To donate quinoa to the food bank?

[RaisinFlapjack]

I realise there’s no way this won’t sound like the most guardian-reading middle-class question ever so I’m just going to own it.

i’m clearing out my cupboards before Xmas and I have a fair amount of in-date jars tins and packets which are taking up space.

Ibwas thinking of bagging it up for the food bank but while I’ve got some staples like tinned tomatoes and rice pudding which are more typically on the food-bank wish lists, some of it more along the lines of rocket pesto and polenta.

Is getting random bits like that at all useful for food banks or does it create a bit of headache or at worst get thrown out?

I agree as well. I have eaten it and find it rather meh. I have never been given it as part of a meal at a friend's house or at abring and share supper.

It really isn't as widely eaten as pasta, rice or potatoes and, given that the food bank volunteers on here say that it isn't popular, I think it might just go to waste.

Why haven't you used it yourself @RaisinFlapjack?

I would always say;

'If it's so usable, why aren't you using it yourself?'

Don't give struggling people your shit.

Given the proclivity of a fair few posters on Mumsnet for going straight into full-on 'attack' mode and pull apart comments I can see why OP likely felt it prudent to anticipate the digs and jibes and attempt to ward them off. Sadly, you can't win on MN... can't do right for doing wrong.

Food bank recipients only want baked beans and cereal.
{Sarcasm!}

Another food bank stores co- ordinator here.
Donate it.. your local foobank will have a system in place to reduce food waste. If they can't send it to a client it might go to another foobank that can use it or a community pantry or kitchen. We have a network of local food banks, pantries and kitchens which regularly swap surpluses.

This is why I like Morrisons system of having whats needed on a shelf for people to buy and donate. Sometimes food, sometimes toiletries... it was coats recently

I would just use it, it's only a best before date so will be fine for a couple of years yet.

Yes, so do I. It saves me having to think and spend time searching for stuff.

Maybe OP doesn't like it {Quinoa} - I bought some Cadbury's 'instant' drinking chocolate as their usual stuff is unobtainable.
It's foul.

But some people must like it- Had I not opened it, I'd have donated it.

Is that what you think people who use food banks eat?

You could phone them and ask. Do you have a community pantry type scheme near you? A church near us had one, you could just leave / take what you wanted. At work we donate a lot to food share schemes as well like Olio

I would go by what's available in our nearest, tiny corner shop i.e. what's a good seller.
Pesto yes
Quinoa no

Personally I wouldn’t donate it. You actually paid money for it and yet it has still sat in your cupboard unused.

They won't hand out goods which are actually past their use by date. We have a table for things that are short dated but with still a while to go.

Someone who only has access to a kettle will appreciate instant hot chocolate but will not be able to use quinoa even if they know what it is.

You’re massively overthinking. Just donate it. Pesto is a staple food. Quinoa is also pretty common (and if someone hasn’t had it before, they can just read the back of the packet). Both good things to donate.

We used to get all sorts or rubbish donated especially out of date stuff. Just a waste of time and effort for everyone.

i suppose it depends how random the item is! It is nice though for clients to be able to choose things themselves from the random shelf. So much choice has already been taken away from them by even having to visit Foodbank in the first place. For instance we had a man overjoyed when he found some pickled artichokes and just last week a young lady very pleased that she found some white company body cream.
All donations are very gratefully received. (apart from baby milk we are not allowed to give that out and anything with alcohol in or bleach)

Since the OP likes and knows what to do with quinoa, it's probably better to use it herself and donate something to the food bank that's on their request list.

If she donated it without questioning, no-one here would know, would they?

Golly this takes me right back to the 1980s and a song by Fascinating Aida called "Yuppies". Basically it is about a group of Yuppies having a dinner party and we get the lyric:

"We start the meal with tabouleh,
Taramasalata is so passé."

Back on topic, I bought quinoa once and I also ended up with a half used packet cluttering up my cupboard. I didn't care for it either.

Thanks for the helpful comments from people who know how food banks operate. Sounds like one way or another donated things won't go to waste, even if they are bit esoteric.

I would eat this stuff myself eventually but if I can usefully donate it, then it helps to clear down the store cupboard. I'm a terrible one for impulse buying stuff on special offers, or going through a phase of something being my go-to lunch then not fancying it again for ages. So I need an occasional stock take!

. You need to contact the foodbank and see what they'll prefer. Everyone will be different as they serve different communities.

I think something like quinoa would fall into the ‘less useful’ category of food bank foods, just because it falls foul of certain practical limitations that people using food banks sometimes have to deal with (like for instance it takes a fair bit of cooking, and you need to have other things with it - seasoning / veg / etc. - to make it a decent meal), and you’d need to know what to do with it (which some food bank users will and some won’t).

That said, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with donating what you already have on the basis that it’s more likely to be useful that way than just going out of date in a cupboard.

I think that even if I'd just asked "will my local foodbank want quinoa?" some people would have make exactly the same assumptions.

I am an over-thinking, progressive middle-class type. Guilty as charged. That's not intending to be virtue-signalling or snobbish or whatever, it's just a fact. Hopefully I'm self-aware enough to realise I'm a complete cliché.

I asked the question precisely because I didn't want to assume that people using food banks either do or don't typically eat quinoa or sun dried tomatoes or whatever.

But more specifically, not knowing how food banks process or distribute donations to know whether getting donations of non-staple items is actually helpful or not given how they operate.

Hopefully you're self-aware enough to realise you're coming across as far too try hard.

No-one here knows or gives a shit what 'class' anyone claims to be.

The glaringly obvious thing to do would've been to contact the foodbank in question anyway.