Food bank items

Butterfly_Brain

ragz wrote: »

Our local one actually has a shopping list
http://hailsham.foodbank.org.uk/resources/documents/foodbank/Hailsham-FB-website-shopping-list.pdf
and a recipe list http://hailsham.foodbank.org.uk/budget-recipes-by-celebrity-chefs (very brief, they should just send them to this site!)

just checked and you can get one of everything (mostly smart price) from Asda for £6.20. I chose tea over coffee as value tea is drinkable, value coffee is not! And went for second cheapest biscuits as rich tea were slightly cheaper but I thought bourbon creams were a little more luxurious. I take back my earlier post, people do deserve biscuits

I looked at the recipes and honestly a lot of the ingredients wouldn't be there from a food bank. These arty farty chefs really don't know how hard things are at the bottom, that is why it makes me angry that when the resurrect a dish from way back when such as oxtail which now costs over £15 a kilo :eek: treble what it was before and now no longer affordable to a lot of people.

Karena_3

Hi.

I have previously helped with a foodbank in an inner city area with high levels of deprivation.I think it is worth bearing in mind that many foodbank users are very stressed and have limited cooking facilities,equipment or other ingredients.Many of the ideas that would be excellent from the other parts of the Forum won't work well.
For instance ingredients such as flour,suet etc.

Think rather of the some of the ideas that came up on the camping on a limited budget thread.

Rice,pasta,couscous,noodles,tinned fish,tinned meat,ready made pasta sauces,custard mix,rice pudding,soup,tinned pulses,long life milk,tinned fruit,tinned vegetables,tinned puddings,angel delight or similar.Jam or spread,breakfast cereal.

Toilet roll,nappies [often desperately needed because expensive ...I have given out nappies when mum did not even have one to change her baby],toothpaste,tampons,shaving foam or soap,shower gel,toothbrush.

Washing powder and washing up liquid.Value cloths.
Tea,coffee,squash,fruit juice and a few treat items...people in crisis need to feel they are still valued rather than being given the bare minimum or they will leave feeling worse than when they arrived.

I hope you manage to get the foodbank off the ground.It is good to know that there may be some competition for Trussel Trust . You may well find you can make your own way forward rather than buying into what is in effect a charity franchise operation which may be expensive with perhaps limited benefits.

Edit to add.Do make sure you have good storage.Buy some solid plastic boxes with solid lids....it is frightening how many packets of dried food mice can get into in a few days.

Fresh fruit is also worth thinking about and perhaps value bread if you could find someone to pick some up on the day.

Depending on where you are and the cultural make up of the area think about having some vege options for clients who don't eat meat products for religious reasons.

Another couple of things.Long life wraps or naan bread and yogurts....I may be back again when I think of other things to add.:)

Protein is a difficult one.There is in reality very little protein in many of the value items given out as protein options.[eg value meat balls in sauce.]The difficulty is that whilst in theory foodbank is short term crisis help the reality is that most of the clients do not have problems that will be solved in a few days..and it is getting worse.This is more of a worry when the clients include young children.I don't know what the answer is when many of the people donating are on low incomes themselves...but worth thinking about when making up boxes.

RAS

IME different people have different needs and trying one size fits all will not work.

1. The homeless or very poorly housed person who needs stuff that can be eaten from the tin or packet and makes with boiling water (assuming that they have access to a kettle). They may not have any cooking or eating equipment. It is possible to make some quite creative bean salads and stuff but may not be what the person needs immediately.

2. The housed person, couple or family in financial crisis - may have a cooker etc and equipment but have very little money to cover the fuel needed for cooking. They need things that can be heated quickly rather than cooked at that time. May benefit from some recipe cards explaining how to make very little money stretch (once their salary of benefits do come in).

sophlowe45

how about tinned beans for protein?

chick peas, black eyed beans etc. often 3 cans for 1 pound, as long as you have a can opener they can be eaten straight away. the pull open cans are more expensive.

wilkinsons do a can opener for 50p.

quinoa can be cooked with just hot water i think.

copied from the vegan thread

"One food you cant go wrong with is quinoa (pronounced keen-wah)- looks expesive but swells up a lot- full of protein and is the only food that contains all 8 essential amino acids. Flavour it whichever way you want. cooks easily in the microwave". get big out of date bags from approved foods etc.

with people donating food to food banks being people on low incomes themselves, some kind of campaign to target affluent people to donate food? if it was tax deductible it would help.

in my building people throw food away on the day it goes out of date, i did say to one person give me your fish if youre going to throw it away, but i dont think she took me seriously and i dont want to ask again.

how would you convince someone affluent to give some food to a food bank instead of buying x item, im reluctant to use an example, as an handbag for example, can cost anything from 1 pound to thousands of pounds.

Molly41

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

You can make hot dogs passable if you cook them with a tin of tomatoes or pasta sauce a tin of mixed veg and herbs serve with spaghetti

Ok I read a favourite meal of one of the posters on OS - Frith- is hot dog sausages (tinned), chopped up in baked beans with sliced potatoes over the top and baked in the oven - sounds yummy to me!

Popperwell

True but the trouble is many of the hotdogs have mechanically recovered meat unless you are looking at a jar/tin nearer the £2 mark.

meg72

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

I looked at the recipes and honestly a lot of the ingredients wouldn't be there from a food bank. These arty farty chefs really don't know how hard things are at the bottom, that is why it makes me angry that when the resurrect a dish from way back when such as oxtail which now costs over £15 a kilo :eek: treble what it was before and now no longer affordable to a lot of people.

Sorry bit confused here are the food bank actually giving people these recipes? and if so what planet are they on.

I havent seen oxtail anywhere for years, is it really 15.00 killo,
years ago if you were a regular with your butcher they sometimes threw one in for free and even the cornbeef one is rather out of date now and out of some peoples budget. I think if a food bank is giving out recipes they should be realistic and geared to the shopping list they supply.

Lizling

sophlowe45 wrote: »

how would you convince someone affluent to give some food to a food bank instead of buying x item, im reluctant to use an example, as an handbag for example, can cost anything from 1 pound to thousands of pounds.

I was in Sainsbury's in a particularly affluent area the other day (not my usual branch!:D) and there was a guy standing near the door handing out lists of items that the local food bank could use (tins, dried food, no perishables.) After the checkouts, there was a big crate for people to put their donations in. I don't think that store even sells anything for under £1, and yet about 2 out of 3 people were donating an item. So it looks like just making it really, really convenient to donate will get you a long way - same as any other group of people.

There was some good stuff in that crate

sophlowe45

yes making it convenient for people to help, thanks will bear that in mind.

TheBanker

Lizling wrote:

...After the checkouts, there was a big crate for people to put their donations in. I don't think that store even sells anything for under £1, and yet about 2 out of 3 people were donating an item. So it looks like just making it really, really convenient to donate will get you a long way - same as any other group of people.

I agree with this. Our Sainsburys had a similar collection recently and I put a few extra bits in my trolley to donate. They were mainly items I was buying anyway but which were on 2 for £2 or similar offers - One for me and the cheap/free one for the foodbank.

Collecting in supermarkets is a good idea if they will give permission.

A sad reflection on society; I'm used to seeing a bin collecting pet food for the dogs' home. Never thought we'd see similar to feed our fellow man. :mad: