Food bank items

Lleucu

We have reluctantly started a food bank - yes I am very ambivalent about the politics of it - but there is a lot of need in our rural area. We are not part of the national network of food banks mainly because of the cost of joining it. We offer food boxes 2 x a week. We have had referrals even before we started.

I am after suggestions of things to donate. We will be augmenting the boxes with fresh stuff bought on the day such as cheese as we cant stand the idea of a dry food box.

Any ideas of items to get for the store? I thought of baked beans/coffee/tea/long life milk/sugar/soup, the trouble is the protein seems a bit limited in tins and packets. Anybody had an experience? Would recipes be a useful addition or plain patronising?

seraphina

Cans of beans and pulses (kidney beans, chickpeas, lentils etc) are cheap and nutritious - these are staples that I'd definitely include a recipe for as I think a lot of people won't know what to do with them straight away.

[Deleted User]

Tinned fish - tuna, salmon, mackerel, sardines.

HappyMJ

Don't provide anything that requires a fridge. i.e the cheese. Not everyone owns a fridge and if they do they may not have enough credit for the meter and the food will then go off whilst the power is off. Tinned meat, small bottles of UHT milk...lots of things are fine.

Lleucu

good point on the fridge point we will check they have a fridge and power thanks to everyone for ideas we will also scour these threads for recipes for the pulses

[Deleted User]

Maybe dried fruits instead of fresh - will last longer.

http://britishfood.about.com/od/britishrecipecollections/tp/10-Recipes-Using-Pulses.htm

Here's some recipes for pulses at the link above - but also check what cooking/kitchen facilities are available to them

Also put some carbs in - pasta and rice

Also soya protien mice is cheap, snd dry so would last: http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/pages/product_detail.asp?pid=2767&prodid=3670&cid=52

http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/pages/product_detail.asp?pid=2767&prodid=3671&cid=52

(These can be mixed with tinned tomatoes, and herbs to make spag bol, or to make chilli, and kidney beans and spices.)

grandma247

Have a read here. The ideas can be adapted to the Uk.

sophlowe45

excellent points from everyone.

in many shops tinned chick peas, butter beans etc are on offer permanently at 3 for 1 pounds sometimes even 4 for 1 pound.

and from the sounds of it you will be encouraging people to eat healthily which is desperately needed in the UK.


check out post 31 on this thread, page 2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4140353

nuatha

Its worth checking what cooking facilities might be available. My local foodbank will tailor some things for people who are temporarily homeless and living in B&Bs, often the only cooking facilities will be a kettle or kettle and microwave.
In these cases, they will also add toothbrushes, soap etc to the first box, if needed. They will also offer a vegetarian box.
If you did a standard recipe leaflet, you could say it just went in every box, in case anyone needed it (it may be a lot less patronising if its just seen as a standard item.)
Don't forget here for recipes and possibly some additional ideas.

UHT milk doesn't last any longer than fresh milk when opened particularly outside a fridge, it might be work investigating smaller sizes.
Good luck with it.

flubberyzing

Bags of pasta and/or rice? Tinned curries, fray bentos pies, hotdogs, spam?
Personally I'd pack boxes with EITHER tea OR coffee. Or more likely, neither! It's not an essential. I'd rather have a few extra tins of beans. You need to think "nutrition" rather than "luxury".

babyshoes

I have just been investigating our local food bank which is in the process of starting up, as I would like to contribute the odd tray of tins from Costco when I am able to. Their food list seems pretty standard - here it is...

Milk (UHT or powdered)
Sugar (500g)
Long life fruit juice
Tins of Soup
Pasta sauces
Sponge pudding (tin)
Tinned Tomatoes
Breakfast cereals
Tinned Rice pudding
Tea Bags
Jar of instant coffee
Instant mash potato
500gms Rice
500gms Pasta
Tinned meat/fish
Tinned fruit
Jar of Jam
Packets of biscuits
Snacks

Personally I would like to see more veg in there, but the protein is probably adequate in the short term - remember many vegetable sources (pulses/legumes particularly, but also grains) contain protein too, in varying quantities. Many veggies don't need fridging if you want to buy fresh stuff on the day - things like onions, squash of various types, root veg, potatoes etc will all last a while at room temp. Some green veg will also last a few days out of the fridge - things like leeks are not refrigerated in the supermarket... Tinned veg (eg peas and carrots) are also ok nutritionally, and of course tinned tomatoes are better for you than fresh!

Baked beans are a good source of protein - apparently beans on 2 slices of wholemeal toast provides the same quantity of protein as a steak! That said, there is no bread on the list as it goes off quite quickly. Perhaps some sort of longer lasting bread substitute like crackers / crisp breads / melba toast etc would be appropriate? Or those part-baked rolls/loaves if they have access to an oven. Seems a bit odd to include jam if there is nothing to put it on!

I do think a few recipe ideas for unusual combinations and the less common ingredients like lentils are a good plan. Perhaps even make up a 'recipe pack' with all that's needed for things like dahl, for example. (It's not something I've ever cooked, but apparently it's really easy, and needs only spices, lentils and a few other optional ingredients. It would of course also be a pretty balanced meal, with protein, fibre and vitamins.)

Good luck! I am sure you will find many ideas on here for recipes, there was a thread a while ago asking for recipes using foodbank lists, with lots of great ideas.