Help me feed hungry new hires at work

Cafe Society
1

Lately, with the state of the economy, we’ve been getting a lot of new hires at work, mostly young folk under 30 years of age, who simply have no money to buy food. Fortunately, paychecks are cut weekly, but that still leaves as much as a week and a half with no money for these folks to buy food. Even though we pay a fair wage for the work, it’s of little use to anyone before payday.

We have a rather high turnover rate for people who work the production lines, so I anticipate this as being a recurring problem.

A coworker and I are going to create a stockpile of food for new hires (and anyone else that might be down on luck for whatever reason) so that, at the very least, they won’t have to go hungry on their lunch breaks, but we have no refrigerator. The lunch room fridge is not really an option.

There are a few microwaves in the lunchroom, as well as a fountain that dispenses hot water. The water from the fountain is hot enough to heat those noodle cups (I should know; I ate plenty of them in my university days).

What kinds of items should we get? Things that come in individualized servings are probably best.

2

If you got a kettle, you’d have water hot enough for making instant noodles. Which are cheap, come in large variety of flavours etc.

Buns (cheese buns maybe?) might be a good choice, plus big jug of peanut butter/jam. Perhaps some dried salami, mustard, cucumber?

3

My husband is very fond of a microwaveable meal called Hormel Compleats (sic). There are dozens of flavors, and they cost about two dollars. They are filling, nutritionally adequate, and are ready in 60 seconds in the microwave. This isn’t gourmet cuisine, but it’s quite tasty for a quick lunch. The product is stored at room temperature, so no fridge or freezer is required. You don’t need a plate, since it comes in a little plastic bowl.

4

Hey, Maine Boy! You never heard of a bean hole?

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/es/me/es_me_beans_1.html

5

I second the Hormel Compleats. Decent and cheap.

Barilla also has shelf-stable pasta meals. They’re actually pretty good, especially since their ingredients are no different from heating up jarred tomato sauce and pouring it over pasta.

Bumble Bee has meal packages their Snack on the Run – tuna and crackers. They also have a meal version which includes a fruit cup. And there’sseasoned tuna in a pouch for about $1.25 a shot, though it’s more a snack than an entire meal.

6

Ramen
Cup o’ Soup
Canned Soup/Stew
Mac 'n Cheese
PB&J fixings (they can make their own)

7

Ramen - 19₵ a package: Robot or human?

8

Holy Jesus, all these things will KILL them.

I implore you, buy ten pounds of Maine Yellow Eyes and a pound of salt pork, and dig a bean hole!

9

Lentil soup. Lots of satiating protein, and cheap cheap cheap.
Also, peanut butter sandwiches. Cheap! Protein!
Sunflower seeds=Protein!! Cheap!!!

10

Fruit - apples, bananas, things that last and don’t need refrigeration. Some veggies might work too.

11

Gruel! Feeding the poor since 1360!

12

You should talk to a specialist as you might be opening up a huge can of worms both legally and tax-wise.

13

I second Lentil Soup. Buy an electric cooking plate and let one of the workers provide a hot lunch most days. Hearty soups, pasta with tomato sauce, any nutritious one pan meal. It’ll improve performance and morale.

Also, what a sad, sad state of affairs. Is this normal? Is the USA really becoming a third World country, just one with a lot of rich people in it?

14

Tuesday is soylent green day.

15

Keeping fruit in the breakroom seems like the best approach. Find large bags of oranges and grapefruit. Maybe apples.

You have to expect that any employee can eat the fruit. You can’t restrict it to new hires.

It might be possible to offer new hires microwave dinners. Give them a bag for the first week of work. Basically a new hire bonus. But you’d have to check the laws.

16

Why? We sponsor a snack bar at work (our office is too small for vending machines), and have many of the things people have suggested for a nominal price. No one seems to think we’re breaking a law.

17

I keep bags of non-perishable food in my car to give to the homeless people who beg at the medians. Here’s what I put in the bags:

Individual servings of pudding or OK-at-room-temp yogurt, because they have a lot of calcium.

Individual servings of applesauce and Mandarin oranges, because they have a lot of vitamin C (but check the applesauce; only some are fortified). They also have fiber.

Tiny bags of chips (you can get 20 brand name bags for $6), which have a little of the B vitamins, and are filling. They have a little fiber as well. Not much, but a little.

Vienna sausages in tins, because they have protein and some iron.

Jerky, because it also has protein and a little iron, and because it requires a lot of chewing, so it lasts, and seems like more food.

Cereal bars, because they have a significant amount of iron, and usually some other vitamins as well. Generic ones are like $1.50 for 6.

You can also buy protein bars that have like, 7 to 10g protein, and a ton of vitamins. They’re a little spendy, but people can scarf one during a fast break, and it’s a small meal. I’m not talking about the kind for athletes that have 30g protein and a low glycemic index. I’m talking more like Luna bars, except something less high-profile, and therefore cheaper.

You also have the option of fresh fruit. Bananas and clementines are really nutritious, and clementines come in bags of 20 for about $3.99. Bananas are really cheap.

I shop for this stuff at the Dollar store, and get huge amounts of food for not much money. Depending on what’s in stock, I pay $1.25, to slightly less than $1 per bag that I eventually hand out. If I include a drink, it’s a little more, but I usually only do that in the summer, or if there’s a sale on boxed juices that have vitamin C.

You are great to do this. Keep in mind that some people are going to pocket food, so it will go quickly. If you have really cheap stuff like Ramen that is hard to make there, but they can make at home, that may be the stuff that walks out, if you are lucky. Anyway, you might find out what other resources there are in town, like a free food pantry, or a soup kitchen, and post that info wherever you have the food.

Good luck.

18

You have to treat all employees fairly.

But I think handling as a new hire incentive or bonus will work. Welcome to the company. Here’s a few things you might find helpful until checks are issued next week.

You might include a disposable razor, small can of shaving cream, a comb (dollar store items) some microwave food for lunches.

19

Rivkah, are you aware that the people who do this have generally been banned from every shelter in the region for refusing to follow rules?

Are the people you hire already on food stamps or whatever they call it in your area? Can you advance them some pay before they get their first check, for hours already worked? Some companies will do that.

Not being judgmental; just asking.

20

I should mention, I am not a member of management at this company, nor am I doing this on behalf of the company. This is something that a colleague and I had thought up to try to help the new hires get through until they get their first paycheck.

I don’t know if management has any awareness of this problem or not. I just know that a lot of new hires are going without lunch—some of them on very physically demanding jobs—because they haven’t got two nickels to rub together.

I like the fruit idea. Bananas seem like they’d be a good idea—they’re hearty, healthy, and sell for under 50¢ a pound. It seems like they have a fairly long shelf life, as well.