DH is using community pantry for free food

[cookingaroast]

There is a community pantry in our village, with the purpose being to cut food waste. I completely support cutting down on food waste, and the food provided is all from supermarkets who would otherwise throw the food out. My issue is more I'm a bit uncomfortable with us taking the food.
We are both in the tech industry and both fall into the higher tax bracket for our salaries, more than capable of paying for food ourselves.

I've said to DH I don't think we should be utilising this resource and leave the food for others who need it more than us but he loves the bargains (free food) he gets from it. He genuinely wants to show off the stuff he's picked up whenever he goes - which is usually once a week.

I guess I feel a bit uncomfortable that this free food could be a lifeline to people. I do like charity shopping and getting a bargain but I don't feel as bad, as I'm paying what they decide they feel it's worth and the money is going to charity. This is completely free and run by volunteers.

Community pantrys are to stop food waste, they aren’t food banks which are means tested. We have one at my place of work and 3 major supermarkets drop off there 3 x a week. It is open to everyone and the only people who are judged by others are the people that grab armfuls and don’t put anything in the donation pot.
At the community centre on a nearby estate they also have one and don’t ask for donations, it’s well known that a chap is the first one there every week when the drop off is done, who probably doesn’t need to be there. I think it’s discussed because that one is seen to be for people who may be struggling, whereas the one at my work people use and give a donation so it’s seen as a resource for all.
I think it depends on what sort of community pantry it is, if he’s leaving a monetary donation which is then used to support further charitable work and the donation is leaving is a fair reflection of what he is taking then he is doing nothing wrong. If it’s not one where it’s possible to leave a donation and he’s taking armloads then I would be suggesting he restrict himself to a few items.

Yes, a man supporting a community initiative and with good reading comprehension who respects what an organisation says about itself is definitely grounds for divorce. Silly organisation, needs someone to come tell it it's got it's mission wrong.

I would liken this situation to the Company Shop/Community Shop. I have access to a couple of these based on location, membership is for those on benefits plus people employed in emergency services, manufacturing and logistics. You can take one friend on each visit who doesn’t have to meet any criteria.

They are purely to prevent food waste, there are many people employed in the above industries that are not on the breadline. Much of the food would not make it to food banks, it includes fresh meat with just a day or two on the “use by”, fresh diary products such as cream cakes, milk, cheese sometimes with same-day use by date. Weird/fancy vegetables from high end supermarkets, lots of ready made meals. Sometimes UK manufactured items in foreign writing or printed wrong.

its brilliant, you are limited to six of anything, and if you time it right you can fill your freezer. The shelves are being stocked constantly throughout opening hours.

This food would literally be binned if it didn’t sell (very cheaply) that day.

If the pantry is to cut out waste of food that has reached it's use by date - and there is left over food each week in the pantry that ends up being wasted, then your DH is not out of line.

If the community pantry is full of canned food, non perishable food, that your husband takes, then your husband is greedy and is robbing food from the needy.

Suggest that DH donates useful canned foods and fresh fruit and swaps it for old fruit and vege that will end up being turned into compost the next day.

That’s not on at all. We’re comfortable and never go near the yellow
label shelves anymore, there has been such a surge in people relying on it

I think it depends on the terms and conditions of the community pantry. If it’s designed for people who are jobless, no income, can’t afford food, reliant on foodbanks etc then yeah - your family doesn’t need to use it.

But if it’s designed to just be a source of food for people who live in the area, who are trying to create a sense of community and prevent food waste, then there’s no issue with him using it.

Although, I would still say that if you have a decent salary and can afford to buy new, just do that.

So reading this thread clearly different ones operate in different ways but at our local one they ask people to donate things they won’t use and they really mean that’s what they want. So as an example I recently donated some red curry paste I’d picked up without noticing it had fish sauce in that we won’t use as OH is veggie, individual bags of a different flavour of dried seaweed from a pack that my kids wanted to try but didn’t like and some spices where I forgot to take them off a shopping list and picked up twice but don’t use that often. My neighbour gives surplus stuff from her allotment. It basically operates like a big version of a food waste app like Olio. Yours may operate differently or you may have misunderstood what they were asking for donations for/assumed it was the same thing as a food bank. I know a couple of mums at school that had been buying things to donate to our local one and were a bit indignant about another parent using it but actually the only issue was they had made a number of assumptions and kind of missed the entire point of the enterprise.

Ffs the comments on here are ridiculous.

I work at one of these pantries. They're literally there to combat waste. Colossal amounts gets thrown away anyway, especially bread and pastries, because no one bloody uses it. He's helping to reduce this waste.

It is not the same as a food bank, where recipients need a referral and proof of genuine need.

How ridiculous! He’s not stealing from a food bank. He’s supporting a community eco-initiative. OP I would absolutely be encouraging him
to donate to the Trussell Trust or the local foodbank.

It's to stop food waste and open to the community which her husband is part of.
Why would they ban him?
He"s not claiming poverty and conning a food bank.

My vet nurse said my dogs eat better than she does. Should I admit that here?

Really though, my understanding is these pantries are usually open to all comers. I went with a friend once, but felt really uncomfortable doing so, so haven't been again. They had a lot of food and didn't get rid of it all.

This is the key surely. If it is so oversubscribed that he is getting stuff someone who can't afford it isn't getting then that is no good. If you live in an area where there is no food poverty - or there is but for some reason people aren't using the pantry - then better he takes it. I'd suggest speaking to those who run it, what's their view. Otherwise you'll never know who is doing the right thing. What are the rules - otherwise you or he are just making them up. He feels it's right, you feel it's wrong but feelings aren't reliable facts.

Ah, I'm annoyed my phone has actually auto corrected separate to seperate. Why?
Side issue, I know.

There are no rules around who can buy yellow stickered (or orange stickered or red stickered) food though.

First come, first served isn't it?

Oh no, we have food banks too

Should I not forage for blackberries, damsons etc because I'm a higher earner and am depriving others - more needy than myself???

I know, this is such a weird take on it.

I will consciously decide to spend more than I have to, just in order to what? Make myself feel better about myself? Convince myself that I am rich? In the weird hope that the next person who walks past the reduced to clear shelves is poorer than I am?

Bizarre.

Tonight for dinner we are having some sort of chicken thigh traybake thing made with yellow sticker chicken thighs, yellow sticker roast potatoes, yellow sticker lemons and yellow sticker broccoli.

We’re comfortable and never go near the yellow
label shelves anymore, there has been such a surge in people relying on it

I honestly find this absurd. Do you avoid promotions too? My local Waitrose has yellow stickers all the time, the other day I bought some cream cakes & a pizza, the pizza was still more expensive vs others they sold but I fancied trying it. This is not uncommon, who relies on yellow stickers when the supermarket sells cheaper food?

I feel like, on the whole, if your aim is to ensure people who are struggling can access food then you’d help more by using community pantries/buying stickers food & making a regular donation of money to a food bank.

If it was aimed at people in need then no he shouldn't use it. But if it is to cut food waste then absolutely use it - it won't cut food waste if people don't use it!

Ugh. I'd find my DH deeply unattractive if he did that. So selfish & greedy.

Does he at least volunteer with the food bank?

How many times.

IT'S NOT A FOOD BANK.

Community pantries are nothing to do with food banks and not meant to prop up the needy.
They're designed to hand out food that would otherwise be wasted and are open to anyone in the community.
Nothing selfish or greedy about it at all

It's not a food bank 🙄. It's not for helping people who can't afford food, it's for reducing food waste!