I count myself lucky to have an employer that provides one paid day a year to do volunteer work. I used that day today and volunteered for the Food Bank, located on upper Hollister in Goleta.
A little background on the Food Bank. It is a non-profit organization distributing food and educational resources to over 200 agencies throughout the county. The agencies can come into the warehouse and buy food at a very low price, or get other food donations for free. The agencies then are the distribution centers to families and individuals. The food bank is effectively a mini-Costco, for bulk food acquisition, and the goods look as nice as buying it a regular retail store.
While some volunteers collected and distributed frozen turkeys, a co-worker and I opted to sort and package food donations in the warehouse. We were pleased to see the mountains of donations coming in from throughout the city.
But we were also surprised by the amount of food brought in that was not suitable for distribution. This year, the food bank has provided paper bags that list the items they are looking for.
What the paper bag does not list are some additional guidelines, including items they cannot distribute and this is an important list.
Please read the guidelines! It was heartbreaking to see stacks of lovely organic baby food removed from the bins of suitable food. In fact, it appears that Lazy Acres is putting together pre-packaged donation bags and half the contents are baby food. The heart is in the right place, but please spend that money on the recommended list instead. Workers at the food bank said the peanut butter and canned tuna were especially desirable.
There are a few other items that you might think are good donations, but that the bank cannot distribute. These included dented cans and packaging with any signs of rust. They also cannot distribute food already distributed in food programs by the USDA. Sadly, those must also be thrown away. If you have generic looking food, check for the USDA label, such as pictured below on the left.
And now, the food hall of shame. There are some items in the donation bins that...I don't know, maybe the quest to do good prevailed over common sense. These items went straight into the toss box. I am slightly embarrassed to list the items, but we collected a few boxes of them, so perhaps the word needs to go out that some food items, although they might be on the recommended list, are not suitable. These include opened and partially eaten containers, food that has long past the sell by date, food infested with bugs, and food not meant for human consumption (like dog food).
On the left is an opened and half used jar of lemon pepper, really old cans and boxes (for a time reference, Luckys ceased as a brand in 1998), and a loose piece of pizza. On the right is an old bag of rice, the plastic is deteriorating and is soft and tacky to the touch, plus the packaging is faded and stained.
A good question to ask yourself if you're going through your cupboard for donations: would you eat it? And would you buy it in this condition?
Overall, the food we sorted and packed was of great quality and in perfect condition. For the two boxes we discarded, my co-worker and I packed up 60 boxes - or about 2500 pounds - to the brim with wonderful donations. And we felt like we'd hardly made a dent in all the bins and pallets of food still waiting to be sorted. Good job, Santa Barbara, your generosity sure tired out my feet today.
Dinner Menu: There is nothing on the dinner menu today, I can hardly look at food right now, and I am still full from the generous sandwich I purchased at lunchtime from the International Market and Deli, located on upper Hollister, near Modoc. It took a while for the deli to prepare the sandwich, but it was worth the wait. I picked the fillings from their diverse selection of deli meats, including more salamis than I could count, and cheeses. Two meats and a cheese, plus assorted fillings (including sundried tomatoes!) cost between $7-$7.50 depending on weight.
And that's probably it for me. John should be back to his regular blogger self by tomorrow. Ciao!
