Should we get rid of canned food drives?

[caseagainstfaith]

In the traditional food drive/standardized food box approach, donors are asked to go to the store and buy food or to donate food from their cupboards. It's then dropped into a collection barrel, or piled around a Christmas tree, or put on the altar of their churches, etc.

For every $10 spent that way, $10 worth of food goes into the charity food distribution system. But if the receiving charity food agency packs and gives out the food in standardized boxes, research has shown that as much as half of the food may not get used. This is not because the receiving family wasn't needy but because the food is either something they can't use or don't know how to use.

So that $10 gift may end up providing only $5 worth of actual hunger relief. What's more, because donations to food drives are nearly impossible to document for tax deductions, the donor bears the full cost of the $10 donation for what amounts to $5 worth of food used.

By contrast, suppose the donor gave money — not food — to a charity serving the hungry. Three things can happen. First, instead of going to the store to buy food, the charity takes the donated funds to its area's food bank. There, for every dollar a donor would have spent to buy cans of food, the charity could draw about $20 worth of food. That's because food banks serve as nonprofit, wholesale-like clearinghouses for the food industry's surplus food, charging only a nominal handling fee for food drawn by charity agencies. So a $10 donation ends up leveraging as much as $200 worth of food for the charity to distribute.

Second, instead of packing the food into standardized boxes, the charity can display it in a store-like fashion and permit needy families to choose what they like. That practice, called "client choice," eliminates the problem of needy families being given food they cannot use.

Finally, if donors claim a charitable-gifts tax deduction, the after-tax cost to them in giving $10 could drop to as low as $7.50. Thus, by promoting fund drives instead of food drives, community members can drop the cost of addressing their area's hunger problem 25% simply by taking maximum advantage of available tax benefits.

source - www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-arnold-canned-food-20111118,0,2767459.story

If these numbers do add up right, I would say the evidence to end traditional canned food drives would be pretty solid in favor of just donating money to the non-profit organization instead. What do you think, would this approach work better than giving cans of food to say harvesters you just cut them a check instead?

[N. De Plume]

Well, this seems like another thing that’s trying to wipe out a whole system based on one flaw. Avoid the “standardized” boxes, and you eliminate the actual food going to waste.

I can see the argument based on food banks getting more bang for the buck. However, I think sometime it is easier to get someone to donate an actual can of food from their cupboard than it is to donate money. To many people once food is bought, it ceases to factor into their fiscal thinking. That’s why so much food gets wasted in this country to begin with. Meanwhile, money always figures into that part of the brain that prompts people to be more stingy.

Furthermore, I think donating actual food may help give a little more of a morale boost, especially among people who have had it constantly hammered that they should “actually do something” rather than just throw money at the problem.

[Magnizeal]

Once again dropping in to shill www.thehungersite.com and freerice.com As far as the canned food drives, yeah, if they didn't box things up, it looks like it would help the situation....

Edit to remind people to turn off no-script and ad-block on those sites.

[priestling]

As someone that used to use a food pantry... I was pretty grateful. Loaf of bread, a couple nice things around the holidays, a box of veggies, a couple boxes of pasta... wasn't half bad, when I was trying to make rent.

[N. De Plume]

Nov 18, 2011 15:29:34 GMT -5 priestling said:

As someone that used to use a food pantry... I was pretty grateful. Loaf of bread, a couple nice things around the holidays, a box of veggies, a couple boxes of pasta... wasn't half bad, when I was trying to make rent.

So did you get boxed sets like the ones mentioned above or did you get a à la carte? If boxed sets, did you ever get food you either wouldn’t or couldn’t use, and if so, what did you do with it?

I don’t really want to pester you or pry into your affairs, but I figure since that is what we’re discussing, it might be nice to get the perspective of someone who actually uses by these service, however they may be administrated.

[Runa]

I did some volunteer work at a place which was essentially a discounted supermarket for people on benefits that was even set up like one. I think it's a brilliant idea.

[priestling]

Nov 18, 2011 16:01:29 GMT -5 N. De Plume said:

Nov 18, 2011 15:29:34 GMT -5 priestling said:

As someone that used to use a food pantry... I was pretty grateful. Loaf of bread, a couple nice things around the holidays, a box of veggies, a couple boxes of pasta... wasn't half bad, when I was trying to make rent.

So did you get boxed sets like the ones mentioned above or did you get a à la carte? If boxed sets, did you ever get food you either wouldn’t or couldn’t use, and if so, what did you do with it?

I don’t really want to pester you or pry into your affairs, but I figure since that is what we’re discussing, it might be nice to get the perspective of someone who actually uses by these service, however they may be administrated.

Partial box, if that makes sense. We got a few options for goodies (like cranberry sauce during November, for Thanksgiving), but the box was mostly a loaf of bread, a half-gallon of milk, two or three cans of veggies (usually corn or green beans), a jar of peanut butter and jelly, a few boxes of mac and cheese... stuff like that.

[sylvana]

I understand the theory against the traditional canned food drives, but the problem I have is that when you give charities money, surprisingly little money seems to make it to the people in need. While this is not always the case, far too many charities are like this for my tastes. At least if I donate a tin of food, even if only 50% of it gets eaten, at least it is being eaten. That food I give wont end up in any charity organizers back pocket but will get to who it needs to.

Perhaps I am just jaded, but with the extreme poverty here and seeing far too many charity scams, I don't trust charity organizations or beggars anymore at all.

[N. De Plume]

Nov 20, 2011 1:42:07 GMT -5 priestling said:

Nov 18, 2011 16:01:29 GMT -5 N. De Plume said:

So did you get boxed sets like the ones mentioned above or did you get a à la carte? If boxed sets, did you ever get food you either wouldn’t or couldn’t use, and if so, what did you do with it?

I don’t really want to pester you or pry into your affairs, but I figure since that is what we’re discussing, it might be nice to get the perspective of someone who actually uses by these service, however they may be administrated.

Partial box, if that makes sense. We got a few options for goodies (like cranberry sauce during November, for Thanksgiving), but the box was mostly a loaf of bread, a half-gallon of milk, two or three cans of veggies (usually corn or green beans), a jar of peanut butter and jelly, a few boxes of mac and cheese... stuff like that.

Well, that’s cool. Personally, the only thing that would be a problem there for me could be the veggies. I am extremely picky with veggies. I am good with corn and green beans, but peas are a big no-no for me—I just gag on ‘em.

On a larger scale: peanut butter would probably go to waste, since peanut allergies do not seem to be that uncommon. Milk is an issue for people with lactose intolerance. Then there is gluten sensitivity for the bread. And those are all medical issues, as opposed to a picky palate.

[dasfuchs]

Nov 21, 2011 8:29:42 GMT -5 N. De Plume said:

Nov 20, 2011 1:42:07 GMT -5 priestling said:

Partial box, if that makes sense. We got a few options for goodies (like cranberry sauce during November, for Thanksgiving), but the box was mostly a loaf of bread, a half-gallon of milk, two or three cans of veggies (usually corn or green beans), a jar of peanut butter and jelly, a few boxes of mac and cheese... stuff like that.

Well, that’s cool. Personally, the only thing that would be a problem there for me could be the veggies. I am extremely picky with veggies. I am good with corn and green beans, but peas are a big no-no for me—I just gag on ‘em.

On a larger scale: peanut butter would probably go to waste, since peanut allergies do not seem to be that uncommon. Milk is an issue for people with lactose intolerance. Then there is gluten sensitivity for the bread. And those are all medical issues, as opposed to a picky palate.

Well then suck it up and deal with it /GOP

Ours here was a bit more laid out. Once a week it opened and had everything separated on tables by what it was. The overseers would escort people one at a time around and let them choose from what they liked and didn't like (along with stuffing the box with a few of the things they didn't and encouraged them to try if there weren't any medical issues.
It worked fairly well.

[Runa]

Hell, at the food barn I volunteered at, they had organic stuff!

[N. De Plume]

Nov 21, 2011 15:19:48 GMT -5 dasfuchs said:

Nov 21, 2011 8:29:42 GMT -5 N. De Plume said:

Well, that’s cool. Personally, the only thing that would be a problem there for me could be the veggies. I am extremely picky with veggies. I am good with corn and green beans, but peas are a big no-no for me—I just gag on ‘em.

On a larger scale: peanut butter would probably go to waste, since peanut allergies do not seem to be that uncommon. Milk is an issue for people with lactose intolerance. Then there is gluten sensitivity for the bread. And those are all medical issues, as opposed to a picky palate.

Well then suck it up and deal with it /GOP

Yeah, anaphylactic shock is so easy to deal with. (Yeah, I know—GOP don’t care! Well, I’m responding anyways. So there!)

[ltfred]

If you want to make the problem slightly more bearable, charity is definately the way to go. But if you want to significantly end or reduce poverty, donate money to the Progressive movement. Ultimately, government policy decides the level of poverty.

[Dragon Zachski]

Nov 21, 2011 18:34:37 GMT -5 ltfred said:

If you want to make the problem slightly more bearable, charity is definately the way to go. But if you want to significantly end or reduce poverty, donate money to the Progressive movement. Ultimately, government policy decides the level of poverty.

You do realize the democrats are as much in the back pockets of the corporations as the republicans are, right?

And other than the democrats, there's nothing else that's close to a cohesive "Progressive movement". If there is a movement, it's a vague inkblot filled with people from the democratic community and some outliers from the republican community.

[ltfred]

Nov 21, 2011 19:30:30 GMT -5 Dragon Zachski said:

Nov 21, 2011 18:34:37 GMT -5 ltfred said:

If you want to make the problem slightly more bearable, charity is definately the way to go. But if you want to significantly end or reduce poverty, donate money to the Progressive movement. Ultimately, government policy decides the level of poverty.

You do realize the democrats are as much in the back pockets of the corporations as the republicans are, right?

And other than the democrats, there's nothing else that's close to a cohesive "Progressive movement". If there is a movement, it's a vague inkblot filled with people from the democratic community and some outliers from the republican community.

Some Democrats (largely blue dog traitors and Holy Joe) are corrupt or Republican trojan horses. But the Progressive caucus is trying to deal with this problem so the government can once again pass good policy. They're virtually the only serious political movement in the US at the moment. I don't think anybody could argue that they're corrupt.