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.

but if its to cut food waste then he should take it - it could just end up in the bin otherwise and that would defeat the whole purpose!

Theres a foodbank next door to me in a community centre -i let one of the organisers park in my drive sometimes - she ends up giving us loads of left over food from the food bank that will go in bin otherwise - i don not need the food - but i use it rather than it go to waste!

cancel the cheque

We have this and we pay £1 per month membership and then whatever the items are priced at. It’s not a food bank it’s a community shop with the idea being that anyone can use it and cut down on surplus waste

During lock down there was a community group in my area that fed people three days a week. It wasn't unlimited amounts they gave away. It wasn't means tested - I personally don't have an issue with community pantries that don't check if someone is on a low income but if two people are in a higher tax bracket they don't need to be using this service.

As other people have said - on that amount of money you should be donating. I give money to charities that help people who have nothing even though I'm far from rich

There are people on this thread saying let the poor people use food banks
Some areas don't have them. Some you can only use three times a year.

Places like this are a lifeline for folk who don't want to or can't use food banks - the one I go to has a community table of free food. They also allow people to pay a pound and get a bag of fruit and veg. And you can also pay a few quid and get cupboard staples. I use it because I'm poor
If I weren't poor I wouldn't use it.

If I were earning what the OPs husband is I would be donating to this pantry - not taking from it.

The way my pantry operates is different now - they used to leave all the food outside but people were abusing it and now there's a limit to what you can take and you have to pay for tinned items. They also have some items that people pay for at a discount (very limited).

If the Op's husband is so concerned about food waste then he could sign up to be an Olio distributor. You get keeping some of the food you save - and he'd be helping other people

There are poor people who don't want to use food banks due to the stigma attached - that's why they use places like this.

The community pantry I use was very much set up to help people who are struggling - not just about tackling food waste. I find it very bizarre that some people think all community pantries were only set up to reduce food waste. That's not the case.

Also - some of the donated items in the pantry I use are frozen - the centre has a freezer - not everything gets thrown away at the end of the day.

Btw - some people don't have the means to get to a food bank all of the time either. The nearest one to me is four miles away from my home. The community pantry I use is a ten minute walk from my house - there's lots of reasons why poor people might use a community pantry rather than access a food bank

30 pages and this thread is still going round and round and round in circles.
I'm getting dizzy.
😵‍💫

While I get it's not a food bank & that everyone can use it, it's very selfish of your husband to take things regularly. There will be others who genuinely need the food & there's your husband able to afford to do a grocery shop taking it. Not nice at all.

The fact that poor people use a community pantry, doesn't necessarily mean that the community pantry is for poor people.
I'm not sure why some people feel the need to be so righteous about this. Different organisations have different aims. It's really that simple.

He goes once a week. That will probably be the limit anyone can go to make sure that there's enough to go around.

At the one I go to, you can use it twice a week. If they were running out of things, they would place further restrictions on it.

In my experience, there's always plenty and they always end up giving you extra because they are trying to get rid of the food so it doesn't go to waste.

It isn't selfish to use it for what it's intended which is reducing food waste.

Exactly.

The one I use doesn't accept donations from 'regular people', they only accept donations from supermarkets and the like. They also don't accept cash donations because the one I use has everyone pay £5 for a yearly membership and then you also pay some money towards the food as well.

The way to remove any stigma from using services such as this is for EVERYONE to use them, not just those in need. If only those in need use them, then you know that everyone there is in need. If everyone uses them, it’s a community effort to save food waste and remove the stigma of taking free stuff. Would you rather see it go to landfill?

The aim is to cut food waste. It's not mean tested. It's highly unlikely your DH is taking food from someone who needs it.

Some weeks our local one begs people to come and take food. Other weeks, if you're happy to queue for over-ripe avocados, a few carrots and some bread then go for it.

This is so confusing - your food hub is labelled open to anyone to combat food waste and then you call people greedy. It should be relabelled to make it clear - 'food for those who need it, to reduce waste.' If the food hub is labelled free for anyone, going to be thrown away, then people will take it - you can't judge people for paying for a gym class then taking the food if the food is clearly marked as 'for anyone.'

There's far too many assumptions on this thread about how some community pantries work. For well over 6 months the one I go to had a table outside the centre once a week where people could basically take as many items as they like - they had to stop this because one day someone turned up and basically took just about everything. It wasn't staffed outside so there was nothing to stop people doing this. Some people on here have said that all you get at pantries is donuts and nothing you can make a meal from. That's not the case at mine

The food bank in the next town from me doesn't run on a referral system. It also doesn't just give out tins. It gives out fruit, veg fresh flowers, frozen food.

I said this earlier but there's no food bank in my home town. People in food poverty are not automatically referred on to food banks. Lots of people fall through the gaps and rely on other places to get cheap or free food. Some people also don't want to go to somewhere like social work and admit they are poor/struggling. A lot of people also don't know where to access services.

And if the argument is that the food from pantries would all go in the bin otherwise - maybe the people distributing the food to these pantries need to look at how much is being given out if that's the case

The community pantry I go to also isn't staffed entirely by volunteers. It's a mix of paid staff and volunteers.

I don't particularly care if someone on a six figure salary buys yellow stickers or uses too good to go - but the OP is uncomfortable because they don't need to be using the service. He could use it once a month if he's really that desperate to show off his bargains - but he's not.

People who actually think community fridges and pantries aren't a lifeline to people living below the line clearly aren't living below the line themselves. The one near me was set up because people are in need.

Some food banks give out a very limited selection of food to people - a few days worth - and some food banks only allow people to use the service three times a year

You're too wedded to your personal experience to realise that not all organisations are alike.
Some really are just food waste prevention schemes, environmental charities. That poor people might benefit is a bonus, not the aim.

You are doing the same thing though and assuming that it must be like yours. Everyone is clearly going to go by how their local ones run.

I'm on benefits and can't work and it absolutely helps me financially but the one I use make it very clear that it's open to everyone and pretty much beg people to use it on their Facebook page. You can only use it twice a week and there is always plenty to go round. You also have to pay to use it.

I don't think I'm entitled to use it more than someone else just because I'm on benefits when it is made clear it is about reducing food waste.

This thread just goes to prove how may utterly stupid people there are on here. It’s honestly terrifying that an 800 post thread can make the same point over and over, and so many posters are so determined to miss it.

It's disgraceful for someone afluent to take resources that will otherwise be taken by a less afluent family. However, it is not disgraceful if there's actually no one else of any afluence level who wants it, and it is otherwise going to go to waste.

How much effort does your DH put in to publicising and helping other people to access the community pantry? Could he volunteer to help administer it, or publish news about it in local facebook groups, or give people a lift if they can't physically get to it and need it?

I ask this because my dad is in a similar kind of situation where he sometimes does bring home a free bargain from the community pantry - but as he's one of the most active volunteers helping to keep it going, and he collects the food from the supermarkets and puts loads of effort into helping the people who need it to access it - he knows that he is only bringing home things that honestly no one else wants or needs because he's made every effort to distribute it elsewhere and it's got to the point where if someone doesn't eat it, it's going to actually be unusable and go to waste

I used to run a weekly subject-interest group at a local community centre on the same day as the Community Pantry was held on the premises.The centre leaders actively encouraged me to use the pantry before going home despite my misgivings.They said that the more people who registered to use it,the more muscle it gave them to purchase stock and offer a wider choice on top of whatever had been donated.It's used by the whole community,especially students during term time as the centre is in the middle of a high student HMO area.The one stipulation to using our centre is that you must have a link to the centre (eg attend an activity) or live in the neighbourhood to use it.

It's disgraceful for someone afluent to take resources that will otherwise be taken by a less afluent family

But again, how do you manage that? Should the OP's husband stand outside the pantry - which might be the size of a garden shed with no volunteers/staff - asking people "Are you poor?" or maybe "What's your salary?" or "how much is in your bank account - show me on your app?"

Waitrose have an essentials range. A tin of Waitrose essentials tomato soup is 70p. Why shouldn't people in poverty go to Waitrose? When people are poor - it makes sense to shop around.

I used to shop at Morrison because their yellow stickers in my area used to be excellent. I shop more at Aldi and Lidl now because they aren't so good these days

Tomato soup is only 63p at tesco or Aldi. Waitrose is expensive. Of course anyone can shop there, but it's not going to be people with real budget constraints.

Maybe he could volunteer and help, rather than take, take, take.

Again - a generalisation. The community table I use used to get donations from Tesco and Marks and Spencer. They now get their frozen food from Fare Share which they either give away or sell on for a very small donation and the pantry allows someone to pick up six items for three pounds. Tins. Packets. Cereals. Some pantries buy long life food for a reason

The pantry I use also provides holiday clubs for kids during the school holidays where they get a meal and activities. A lunch club where people can get soup and a toastie low cost. They do family meals too. They know the area and most of the work they do is to try and help people who are struggling. It's not means tested as I said before so in theory you could get some people using it who don't need the service. But there are people who use it who are on low incomes.

And if as you say - all the food was simply left over doughnuts - do you honestly think someone on a high salary is going to be excited coming home every week with a packet of doughnuts that are going to go out of date the next day? I wouldn't actively go out of my way if I was on a high income to go to a community pantry for a pack of doughnuts

The food isn't all rubbish that's going to go out of date at every community pantry - some of these organisations are trying to make a difference to people's lives

@Roobarbtwo yes they will massively vary depending on where they are.
The one you describe sounds very different to the one I know of in my mums town (unsold boxes from the local Hello Fresh distribution centre) and sounds different to the one the OP describes.
I apologise for generalising because I know these schemes will vary and are not all the same.
The point is the one the OP describes - it's sounds like her husband is doing exactly what it's intended for and he is doing nothing wrong.

@Roobarbtwo thinking about it the one by my mum calls itself a "Community Fridge" rather than "Pantry" because it is literally fresh stuff that needs gone asap.
Which sounds similar to the one the OP describes.