Using "Wasted Food"

[dverna]

A neighbor gets food from the food bank every week. He receives so much stuff he is overwhelmed. He has given us stuff he does not use or has in overabundance. Some is thrown out to the critters. He recently got a 50 lb bag of onions and it sat outside until most of it froze...we took one small bag.

We do not need free food, but it will go to waste or will be fed to birds, turkeys, deer etc.

It is all useable. We have stopped taking a lot of it as we have over a dozen cans of chickpeas we rarely use, bags of walnuts, bags of rice, bags of peas, beans etc. My neighbor has given us large cans of canned salmon (that is not cheap) because he doesn't want to use it. We will NEVER turn salmon down!!

When my fiancé worked at the same food bank, they pushed a lot of stuff onto her to "move it". Saying "Take it, it will go to waste."

I do not have an answer, but it irks me to see food wasted. My mom would use stuff up even if we had to eat the same dish three days in a row. She rarely threw away food. My parents lived through the depression so maybe that taught them not to waste food.

I see "people starving" in America that are 50 lbs overweight. I see nice cars in the line at the food bank.

Just needed to rant.

[Electrod47]

All our garbage gets composted...everything edible is eaten.........except for that last cold burnt french fry, that goes to Murphy..the dog.

[Arkansas Paul]

I see "people starving" in America that are 50 lbs overweight. I see nice cars in the line at the food bank.

Just needed to rant.

That is a unique "problem" we have in America.
Just think how that looks to impoverished countries. Their poor people are starving to death. Our poor people are eating themselves to death.
Not that obesity is strictly a problem of people below the poverty line, it certainly isn't. We are a fat people (me included) across all socioeconomic lines.
We forget how good we have it here.

[Froogal]

Check with one of your local churches.

[abunaitoo]

At the food bank here, they have 4 large dumpsters outside.
They get filled up by people getting free food.
They keep all the good stuff, and just throw the rest away.
Foodbank had to put dumpsters because people would just throw everything in the parking lot.
It's a big scam here.
kind of sad.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

America's processed food diet is why so many people are obese.
In fact, some of the most inexpensive food is the worst culprit.
and yes, I am one of the obese people.

[imashooter2]

The best solution would be for the guy to stop taking handouts he doesn’t need or use. Surely the food bank could send their excess to a place that can use it.

[HWooldridge]

I feed any excess food to the dogs, chickens or the hogs. I try not to waste much.

[BD]

My wife also volunteers at the local food bank. The issue is that the food is donated based on what is surplus to the suppliers needs, (usually they couldn’t sell it before it went bad). Most of the people in need of nutritional support are not experienced cooks, and do not recognize the possibilities in foodstuffs they are not familiar with, (or that require more than minimal preparation), If the food bank has tons of oranges near the end of their shelf life, it is not realistic to expect these people to come up with lbs of sugar and the equipment to can marmalade. We are in northern Maine, at the very end of the east coast supply chains. A lot of what we see are nuts, and canned goods, little juice cans, dry beans and rice. Occasionally frozen chicken or game meat from the warden service. Many people raised in the processed food cultural norm are at a loss to deal with any unfamiliar bulk food stuff. Education is needed to go along with whatever is available. That takes a faculty volunteers and a little $$. All hard to come by.

[Milky Duck]

food and wasted just do not go in same sentence in our household.
anyone caught dumping donated food should automatically be put on list to never recieve again. in the days of cook books yeah maybe some slight excuse but every phone these days has a search function... recipes are too easy to get.zero excuses.

[Kestrel4k]

I am proud to say that virtually no food gets wasted in my household; am divorced, so having total control over the input (grocery shopping) and output (cooking & eating) makes it easier; it's not rocket science, I just make sure things are cooked/eaten before they go bad. :-/

Onion skins and carrot tops accumulate in freezer tubs for my home-made vegetable stock. In the last month, I think the only food I threw away was the last 20% of an 8-oz tub of hummus that finally turned.

I did an experiment with the Thanksgiving turkey carcass & bones one year; after repeated boils to extract everything for the turkey stock, the final disposal weight was 1 pound - from a 25lb frozen turkey. That means ~95% of that bird was eventually ingested (ignoring initial water content losses). Two turkeys per year, plus adding in the accumulated CostCo roast chicken carcasses/bones in the same fashion. Making 10 gallons of turkey/chicken stock every 6 months, ~$5 of electricity per batch; 50 cents per gallon for good rich healthy stock. And once you cook rice in that stock instead of water - I love /my/ cooked rice & would never go back.

Also, I really can't justify the expense of wasting food.

[Winger Ed.]

I used to donate to the big food bank in the city until a buddy who did work on the building would tell of the
employees stealing frozen meats, canned hams, various other items of good and expensive items.
And seeing the parking lot full of fat people driving cars I could never afford picking stuff up
pretty much soured me on supporting them.

Out here, our church food bank vets all the people who they give stuff to.
They get donations from stores, and buy a lot at deep discounts from them too.
As far as I know, there is no waste to speak of.
After they close, if there is any perishable things left over, they give them to anyone who wants them.
One of the neighbor friends volunteers/works there and once in awhile she'd bring things to give out.
We've gotten a few tomatoes and a couple loafs of bread here & there.

[MrWolf]

Check with one of your local churches.

Agreed though you may find out they may not want them either. Food here does not go to waste. What we don't eat (two of us) goes to the dogs or chickens. Anything we don't want to go to the chickens ends up in the woods for the critters though that basically never happens.

[John Wayne]

A few of us started a food bank 20+ years ago. Now feeding around 1000 people each month. It did not take long for the grocery stores to chastise us for NOT marking thru the skews with a big black sharpie. The recipients of our efforts were taking the food back for cash. I've seen a lot. I've caught wealthy people in a BMW once and a Mercedes once when I insisted, fighting their resistance of course, to carry their food out to their car. I've never been on the dole. But, I do see a need to give food right when someone loses their job until the dole money starts but that's all.
JW

[JimB..]

Once fired a guy from his very well paying job for lifting a block of government cheese at a work food drive event.

[MaryB]

Local food shelf is all processed food... one of my friends used to get food there and stopped because he was putting on to much fat weight... garbage food, starch, crap in cans...

[Jeff Michel]

Main reason to have a couple of hogs, what you don't slaughter for you own use at 9 months sell them and get a couple more. Should finish at 225-250#. Nothing going to waste and you could help the bottom line and knowing where your pork comes from don't hurt either.

[dverna]

The food is coming from the church food bank.

I guess throwing it out for critters is the best option.

[deces]

Long ago, I remember with my babysitter going to some warehouse downtown, as we entered the building there was some fold-up tables with a person handing out big blocks of cheese. I never thought the country would revert back those days. My only question now is, where is that free cheese?

[jimlj]

My wife also volunteers at the local food bank. The issue is that the food is donated based on what is surplus to the suppliers needs, (usually they couldn’t sell it before it went bad). Most of the people in need of nutritional support are not experienced cooks, and do not recognize the possibilities in foodstuffs they are not familiar with, (or that require more than minimal preparation), If the food bank has tons of oranges near the end of their shelf life, it is not realistic to expect these people to come up with lbs of sugar and the equipment to can marmalade. We are in northern Maine, at the very end of the east coast supply chains. A lot of what we see are nuts, and canned goods, little juice cans, dry beans and rice. Occasionally frozen chicken or game meat from the warden service. Many people raised in the processed food cultural norm are at a loss to deal with any unfamiliar bulk food stuff. Education is needed to go along with whatever is available. That takes a faculty volunteers and a little $$. All hard to come by.

I also volunteer at a local food bank, and my experience is basically the same. We get bags of nuts, rice and dry beans from the USDA that most people getting the donations don't know how or have the means to prepare it.