Of Food Banks, or, Eating the Kindness of Strangers

[louisadkins]

(This post is posted public so that anyone can see it or share it, as needed.)So, a friend asked me to sum up my experience with using the local food bank

Comments

[kengr]

Fay's been using the local food bank(s) for a while. Last month I got her to call from my place (shed been having trouble with long hold times using up her cell minutes).

We got thru quickly, and I signed up too.

They said we'd get called back in a fday or so. I got a call later that day. And found out that there was a food pantry at a church only about half a mile away. The place Fay had been going to was several miles away.

The pickup was early (for us) the next day. I took the Granny cart and a bunch of reusable bags and the big Trader Joe's insulated back.

Because I was one of the first folks there and had the bags the lady pulling stuff let me pack my bags and asked me about stuff as she went. Very little perishable stuff, except for a few refrigerated/frozen thongs. Which all seemed ok.

The veggies/fruit were a bit old, but not bad.

And from what Fay says it's much the same with what she's been getting. So I guess the local food banks are better at *not* handing out stuff that's on it's last legs.

[louisadkins]

I suspect it's partially a question of where to draw the line - people to feed vs food available and such.

[louisadkins]

[acelightning]

Not a hell of a lot of protein there, and the ancient problem with "cheap food" - it's usually mainly starch. And they really shouldn't give away spoiled or even questionable food; there are going to be people who are so hungry that they eat it anyway, and get sick. I suppose that, since it's all volunteer, some of the workers are not going to think to look carefully at what they're handing out. But you ought to be able to do something relatively nutritious with the pinto beans and the tomato sauce, for example, or make oatmeal/peanut-butter bars...

[louisadkins]

Yeah, peanut butter and beans. (Not the out of date Pork and Beans, though.. ) The chicken would have been a good amount of protein, if it hadn't been ruined. Really, it comes out more like sustanance than food, eh? Better than starving, though.

[acelightning]

I've been to a couple of food banks in my area (and also availed myself of hot food in the weeks just after Superstorm Sandy, when I had no stove or refrigerator, and no electricity for small appliances). It seems to be very random - some food pantries (often the local church ones) are run by well-meaning but clueless volunteers and stocked via "food drives", which results in a hodgepodge of leftovers like what you got. Others (like the one run by the county, here) get a lot of their food from commercial sources, as described by mama_hogswatch, and you'll see cases of no-brand canned goods and packaged mac&cheese, and items like rice, dried beans, flour, pasta, and powdered milk. Perishables are highly variable, though. And in general, anybody who has special nutritional needs (food allergies, gluten-free, sugar-free, low-fat, low-carb, high-protein, etc. - not to mention kosher, halal, vegetarian, or vegan!) is pretty well screwed :-(

It helps a lot if at least one member of the household knows something about basic nutrition, and is good at

[louisadkins]

Yes, we had SNAP for part of the year, then the state dhhr failed to send us a form to fill out to agree to a phone interview that they then scheduled and, without telling us, cancelled.. because we hadn't sent back the first form that they didn't send us to fill out. I've got the paperwork for a re-app for it sitting around, but I need to get the case number for the paperwork.. and I have been waiting over a month for someone to return my calls. (Frustrating.) Hopefully, sometime soon, I can either get a call back, or I can get in to the office in person -once we can afford the gas- and get that last detail that I need. I hate red tape.