is what I mean by imposing a dietary choice on a child and a 'restrictive diet'. It's not about what an individual family chooses to try or buy, it's about restricting the childs choice for no good reason than the parents own beliefs (not when the parent has done the cooking).[/quote]
As has been pointed out countless times on this thread, all parents make those choices for their children. And most parents will choose food based on their own preferences or beliefs. I personally don’t think there’s an good reason for feeding children battery chicken meat, but plenty of people do.

Ime a lot of people who donate aren’t exactly living it up themselves (well not in my area). So asking for higher end goods that people wouldn’t buy for themselves is quite galling.

That said, as many have said here, it’s quite possible that it wasn’t intentional to ask for the more expensive milk.

She has a year in which we will work on a vegan affordable diet

Madeline Olivia does great vegan food videos on YT. She buys a week's worth of ingredients from a supermarket for around £10 and makes really balanced, flavoursome and easy to make meals.

Do they accept donations of meat?

Most only accept canned meat as it's long life. You won't find mince etc.

If those things (halal, vegan etc) aren't available at food banks then I guess you just don't get them. I eat oddly I expect but at a food bank I doubt I would get the halloumi, avocado's, smoked haddock etc I like but would have to put up with cheap bread, beans, tinned soup and fish.