Comments on: Unhealthy Donations–an oxymoron?

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 00:16:03 +0000

Thanks so much for writing in, Sharon. I wholeheartedly agree that supermarkets should try to give all kinds of foods, especially the healthy ones. All too often, they just donate baked goods–cakes, cookies, muffins, etc. that aren’t all that healthy.

I truly hope that you get back on your feet and that you keep participating in the conversation here. I know we’d all benefit from your perspective. Thanks, again.

By: sharon

sharon — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 21:55:52 +0000

As someone who has to rely on foodbanks and I am ready in bad health I don’t mean to sound unappreciative, but giving someone a bunch of junk food isn’t helping either. Something is better than nothing isn’t always true. But heres what I thought was the real issue the stores who donate these items to foodbanks aren’t donating the best foods becuase of a lot of food banks do not have the facilities to store fresh fruits or vegetables, or meat. I use to think that but the issue is the poor can’t be picky take it or starve is the mantra. However does it help to give away cakes cookies, pizza, and chips for someone’s dinner probably not, but food banks can only give what they receive. So perhaps we need to stress to the donors the importance of not making a bad situation worst. I vow if I ever, ever, ever, God willing get upon my feet just a little bit. I intend to be a strong advocant to the damage of this type of thinking from corporations that can do more.

By: Dan Livingston

Dan Livingston — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:52:29 +0000

To all,
First of all, it is my understanding that new Feeding America policy puts it on all member food banks/hunger outreach warehouses to have their constituent pantries and agencies be client choice facilities. That being said, if you enter a Feeding America affiliated pantry, then you will have a choice of what to put in your food box. So really, no intellectually superior issues there.

That being said, I have a lot of respect for people who run food pantries, and community meal programs (a.k.a. soup kitchens) that choose to give their clients the preferential option. Let’s be honest here, if you look at the statistics that the CDC puts out about obesity, and heart disease you can see that it’s closely tied into poverty. It’s not just that hungry people are hungry, but that they have intermittent access to food (that is, they are food insecure), and will eat more regularly without an eye towards their health, because they are responding to hunger. So, I’m of the mind that it’s truly awesome when soup kitchen cooks can do healthy food, and make it delicious to their clients, because if it’s the only meal that a person has had in that day, it might as well be a healthy one. Damn straight.

As for the Little Debby snack cakes, I’m a freegan. I say, eat that shit. Store it on the top shelf and bring down a case every once in a while. Oh, and there’s another line to that quote–everything in moderation . . . including moderation.
Peace and Love,
Dan

By: Tracy

Tracy — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:20:25 +0000

I work at a Starbucks, and we’re actually in a similar fix when it comes to wasted sweets. We throw out trays of pastries every night, but we do not donate them (this is not the case with all stores). Honestly, I can’t say I feel bad about it. Our manager related to me how our store used to donate leftover pastries, but a shelter asked us to stop because their tenants were getting sick. Makes sense, if all you have to eat is sugar.

By: fireweed

fireweed — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 03:17:56 +0000

Could many of you folks be any more patronizing and superior? Because you feed the poor, you seem to feel you have the right to confine their choices to what you think is healthy for them…serve a variety of healthy and comfort foods and let people make their choices.

By: ladygoat

ladygoat — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:41:40 +0000

I think just the fact that such sweets would be a comforting treat to some in their time of need is reason enough to have them there. Are there long term health risks? Of course. But there are probably health consequences to feeling discouraged and sad too. I don’t see the harm in offering things of little nutritional value but possibly of some sentimental value.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 06:29:09 +0000

I’ve been enjoying all the comments and different points of view. Well done, folks.

What keeps coming to mind is a something Robert Egger told me about the early days at D.C. Central Kitchen:

“We used to have a motto: if you can put ranch dressing on it, they’ll eat it. That was before we realized that ranch dressing was like fat in a bottle.”

It seems like there’s a real tension between what soup kitchen clients want to eat and what nutritionists think they should eat. I’m hoping that this is changing; that what Bernie and Greg have found is becoming more prevalent. We’ll see…

We all know that these kinds of foods aren’t good for you. The question is, are they damaging? And in what amount might they be harmful? But in general, I agree with Kris’ take on the topic. I hate to delve into cliches, but “all things in moderation” seems apt.

By: Kris

Kris — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 02:28:31 +0000

I don’t see a problem with this. I don’t imagine they are handing out boxes and boxes per family, so I am going to say that it is okay. What does a box of little debbie’s hold? 6-10 snacks I think. So, a family of 4 or 5 would get one a piece and I think it is okay as an occassional treat. If it was a matter of getting boxes of swiss rolls in your food box, then it would be an issue, but an occasional treat might lift spirits. People that must use a food pantry are going to be a bit down on their luck, so a swiss roll might bring a bit of a smile to the taste buds, even though it has no nutritional value. Just one opinion

By: WilliamB

WilliamB — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 01:07:50 +0000

My volunteer experience was different than bernie’s. The homeless I fed were quite uninterested in salad, uninterested in other veggies, on the fence about fruit (although I’m not a fan of canned fruit salad either) and tended to go for comfort foods.

By: calimama @ compactbydesign

calimama @ compactbydesign — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:07:35 +0000

I agree that the nutritional value is zero for these products. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t enjoy them on occasion if we choose. A basic white bread (yeast, flour, salt, water) has almost no nutritional value either but it is considered a staple in many homes, restaurants and cultures.

And as the Little Debbie snacks are such a processed food their shelf life should be quite long. Those cakes could have been a nice (small) addition to food bank takeaway for months if not more than a year.