AIBU to think that donating tinned tomatoes to the food bank shows a real lack of understanding of food poverty?

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

The food bank donation box at my local supermarket this morning had a fairly good mix of items, apart from about a third of the tins were tinned tomatoes.

Surely it would be better all round to donate products which need little to no additional ingredients?

Tinned tomatoes are a base - they will never be a meal in their own right. They need at the bare minimum, some seasoning and or some veg or protein to make them useable.

And then even if you could rustle up some other ingredients to make them palateable/nutritious, you need to heat them - if they contain meat or lentils they need a good length of time on the heat.

Those using food banks likely cannot give over 20mins on the hob for tinned tomatoes. The cost of heating up the food (if there is even funds on the meter) is too high for the return.

I do think that people who donate tinned tomatoes, come at it from a reasonably comfortable point of view - just chuck it in with some mince and a bit if garlic and slow cook it for a couple of hours.

All of which is likely to be outside of the financial scope of the recipient.

The other advantage of tinned tomatoes is that they fit the bill for people with dietary requirements.

Vegan
Vegetarian

Suitable for Jain cooking and obvs Kashrut, Halal etc

Suitable for coeliacs, gluten-free, lactose-free, low FODMAP for IBS, strict inflammatory diets, and low(ish) carb diets (in moderation).

When I am having a flare-up of gut disease I eat a few tinned tomatoes with a little gluten-free pasta, and I donate gluten-free staples to our food bank too.

There is a lot that you can do with a Tin of tomatoes and they are actually very healthy. Yabu.

This thread reminds me of one a few years ago where a mumsnetter was insisting on only donating nutritionally good food rather than biscuits etc. She suggested crushed red kidney beans on crackers do that was what she was donating to her food bank. None of our arguments would sway her (and i remember donating 5 packs of bars of chocolate that week as a kind of up yours to her).

Fwiw i love tinned toms on toast. Its a favourite lunch of mine. Not ashamed to say i eat the whole tin.

@KarmaStar

What do you put in then op that you assume people should eat?

I would hazard a guess that it was thought all poor people only eat tinned meat pies, baked beans, hotdogs, pot noodles, pasta in powder sauces, custard and cuppa soups, rather than esoteric ingredients such as vegetables and pulses.

@thecatsthecats Tesco sell tinned organic tomatoes, sweet corn, chickpeas, baked beans, red kidney beans and black beans.

Just read what your food Bank is asking for and deliver that. If they want pot noodles then fine it's not great but it fills bellies

I would hazard a guess that it was thought all poor people only eat tinned meat pies, baked beans, hotdogs, pot noodles, pasta in powder sauces, custard and cuppa soups, rather than esoteric ingredients such as vegetables and pulses.

I just want to come back to this 'dichotomy'.

Most foodbanks, like ours, want a wide range of foods that meet the needs of:
a) their storage facilities
b) their client base
c) their funding streams
d) the levels of local support

For some those much maligned, 'unhealthy' foods will be vital.

For others a wider range of storecupboard items will be more needed.

For some fresh fruit, veg, pulses etc will be required.

It's not that they are deemed to be 'esoteric' it's just that for a reasonable % of the client base food storage, extended cooking times and ability to access facilities can be problematic.

That and we aren't a supermarket, we do what we can, work with dietitians to ensure nutritional value, and long use by dates.

We are a stopgap. Not a long term solution to any individuals needs.

Foodbanks do not try to be everything to everyone. It depends entirely on their specific circumstances. We do talk to the clients when they come in. Most foodbanks provide a cup of tea, coffee and a chat - time to establish trust, additional needs, signposting etc.

You can use toned tomatoes for SO many things.

Pasta sauce.
Home made pizza.
Chilli.
Tomato soup.
Bean stew.
Cooked breakfast.

Loads of options!

@HoardingSamphireSaurus

I would hazard a guess that it was thought all poor people only eat tinned meat pies, baked beans, hotdogs, pot noodles, pasta in powder sauces, custard and cuppa soups, rather than esoteric ingredients such as vegetables and pulses.

I just want to come back to this 'dichotomy'.

Most foodbanks, like ours, want a wide range of foods that meet the needs of:
a) their storage facilities
b) their client base
c) their funding streams
d) the levels of local support

For some those much maligned, 'unhealthy' foods will be vital.

For others a wider range of storecupboard items will be more needed.

For some fresh fruit, veg, pulses etc will be required.

It's not that they are deemed to be 'esoteric' it's just that for a reasonable % of the client base food storage, extended cooking times and ability to access facilities can be problematic.

That and we aren't a supermarket, we do what we can, work with dietitians to ensure nutritional value, and long use by dates.

We are a stopgap. Not a long term solution to any individuals needs.

Foodbanks do not try to be everything to everyone. It depends entirely on their specific circumstances. We do talk to the clients when they come in. Most foodbanks provide a cup of tea, coffee and a chat - time to establish trust, additional needs, signposting etc.

Next step soup kitchens when food banks cannot help further. We have breakfast clubs, free school lunches next step is giving children their tea somewhere.

We would need schools to stay open to serve teas which is doable but how to entertain them after school before evening meal

Sadly, @justasking111, we are affiliated with 2 soup kitchens, a sort of meals on wheels, and a kids club that provides both breakfast and after school meals and activities.

We're a bit odd in that the foodbank is part of a wider group of organisations that all link to, cross refer and support a huge and varied range of people. It is utterly depressing that all this is neded, but bloody brilliant that so many people offer their time and expertrise, paid or volunteered, to help people who are in need.

That need has grown year on year and has, this past month or so, had a huge leap in numbers. It isn't getting any better and much of this need is absolutely beyond the control of the individuals who come to us. Utterly depressing!

I've just read on the Trussell Trust website that you're only supposed to put stuff you've bought at Tesco and Asda in the Tesco and Asda foodbank collection trolleys (which in my town are by their exit doors next to the car parks, so pretty 'open' iyswim).

Never knew that.

I've been putting other shops' tins into the local Tesco trolley for years, because they call it a 'community collection point'. I wonder what they did with them all?? I hope they got used, passed on to another food bank, or at least taken away by volunteers.

Our local co-op a member of staff in the evenings fills big bin bags with bread products with end of day stuff.

I do wonder how big this industry is across Wales, how many we're feeding daily it's a big open secret

It would never occur to me that people who need the food bank can't afford to cook normal meals that require multiple ingredients and fuel. I suppose there are people in those circumstances, but I'd expect that most who need the food bank still have the means to cook as people usually do.

Apparently this is another of those cases where you can't even try to do something generous without someone deciding you're not doing it right. No good deed goes unpunished unjudged!

@TrevorFountain

It really depends on the set up in the area. Some of the supermarkets give the actual donated items. Some of them give the value of the items to the food bank and cash so they can buy what they need. That's why it needs to be bought from that store (or at least be something which the store sells).

We use tin tomatoes as a base for pasta all the time and just add grated cheese. Much healthier than the ready made pasta sauces with all their added sugar. My son also likes to eat a bowl of cold tinned tomatoes but he's just weird.

We always had tinned tomatoes as a side dish when I lived at home, and my Dad still does.

I imagine The food Bank would have various choices for staff to give out to people who cannot afford to cook or freeze items, and use common sense if someone said "how do I Cook this?"

I've just read on the Trussell Trust website that you're only supposed to put stuff you've bought at Tesco and Asda in the Tesco and Asda foodbank collection trolleys (which in my town are by their exit doors next to the car parks, so pretty 'open' iyswim).

In Tesco's case, they add up the value of the public's donations, and then donate 20% of the value as cash to the foodbank. So I suppose they want you to have spent your money in their store so that they get the profit, which offsets their 20%. They don't want you buying stuff in Morrisons/Sainsburys and then they give 20% they got nothing for.

Asda don't do the 20%, but have donated things like refrigerated trucks for delivery. I guess it's the same principle.

Tinned tomatoes is on the list of wanted item in our local food bank. My son likes tinned tomatoes and toast for breakfast.

@Feedingthebirds1

I've just read on the Trussell Trust website that you're only supposed to put stuff you've bought at Tesco and Asda in the Tesco and Asda foodbank collection trolleys (which in my town are by their exit doors next to the car parks, so pretty 'open' iyswim).

In Tesco's case, they add up the value of the public's donations, and then donate 20% of the value as cash to the foodbank. So I suppose they want you to have spent your money in their store so that they get the profit, which offsets their 20%. They don't want you buying stuff in Morrisons/Sainsburys and then they give 20% they got nothing for.

Asda don't do the 20%, but have donated things like refrigerated trucks for delivery. I guess it's the same principle.

Didn't realise that. I am always slipping random stuff into Lidl trolley for local food banks so hope they don't have similar policies. I'd have to go miles to the next.

I wonder if foodbank workers could tell me - would you see boxes of dishwasher tablets as a ridiculous donation? Realise most users won't be running dishwashers, but some big families maybe? Or can they be used on site if not? Have large surplus ...

Thanks for explanation, @ImUninsultable and @Feedingthebirds1, about the Tesco trolleys and matching donations etc. Makes sense.

@Fangdango, I've been back on the Trussell Trust website, and it says to bag them up and label them separately.

If you are happy to drop off food donations, please see the table below for our food collection point locations. We kindly ask that any items donated to a TESCO or ASDA store are purchased in store, and that these collection points are for “in-store” shoppers only. Any food that has been purchased in a different store and brought into these stores should be sealed by the donor and clearly labelled as having been purchased elsewhere

It's all falling into place now!

Ive set up a monthly donation because of this thread, at least they can decide what to do with it that way. Plus i always forget to put stuff in the collection boxes anyway.

Not rtft as 22 pages long so apologies if it’s been said but my first thought was maybe that was all the donator could afford to spare.

[quote TrevorFountain]@Fangdango, I've been back on the Trussell Trust website, and it says to bag them up and label them separately.

If you are happy to drop off food donations, please see the table below for our food collection point locations. We kindly ask that any items donated to a TESCO or ASDA store are purchased in store, and that these collection points are for “in-store” shoppers only. Any food that has been purchased in a different store and brought into these stores should be sealed by the donor and clearly labelled as having been purchased elsewhere

It's all falling into place now![/quote]
Brilliant, thanks for checking for me