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.

Tin tomatoes have many more uses tinned beans or a tin of curry.

If we ever had to use a food bank there would be one person in the house who would eat beans. The tomatoes however much easier to use or even hide in a meal.

An old friend of mine used to use tin toms chopped and add some gravy granules, it was lovely on toast and a bit different.

The one near me publishes a list of what it would like donated. Currently the list is:

Chocolate
Instant Mash
UHT Milk
Long Life Fruit Juice
Custard
Corned Beef And Meat Pies
Milk Powder
Tinned Tomatoes
Tinned Fruit
Puddings
Tinned Custard
Tinned Vegetables
Tinned Spaghetti
Macaroni Cheese
Tomato Ketchup And Brown Sauce
Jam
Cleaning Products
Deodorant
Kitchen Rolls And Toilet Rolls
Shampoo And Conditioner
Washing Powder
Shaving Foam
Washing Up Liquid
Laundry Products
Carrier Bags
Washing Powder

I’m another one who loves tinned tomatoes on toast as do my children, they also like them with potato waffles and an egg, with pasta, with onion and crispy potatoes.

I used to volunteer at my Church foodbank.
Of course we were always excited to see donations of the "month hot items" (we were sharing a list of what we were missing, sometimes pretty specific items such as formula, shampoo, pads etc), but tinned tomatoes (or chopped) were always welcomed.
Easy to store, very versatile, and also used across most of the cultures/religions.

Making a massive pot of lentils or a veg curry and freezing is incredibly economical!

Also - if not in position to heat long and find too tart - add pinch of sugar. Not unlikely you'd have some sugar at back of cupboard, and food banks certainly dole it out. Perfectly normal practice in parts of Europe / US.

Tinned tomatoes with any other tinned veg / beans / meat / fish = nutritious warm comfort food. Microwave or hob fine.

@TheWayTheLightFalls

I run a food bank. One of our sessions is a “supermarket” where recipients choose what they’d like from our shelves. Tinned toms are always popular (along with cereals, baked beans, bread, pasta/rice and treat items, thinking of the most popular). There are all sorts of different circumstances among food bank users, so some absolutely can and do cook with basic ingredients.

With your understanding of what is most useful please could you do a list of what your ideal donation bag would include? Thanks!

These threads are always bonkers. Either food bank users cannot possibly have the time/energy/ability to cook anything beyond a pot noodle or they need to be given luxury brand items even if you dont buy them for your own family.

Wouldnt it be weird if they were just people like everyone else with a range of needs and tastes?

A neighbour collects food for a local food bank. Their requests are tinned potatoes, peas and sweetcorn, and instant pasta among other stuff.

@Cryalot2

I have been poor many years ago ( before food banks). Canned tomatoes were a staple, they were very versatile.

As a matter of interest what do you op consider to be the correct food for a food bank?

I no longer donate to our local one after finding out that some of the ones who ran it were getting food from it. They are wealthy retired people.

That's not necessarily fair. My parents used to volunteer at a food bank, they are retired and wealthy. However they sometimes would have stuff foisted on them by the management if they had had unsuitable food donated (anything with alcohol, even down to mince pies with brandy in) or had some much of an item that they went out of date. I remember one summer a local drinks company donated a huge pallet of their elderflower fizzy drinks - they weren't popular at all, ran past their use by/best before date and got given to the volunteers. They weren't allowed to be given to the service users because they were out of date. My mum put in a donation but it's not necessarily the case that the volunteers at your food bank are creaming off food that should be used for the clients.

You can never have too many tinned tomatoes.

Do you expect people to just eat dry pasta?

If you google your local food bank they will have a list of what they need and what they have plenty of at the moment.

Things like toiletries are often also needed by ours

I suppose it’s better than the tinned oysters I saw donated at my child’s school harvest festival for the local food bank

You donate to a food bank and tinned tomato, tinned pineapple, tinned fruits (peaches etc) are on the wanted list as well as rice, pasta, women’s sanitary products, razors, toothpaste and toiletries.

The food bank by us, asked for Jo more baked beans, as they had far too many! Soup and pasta seems a safe bet.

@Thecathouse try them on marmite toast, even better

You make quite a few I unreasonable assumptions.

Everyone using food banks have gas/electricity meters?

Those using food banks don't want to cook a meal that might take time?

Ours asks for them. They put up lists of stuff they need every week and tinned tomatoes are on there very few weeks.

YABU. When I lived on very little, I would microwave tinned toms (or use hob, but mictowave was cheaper) and have them on toast.
I used them as a staple for so many recipes. I think it's more unreasonable to assume that low income families might only want Mug Shots/noodles.

A tin of tomatoes on toast - sure, it will fill a hole. But surely beans on toast would be more filling, or tinned chilli or bolognese would be a little more hearty

Where do you get the idea that people using food banks don't cook?

When I was in my early 20s my partner and I lived on practically nothing. Tinned tomatoes with onion, garlic and seasoning (plus anything else we had) was pasta sauce, a little cheese on top. We cooked that a lot. That would be a proper dinner. Beans on toast, less so. I don't eat meat so I woudn't want pre-prepared chilli or bolognese.

Our local one urgently need tinned meat meals, Halal meals, UHT milk & cooking sauces

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.
Loads of the items asked for wouldn't be a meal on their own.
DC's school did a harvest collection before half term. Along with toiletries they specifically asked for pasta, rice, long life milk, tinned meat or fish and biscuits.

Our local food bank specifically says do not donate baked beans as they have too many, so it's silly to suggest that beans are a better donation. They generally prefer tinned tomatoes, and also have too much soup and pasta. Currently they need long life milk and juice, sweetener, and toiletries.
It's just after harvest festival so they've probably had enough tinned food items for now!
People probably donate what they would like to eat if they were in that situation. My most used store cupboard ingredient is chopped tomatoes, for pasta, soup, stew, curry...

I'm finding it hard to give a damn what the OP thinks.

I certainly didn't start this to do anything other than query why TTs were so heavily donated as (imo) they are not what I would think would be suitable.

That's not true. The header of your post says "AIBU to think that donating tinned tomatoes to the food bank shows a real lack of understanding of food poverty?"

You didn't query it; you criticised people who donate tinned tomatoes as having no understanding of food poverty.