I volunteer at a food bank, and the company that sends us our food decides what we get. Last Tuesday they sent so much produce we could not fit it all into fridges. We were trying to give away cases of the food on Wednesday, but people were turning it down because they had no place to store a case of tomatoes, or cauliflower. This was what we had left after last Wednesday's morning give away. Not pictured the 5000lbs of watermelons, the 2500lbs of onions (those will last a lot longer).
The company that supplies us wants to move from sending shipments every other week, to once a month. This would cause even more no produce loss.
It is so frustrating to have all this food for it to go bad. Even if we got the same volume of produce, but there was variation in what it is we could give it away easier.
Edit: I posted this in a comment.
Because of bureaucracy we have to request this. If it is found out we are giving away the food to unapproved recipients we can lose all of our funding. If we give to unapproved recipients and they in turn give us prepared food to give out, that is okay.
Word got out that we were loading up my pickup with food and taking it to the homeless camps. I did get a number of them to start coming to the bank to get food. But it was easier when I could take stuff to them.
We are not allowed to simply give it out to anyone. This is not like a church pantry where all of the food is donated by the community and's parishioners. There is government funding, as well as private businesses, which I am guessing get their money back from the government for funding this. If we could simply give it to anyone we would not be in this situation.
Seldom have I seen a better example of why universal basic income is so preferable to food banks.
Please explain how that would solve the issue of people not wanting to eat their vegetables.
People shouldn't downvote you, it's an educational experience.
Edit: Nah, fuck this guy.
People should be able to buy what they need, not be at the whims of what a capitalist entity dumps in a food bank.
Not everyone has the ability to store, prepare or even cook vegetables. Due to lack of utensils, food storage or even something to heat with. For many, vegetables would just be a liability and force you to choose between other necessities as you battle limited carrying capacity.
Something something beggars can't be choosers.
Cooking cauliflower isn't rocket science. All you need is a pot and some water, and maybe a bit of salt. You can even eat it with your hands if you lack utensils. It's also good raw with some ranch dressing. You're making it sound a lot more complicated than it really is.
It's not cooking some cauliflower, it's cooking a shit ton of cauliflower. And storing it before and after cooking. Some places you only buy a couple days worth of food because you have a tiny place. And that's actually housed people, if you're unhoused you can't store shit.
Have you considered giving it away to your neighbors? That's what I would do if I was given more cauliflower than I know what to do with. Consider that not everyone even has the means to make it to the food bank.
And what if I don't end up using the whole box if it's going to rot away at the food bank anyways? I'd take the whole box if need be, and I'd eat as much as I physically can and try to give away the rest before it spoils. Literally all I'm hearing in this thread is "I don't want to eat cauliflower because chicken wings taste better".
"What's that? You're tired and just want some food? Fuck you here 3 boxes of cauliflower, now you have to distribute it too. Live in a sketchy neighborhood? Sounds like a you problem fuck you. Took the bus in? Fuck you you have to lug it on the bus and distribute it. Can't eat it? Fuck you now you have rotting food in your apartment that you have to clean out. What you don't want it? You fucks just want chicken wings fuck you. Beggars can't be choosers, so fuck you."
Until this reply I thought you were blissfully unaware. Now I know you're a prick.
"Oh boy, I can't take these free cauliflowers because I live in a sketchy neighborhood where people are just going to steal it."
Said no one, ever.
Wow you just keep doubling down. For the food I already pointed out several problems which you now ignore. As for neighbors, in some areas you want as little contact as you can get. The others are right you've had one hell of a blessed life and are a complete prick a about it. Ciao.
I have indeed, and quite a lot of that is thanks to not complaining about being given free food when I was broke.
Blessed as fuck. Damn, you're lucky. Never strolled through the ghetto, never been homeless, never had to carry fucking weight. You're soft as fuck. Not a man.
Says the guy who can't be bothered to cook some free fucking cauliflower.
Except for the fact that a lot of these people aren't capable of managing money.
They are on the street because they have serious issues
Turns out that money is one of those things that the less you have of it, the harder it is to manage.
It is also a bit tricky when you can't read or write and are struggling with schizophrenia, bipolar and other disruptive issues. And that is before you take in account all of the drug and alcohol addiction.
And who's supporting them?
Clearly not you.