My turn to rant... food bank food

[Leah-yes I know I'm crazy]

More often than not what goes bad at the local food bank here is not private donations but the commodity items like farina. There has to be something really wrong with the logistics of how this program works because nearly every time it gets to our food bank it already has bugs. The canned milk is always close to date also...but at least that is usually still good for a little while.

 

[Bettacreek]

As far as buggy foods go, if there are a few buggies, I'll pick out and eat, too many and the critters get it. Once dumped 'ghetti noodles into a pot, picked a few weevils out, then gave up after every bug cooked and rose to the top. There were just too many to pick out for me.

 

[MissPrissy]

At our food pantry we have had people turn down food items because they 'don't have to eat beans or rice'. Oh yeah? Then why are you here? Go to Foodlion and pay for your groceries.

 

[zippy11455]

Quote:
If they take food that know they won't eat, then it will just be wasted. Makes sense to me to not take what you know you won't use. My family eats beans and rice frequently, we love them. However, my kids will not touch most canned vegetables, especially canned peas. I would not want to take canned veggies because it would be wrong to take something that I couldn't use. No matter how broke you are kids still have taste buds and will boycott foods they don't like.

 

[MissPrissy]

No, they want only the most expensive prepackaged foods on the shelf. They don't want anything that is considered 'poor people' food. They do not want USDA packaged food either. Only name brands.

 

[ksacres]

Quote:
I have to disagree here, if any person is TRULY hungry, you can and will eat things that don't taste good to you normally. It's a natural coping/survival mechanism.

 

[zippy11455]

Wow, I stand corrected Miss Prissy. People that are that picky are just plain spoiled. My kids were always so well fed on fresh garden produce that they didn't like the taste and texture of canned veggies. But that is about the only thing I can think of that they would refuse to eat.

 

[English Chick]

Maybe it's time we had a World Hunger Day for everyone..... try going without food for 48 hours....... then donate what you would have eaten to your local food bank.

 

[HarlansHollowFarms]

Quote:
If it is canned, it do not have to be full of preservitives to be good for a long time. As long as the seal is not broken, and it smells good...it is probably good. I do alot of home canning and do not use atrificial preservetives and my jars last a very long time.
Check the cans, be sure the ends don't pop when pressed, smell it when you open it, if it is bad, you will more than likely be able to tell. I have opened my own jars and it appeared the seal was in tacked.....but the smell was rancid, obviously bad.

 

[zatsdeb]

I work at walmart,in the bakery, and we put our stuff out, we tag it before we put it out. the tags say best used by...
some things, like pies, only get 3 days out on the shelf, then we pull them, they are good for days after that!
they finally changed the tags and they say best used by, or freeze by...
other things, the bread we bake, gets 2 days shelf life.
cookies, 10 days, my cakes I decorate, get 5 days.
so.. the things I would worry more about is like baby food, formula, they are not allowed to donate baby formula that is out of date.
some things, like fruitcake are good for 6 months shelf life, snack items like pre packaged muffins, donuts, etc.. get 30 days shelf life.
I think when donated things go to people at the food banks they expect them to either eat it right away or freeze it. canned good of course can't be frozen, unless you take it out of the can!