by Lisa Drew
I, like many other people donate to food banks whether through church, work, boyscouts, etc. But do you really think about what you are donating? The government donates through certain programs. Places like Second Harvest and church run pantries receive the following staple items: White rice, canned beans, canned soup, canned fruit, canned fruit juice, canned stew, canned tomatoes, coffee, pasta, cereal, tuna, peanut butter, jelly, assorted donated breads, frozen fruit, and frozen proteins (hot dogs, ground beef, sliced ham, ground turkey). Obviously food pantries are happy to receive any donation. I am writing this so that we as a public will really be mindful of foods we donate. Cheap doesn't have to be unhealthy. If the food pantry in your town has freezer and refrigeration space consider buying frozen fruits and vegetables instead of canned. Think about the healthy foods you would want to see if you needed food pantry services. Next time you are shopping consider picking up one or more of the following:
Nature Valley Granola Bars (all varieties)
Kind Plus Bars (all varieties)
Larabar (all varieties)
Cliff Bars (all varieties)
Quaker Oats Oatmeal (regular, instant or slow cooking, steel cut)
Cereals: Chex (all varieties), Cheerios (all varieties), Kashi, Fiber One, Rice Crispies, Kellogg’s Special K, Fiber Cereals, Quaker Oats, Rice Krispies, Gluten Free Cereals by Erowon and EnviroKids
Dole 100%fruit (peaches, pineapple, mixed cherry, pears)…any canned fruit in 100% juices
Mott’s All Natural Applesauces
Beans: Black, Cannellini, Pink, Red Kidney, Garbanzo, White, etc.
Bush’s Baked Beans all varieties
Canned tuna, shrimp, salmon, chicken
Tomato sauces, paste, all varieties canned tomatoes
Pastas preferably whole grain (Barilla, Ronzoni, DreamFields)
All Fruit spreads and jams such as Polaner and Smuckers
Whole wheat flour
Coffee, teas (all varieties), 100% fruit juices
Frozen fruits and vegetables
Frozen turkey burgers and/or chicken burgers
Spices of all kinds
Gluten free items for those that have Celiac, Chrone’s, and gluten issues. Some gluten free items are:
Pastas: Schar’s, Deboles, bioNature, Mrs. Leepers
Cereal: Erowan, Envirokids, Chex (Cinnamon, Rice, Corn, Chocolate)
Crackers: Mary’s Gone Crackers, Glutino, Rice Crackers
Chips: Terra, Baked Lentil, GF Snyders Pretzels, Tortilla chips
Gluten Free Flour: Bob's Red Mill, Gluten Free Pantry, Bisquik, King Arthur, Pamela's
Amazon carries in bulk and might be cheaper and more beneficial. Times are tough but there is no reason why we can't contribute in a healthy way. If we petition our government and tell them we as a country would like to see healthy options from them instead of all processed, white floured foods. So, next time you are at the grocery store, pick up a healthy item for yourself and one or more for your local food pantry. You never know if you might need to use it.
Good point Lisa. Keep in mind that pantries really run on shoe string budgets. The vast majority of foods that pantries give out are from two sources.
ReplyDeleteThe first source is a food bank, like Second Harvest. Food Banks receive products from the USDA and States. These products are really basic substances. It is all canned or boxed products. They also get tons of donated products from manufacturers, like cases of cookies or crackers. Sometimes we see even Starbucks coffee.
The second largest food source is from people like you. How many times have you gone into your pantry and donated items that you just don't think you'll use, not because you'd think this would be good for a family to eat?
Food pantries are really only designed to help a family for about 3 days out of the month. The rest is up to them or they use Food Assistance programs. However, they base their menus upon the food they know or get. Instead of picking up that 99 cent box of pasta for the pantry donation, give whole grain. Try donating what you would like to get if you were in that situation.
One things that some pantries are doing especially mine, is we are creating a community garden. The majority of vegetables grown will be given to the pantry participants. A lot of pantries have limited space, but contact one close to you. If you have extra from your garden this year, call them and ask if they could use it.
Great post and great points. Something for me to think about.
ReplyDelete