I love pickled cactus, so people can give it to ME! 
(And in exchange, I’ll send some peanut butter to the food bank.)
Do people too poor to eat three times a day (or even once a day) really want more food? Yes, and they will take it from whoever and wherever it comes.
I speak from past personal experience.
Yes, your donations are very appreciated. I’m 65 and on a small social secutiry pension and without extra help things would be tough.
Thanks to you all!
You should know that, for some of us, stuff like boxed macaroni and cheese is comfort food. My mom didn’t really like to cook, so that’s the kind of macaroni and cheese we ate when I was a kid. I sometimes make real macaroni and cheese now, but it’s just not comforting in the same way that the boxed stuff is. Some people might well feel that way about Cheez Whiz or casseroles made with cream of celery soup.
What is all this disrespecting of the Cheeze Whiz??? Ain’t nothing better than a piece of toast with some nice gooey cheeze whiz on top. We used to get gov’ment food when I was a kid - and I just wanted the Cheeze Whiz.
You could be answering some poor kid’s wishes…
(Yes, I still like the velveeta on corn chips…Mmmmmmm)
Upon preview - what **Anne Neville ** said
I just bought a jar of Cheez Whiz for myself last week. It’s to be spread thinly on bread and topped with sliced green olives. Cheez Whiz and green olive sandwiches are truly comfort food in my family. If you really want to get fancy, use that round cinnamon bread with sugar on the outside, or marble rye. Yum!
Oooh! You just reminded me of a Trailer Trash “salad” my mom used to make with chunks of Velveeta and green olives…what was the rest of it? (Off to Google!)
slinks back, dejected
No Googleluck. Off to Cafe Society!
[/hijack]
I’ve donated some pretty “weird” stuff to the food bank. For about a year, I put a couple of cans of braised wheat gluten in the food bank bin every time I went shopping. That and tinned hummous, dried black fungus, seitan, and bean curd.
My rationale was that there are plenty of folks who prefer to eat vegetarian, and I know it sucks when your choices are limited.
Hopefully it found its way to some folks whose reaction to tinned gluten is “Yum!” rather than “WTF?” 
Ummm, I am embarrassed I don’t know, but what are these things? 
I thought about this thread when I went grocery shopping tonight.
I ended up getting a whole bunch of cans of tuna, cans of refried beans, and lots of cans of soup.
I was kind of surprised that the clerk didn’t tell me where to go to get food from the food bank…
Wheat gluten and seitan are basically the same thing, but there’s a world of difference between the dry stuff and the tinned. Ever had chinese food that has tasty soft meat-like stuff in it? That’s it. It’s a good source of protein and (more importantly, to me) flavour. A little can like this is a great thing to add to a stir-fry, but it’s also a good way to make a bowl of ramen or rice into something more substantial.
The dry stuff has a more toothy texture, no matter how you rehydrate it. You cut it up and use it like you would bits of chicken.
My church runs a food program and every week they list items that are in short supply. Items that are on there every week include Spaghetti sauce, peanut butter, and toothpaste. Canned soups and meats are listed often too. If you don’t know what to buy, try a few of those.
I actually run a food pantry program. I get the chance to see what comes in as donations as I am sorting and shelving it. Yes, some is kind of odd stuff that people have cleared out of their cabinets. I’ve seen some pretty weird stuff; hell, I didn’t know you could even buy diced rutabagas or watercress soup! We get a lot of salmon that way, I think a lot of people buy it in cans on sale but then don’t actually eat it.
The truly odd stuff just gets put on a special shelf and I ask people if they want anything from this shelf. Eventually, everything finds a home. Baby food and formula is in fairly low demand because most of our clients with babies are participating in WIC. Diapers are always needed, so that’s another item to consider buying.
Some of the more popular items are: canned meats, canned pasta products, peanut butter, canned milk, canned beans (like pintos and navy beans), bread, candy, cake mixes, canned tomato products and canned fruit. Cleaning products of all descriptions are popular, too, since you can’t buy them with food stamps.
Seriously, if it is available in stores and you eat it, somebody else will be glad to have it. Poor people are just like you and me, after all. Nothing wrong with a little Cheez Whiz!
Heathens! Canned salmon is even better than canned tuna with mac & cheese.
I always struggle with buying ‘name’ brands which I figure are yummier, or buying twice as much of the cheap generic stuff.
I guess I have a hard time donating anything that I wouldn’t eat myself. I don’t know why I have this prejudice against generic items, I just do.
Thoughts on this?
Yes, and that donation will stand out from everyone else’s. After all, there’s no present like the thyme.
I say the more you can give the better. Believe me, any needy person who turns his nose up at A&P Brand Peanut Butter can’t have been needy for very long.
How about giving sizes which are larger than their suggested donation? I’m reading through a suggested donation list and there is actually a lot I can donate. However, I usually buy things in larger quantities than the food bank suggests. Still, it is all recent purchases. I didn’t do much baking this Christmas so I have several jars of 26 ounces of peanut butter. I have several jars of pasta sauce, but they’re big jars. Same thing with the soap and other hygenic items.
I’ve never found generics to be any less tasty than the name brand. SOME are, but not all of them.
How about tea bags? Surely everyone likes some hot tea and hot chocolate when it’s cold out.
snicker Nice one, Number.